31/01/2023 | Monitoring
In a declassified information note, the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee for Türkiye, John Howell (United Kingdom, EC/AD) and Boriss Cilevičs (Latvia, SOC), confirmed their readiness to continue a constructive dialogue with the Turkish authorities following their visit to the country...
29/01/2023 | Session
An urgent debate on the legal and human rights aspects of the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine, with the participation of Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of the Center for Civil Liberties, 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was one the highlights of the Winter plenary session of the...
27/01/2023 | Session
The development and use of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) – that can select and attack targets without human intervention – requires clear regulation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and human rights, PACE has said. Approving a resolution based on a report by Damien...
27/01/2023 | Session
The Assembly has emphasised the essential role of universities and research institutes in upholding Council of Europe values and entrenching them in the social fabric. In the view of parliamentarians, universities have real potential to facilitate the implementation of Council of Europe...
27/01/2023 | Monitoring
Fiona O'Loughlin (Ireland, ALDE) and Yelizaveta Yasko (Ukraine, EPP/CD), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the periodic review on France, carried out a fact-finding visit to Paris on 30-31 January 2023, to assess the honouring of membership...
26/01/2023 | Session
The Council of Europe should take the lead in creating new legal instruments to prevent environmental damage during armed conflicts and reduce its scale as much as possible, PACE has said. Approving a resolution and recommendation based on a report by John Howell (United Kingdom, EC/DA), the...
26/01/2023 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
On the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January 2023, Petra Bayr (Austria, SOC) today made the following statement:“Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on 27 January 1945, is the day to honour the victims of the Nazi regime and...
26/01/2023 | Session
The Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrin Jakobsdóttir, commended the response of the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly to the major crises in the past few years. “It was able to adapt its procedures to continuing its work through the pandemic and demonstrated its unity around the...
26/01/2023 | Session
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has unanimously demanded the setting up of a special international criminal tribunal in The Hague to prosecute Russian and Belarusian political and military leaders who “planned, prepared, initiated or executed” Russia’s war of aggression...
26/01/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
"As a human rights defender for 20 years, I would have never imagined myself working on war crimes in my country. No one chooses where he or she was born but we all have a choice whether we want to be active against human rights violations or remain indifferent to it. I chose not to be...
26/01/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The Migration Committee today expressed concern at the Russian Federation's military attack against Ukraine, leading to the highest numbers of refugees and displaced persons since World War II. In this context, the Committee urged member States to show European solidarity, particularly with...
26/01/2023 | Session
PACE has welcomed the far-reaching reforms undertaken by the Republic of Moldova – notably in the judiciary and the fight against corruption – to consolidate democratic institutions, despite “the difficulties and challenges” including the humanitarian crisis resulting from the outbreak of the war...