23/11/2012 | President
“Millions of women throughout the world live in fear and are denied the first human right, the right to live free from violence,” today recalled José Mendes Bota, (Portugal, EPP/CD), PACE General Rapporteur on violence against women, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November 2012.
23/11/2012 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on political transition in Egypt, today expressed concern at the decree passed yesterday by President Mohammed Mursi of Egypt. “With this decree, Mr Mursi is effectively granting himself sweeping powers.The very positive role that he played in securing a cease-fire in Gaza cannot serve as an excuse for undermining democracy, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.”
22/11/2012 | Standing Committee
Ensuring that the best interests of the child are upheld in the context of intercountry adoption will be one of the central themes of the meeting of the PACE Standing Committee to be held in Andorra la Vella on Friday 30 November 2012, on the occasion of the transfer of the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers to Andorra.
22/11/2012 | President
"If we are to be effective and above all credible, we must react firmly in all cases where our member states fail to honour their commitments and obligations," said PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon today at the end of an official visit to Berlin, while calling on all member states to assume their responsibilities and show scrupulous respect for democratic and human rights standards.
21/11/2012 | President
"During a visit to the former Stasi prison in Berlin, I was very moved by the testimony of former detainees,” said PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon today, speaking on the second day of an official visit to Berlin. “Their accounts of deprivation and suffering touched me deeply. This visit was a reminder for me of our duty to remember all those who suffered under totalitarian regimes, as well as our obligation to ensure that such atrocities never recur...”
21/11/2012 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on Belarus, has expressed his dismay that the “Viasna” human rights centre in Minsk has been ordered to vacate its office by 27 November, following a year of obscure legal procedures which transferred ownership of the apartment in which the office is located to the state.
21/11/2012 | President
"I have designated rapprochement with the EU as one of the priorities of my presidency. I am absolutely convinced that rapprochement and improved co-ordination with the EU are needed. This is indeed a question not of rivalry, but of complementarity We defend the same values and we must seek to do so in the most effective and efficient way possible, avoiding any duplication of efforts," said PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon, speaking today in Berlin.
20/11/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
At the meeting they held in Moscow on the occasion of Universal Children's Day the parliamentarians undertook to ensure that their countries put in place a sound legislative framework to outlaw sexual violence against children, including by people within the child’s circle of trust.
19/11/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
As the debate intensifies between those for and against nanotechnology, PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development proposed today that the Council of Europe should draw up legal standards which would be designed to protect citizens, while encouraging the potential beneficial use of nanotechnology.
19/11/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
In connection with a report by Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE), the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development has considered the preliminary draft Council of Europe Convention against trafficking in organs in order to propose a number of additional provisions, as well as the preparation of a roadmap for an Additional Protocol on trafficking in human tissues and cells.
19/11/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Following the death in Ireland of Savita Halappanavar, who was denied a termination of pregnancy in spite of serious complications, Tina Acketoft (Sweden, ALDE), Chairperson of PACE Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, expressed her profound indignation.
16/11/2012 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“I listened to the concerns of the Serbian authorities and I reminded them of the need to ensure respect for human rights and the rule of law for all people of Kosovo*, also through the activities and the programmes of the Council of Europe” said Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the situation in Kosovo, at the end of his two-day visit to Belgrade on 15-16 November.