06/02/2013 | Monitoring
Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP/CD) and Joseph Debono Grech (Malta, SOC), PACE's monitoring co-rapporteurs on Azerbaijan, have expressed their deep concern at recent worrying developments in Azerbaijan, including the detention, trial and sentencing of peaceful demonstrators and the arrest of opposition politicians.
05/02/2013 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“I welcome the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence by Albania on 4 February and Portugal on 5 February 2013. I sincerely hope they will be followed by more states in the coming months,” declared José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), PACE general rapporteur on violence against women.
04/02/2013 | Election observation
The authorities of the Principality of Monaco have invited the PACE to observe the parliamentary elections taking place on 10 February. A six-member PACE delegation headed by Piotr Wach (Poland, EPP/CD) is to visit Monaco from 8 to 11 February to observe these elections, along with experts from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
04/02/2013 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“Match-fixing is a plague which is undermining the rule of law and slowly killing true sport”, said Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE), PACE rapporteur on "The need to combat match-fixing”, speaking today.
01/02/2013 | Monitoring
Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), PACE co-rapporteur on Russia for the Monitoring Committee, has expressed concern at the approval by the Russian Duma, at first reading, of a draft federal law on the “propaganda of homosexuality to minors” which, if finally adopted, is likely to increase discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBT) by limiting their freedom of expression, association and assembly.
30/01/2013 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Pietro Marcenaro (Italy, SOC), Chair of the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy and rapporteur on the Middle East, has called on the Israeli government to reconsider its decision to boycott the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and suspend its relations with the UN Human Rights Council. The UPR is a mechanism whereby the Human Rights Council reviews the human rights records of all UN member states.
28/01/2013 | Monitoring
In a declaration adopted on 22 January, following the preliminary conclusions of Josette Durrieu (France, SOC), rapporteur for post-monitoring dialogue with Turkey, the PACE Monitoring Committee welcomed the resumption of talks by the Turkish authorities with a view to finding a political solution to the Kurdish issue.
28/01/2013 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE), PACE member of the Equality and Non-Discrimination Committee, will make a fact-finding visit to Sweden on 29-30 January as part of the preparation of his report on “Parental leave as a way to foster gender equality”.
25/01/2013 | Session
Although progress has been made along the path towards gender equality, reconciling private and working life today is a challenge for both women and men. Adopting a resolution based on a report prepared by Carmen Quintanilla (Spain, EPP/CD), the Assembly called on Governments to introduce a series of measures...
25/01/2013 | Session
PACE calls for a series of steps to combat trafficking for forced labour without penalising its victims – including laws to prosecute end-users and perpetrators, better regulation of the workplace and reviewing immigration and return policies.
24/01/2013 | Session
"The Council of Europe is a key partner in various aspects of the enlargement process and has a key role in the European Neighbourhood Policy", said European Commissioner Stefan Fule while addressing PACE on Thursday. The Commissioner responsible for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy of the European Union highlighted the relevance of the strategic partnership with the Council of Europe for its indisputable assets...
24/01/2013 | Session
PACE, approving a wide-ranging assessment of the state of media freedom in Europe, has demanded greater protection for the continent’s journalists, less pressure on broadcasters, and more transparent media ownership.