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On Women’s Rights Day, PACE President calls for ‘fifty-fifty’ gender parity in the Assembly

06/03/2020 | President

PACE President Rik Daems has called for the Parliamentary Assembly to achieve gender parity, launching the hash-tag #IWant5050 in a video clip to mark International Women's Rights Day (8 March 2020).

Preventing violence and discrimination against religious minorities amongst refugees in Europe

06/03/2020 | Standing Committee

Unanimously adopting a resolution based on the report by Egidijus Vareikis, the Assembly considered that “the beliefs and religious practices of migrants and refugees need to be taken into account as an essential factor in successful reception and integration policies”.

President calls on members to raise the humanitarian issues related to the situation at the Turkish-Greek...

06/03/2020 | Standing Committee

Following a current affairs debate in the Standing Committee, Rik Daems called on all member states to collectively address the issue of the humanitarian consequences of the war and crisis in Syria.

Swedish delegation comes top for voting at PACE in 2019

04/03/2020 | Rules, Ethics and Immunities

Parliamentarians from Sweden, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria voted most often in plenary debates of the PACE during 2019, according to statistics made public today.

Parliamentary integrity, transparency and accountability: seminar for members of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada

02/03/2020 | Parliamentary support

A seminar on parliamentary integrity, transparency and accountability took place on 27-28 February for members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, organised by PACE and hosted by the Parliament of Finland.

Five years after Boris Nemtsov’s murder, rapporteur renews call for case to be re-opened

28/02/2020 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

“It is now five years since Boris Nemtsov was assassinated in central Moscow. He was a Russian opposition politician and an advocate for democracy, who struggled tirelessly to uncover the truth,” said Emanuelis Zingeris.

General rapporteur expresses concern at the arrest of Osman Kavala

28/02/2020 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

The rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders has expressed grave concern about the re-arrest of Osman Kavala, after he was acquitted on charges of “attempting to overthrow the government and the constitutional order”.

Rik Daems calls for ‘the right to a healthy environment’

27/02/2020 | President

Speaking at a conference, the PACE President made a plea to upgrade current legal instruments with the ultimate aim of drafting an additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights.

World NGO Day: a moment to honour those who help refugees and migrants, saving lives

26/02/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation

"I wish to express our support to the numerous NGOs which are so essential in providing vital humanitarian assistance to refugees and migrants around the world,” said Domagoj Hajduković.

Standing Committee meets in Paris

24/02/2020 | Standing Committee

The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will meet in Paris on Friday 6 March 2020. Rik Daems, President of the Parliamentary Assembly, will open the meeting.

Monitors urge Azerbaijani authorities to allow peaceful demonstrations

19/02/2020 | Monitoring

The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Azerbaijan by the Assembly, Stefan Schennach and Sir Roger Gale, are deeply worried by the escalation of police violence against peaceful demonstrators.

Rapporteur welcomes Turkish Constitutional Court ruling on journalist Mehmet Altan

18/02/2020 | Culture, Science, Education and Media

Stefan Schennach has welcomed a Turkish Constitutional Court ruling that journalist Mehmet Altan’s rights were breached when a lower court failed to release him, and ordering the payment of compensation.