20/09/2012 | President
“I was shocked and horrified to see media images of prison guards violently assaulting inmates in a prison in Georgia. These intolerable atrocities took place in a Council of Europe member state. President Saakashvili has announced his intention to punish the culprits. I hope that all those at all levels who bear any responsibility in this appalling affair will be identified and punished according to the law,” declared this morning PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon.
20/09/2012 | Monitoring
PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs for Georgia Michael Aastrup Jensen (Denmark, ALDE) and Boriss Cilevics (Latvia, SOC), have expressed their shock at the videos that have surfaced in Georgia showing prisoners being abused and tortured by prison guards. "Such practices are unacceptable in a Council of Europe member State, therefore we welcome the swift reaction of the authorities," they said.
20/09/2012 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“Democratically elected parliaments are well-placed to find the best solutions to prevent and punish urban violence in each European country,” today stressed Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, intervening on behalf of the Assembly’s President at the 31st Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Justice in Vienna (19-21 September 2012).
20/09/2012 | President
The main focus of the Assembly’s contribution to recent discussions on the future of the Court has been the national dimension, and more particularly, the parliamentary dimension ie the role that national parliaments can play in securing full and effective implementation of the rights guaranteed by the Convention at the domestic level...
20/09/2012 | President
Since several years, the Assembly has rung the alarm bell to warn Parliaments, governments and society at large of a series of signs and trends indicating that democracy is in crisis. The trust of citizens in democratic institutions, which is the basis of their legitimacy, has been fading. Electoral turnouts are very low in many countries.
19/09/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Political parties remain the main gate keepers for the participation of women in politics”, regretted the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination at its meeting in Tirana on 13 September 2012. It recommended political parties to introduce a minimum quota of 40 per cent of the under-represented sex in their executive decision-making bodies, invest in mentoring and training programmes and ensure that, during electoral campaigns, the broadcasting time allocated to the party would be proportionally shared by men and women candidates.
19/09/2012 | Session
Debates on the honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation, the humanitarian crisis in Syria (for which a request for a debate under urgent procedure has been made) and the definition of political prisoner, as well as speeches by the Presidents of Albania and Moldova, are among the highlights of the 2012 autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), to be held in Strasbourg from 1 to 5 October.
18/09/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
"Parliamentarians have a vital role to play in transforming mentalities and make freedom from violence a reality in their communities," said Jozefina Topalli, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, during a conference organised on this matter by the Parliamentary Network ‘Women Free from Violence’ in Tirana on 14 September.
18/09/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
At its meeting in Tirana on 13 September, the Equality and Non-Discrimination Committee expressed concern with regard to the rise of violent acts motivated by racism, intolerance and xenophobia, and an increasing use of racist and discriminatory discourse by political parties and asked political parties to refrain from using fear in their campaigns.
17/09/2012 | European Conference of Presidents of Parliament
Speakers and presidents of parliament from the 47 member states of the Council of Europe and many partner, observer and neighbouring countries, as well as the heads of several interparliamentary assemblies, were gathering in Strasbourg from 20 to 21 September 2012 for a major European...
17/09/2012 | President
"The crisis in Europe and worldwide is not just financial and economic, but also a crisis of democracy". While any crisis entails upheaval and suffering, however, it also brings "an opportunity to call things into question, to decide on the necessary priorities and to search actively for solutions" according to Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the PACE, when he made the opening speech today at the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments.
17/09/2012 | President
"While most participants agreed that representative democracy is not in crisis in itself, we all agree that it is one of the main victims of the economic and financial crisis. But the current situation should rather be seen as an opportunity to bring the institutions of representative democracy closer to our citizens", PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon said today presenting the conclusions of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament.