24/06/2013 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“The authorities in Gaza made public the execution of two so-called ‘collaborators’. These executions are a clear violation of the ‘Partnership for democracy’ with the Assembly, in which the PNC took upon itself", Tiny Kox said.
24/06/2013 | Session
When adopting its final agenda at the opening of the Summer Session 2013, PACE decided to hold on Thursday an urgent debate on “Popular protest and challenges to freedom of assembly, media and speech” and a current affairs debate on “State interference on privacy in the Internet”. The credentials of the Icelandic delegation to the Assembly were challenged on procedural grounds.
24/06/2013 | Session
Referring, at the opening of the PACE part-session in Strasbourg, to the importance of the debate on the request for the opening of a monitoring procedure for Hungary, President Jean-Claude Mignon said that the Assembly was obliged “to react to this situation in the most appropriate manner, conducting a constructive dialogue with the authorities so that they bring their legislation and practice into line with our standards.”
24/06/2013 | Session
The credentials of the new Icelandic delegation to the PACE have been challenged on the opening day of the Assembly’s summer plenary session in Strasbourg on the grounds that it does not contain at least one Representative who is a member of “the under-represented sex”, as required by the Rules.
24/06/2013 | Session
According to PACE, the 12 May 2013 early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria “were held in a pluralist context, fundamental freedoms were upheld and the administration of the elections was satisfactory”. Nevertheless, the Assembly was concerned at “the public’s lack of trust in the electoral process” ...
24/06/2013 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
"Whistleblowers" who disclose state wrongdoing in the public interest should be protected from retaliation, provided they acted in good faith and followed procedures, a PACE committee said in a draft resolution made public today.
24/06/2013 | Election observation
Albania’s parliamentary elections on 23 June were competitive, with active citizen participation throughout the campaign and genuine respect for fundamental freedoms. However, the atmosphere of mistrust between the two main political forces tainted the electoral environment and challenged the administration of the entire electoral process, international observers said in a statement today.
24/06/2013 | Session
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian presented a communication from the Committee of Ministers to the Parliamentary Assembly and answered questions from delegates. Mr Nalbandian detailed priority areas for the Organisation’s work during the Armenian Chairmanship, emphasizing the particular importance of efforts to tackle hatred, racism...
24/06/2013 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
In order to tackle stalking effectively, the report by Gisela Wurm, which was adopted by the Committee on Equality and Non-discrimination, recommends that stalking should be considered a criminal offence.
21/06/2013 | Election observation
The heads of the parliamentary delegations of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, together with the Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE election observer mission, observing the 23 June parliamentary elections in Albania have jointly called on all political leaders to use the remaining days to engage in a constructive process to ensure that the elections can proceed unhindered.
20/06/2013 | President
“Algeria, at the crossroads of Africa and Europe, is a mainstay of stability in the Euro-Mediterranean region and a major partner of PACE”, Jean-Claude Mignon, PACE President, emphasised following a three-day visit to the country (17-19 June 2013).
19/06/2013 | Election observation
A 20-member PACE delegation, headed by Luca Volontè (Italy, EPP/CD), will travel to Albania from 21 to 24 June to observe the parliamentary elections alongside observers from the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR).