26/01/2012 | Monitoring
PACE's Monitoring Committee made public an information note by the co-rapporteurs on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia, Kastriot Islami (Albania, SOC) and Michael Aastrup Jensen (Denmark, ALDE), on their fact-finding visit to Tbilisi and Batumi (11 – 14 October 2011). The note focuses on the electoral reform in progress, administration of justice, prison conditions and the repatriation of the Meskhetian Population.
26/01/2012 | Session
“Never since 1993 has the political situation in Russia been as open as it is today,” said Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), opening today’s current affairs debate on Russia between two elections. “Never since Mr Putin came to power 12 years ago has the power of the system been as strongly challenged as it is today. Never since 1993 have so many people in Russian civil society been so active.” This openness was a “structural opportunity” for Russia, said Mr Gross, who is also a co-rapporteur for the monitoring of Russia. Things could improve but they could also deteriorate, he warned.
26/01/2012 | Session
PACE has called for charges against former government members in Ukraine, including former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, to be dropped. It asked the President of Ukraine to consider releasing them and to allow them to compete in the upcoming parliamentary elections. In a resolution approved today, based on a report by Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD), the Assembly also expressed its concern about the deteriorating health of Ms Timoshenko, and called on the authorities to allow her treatment by independent doctors.
25/01/2012 | Session
The Assembly today expressed its deep concern at the deteriorating situation of human rights and civil and political liberties in Belarus and condemned the increasingly repressive approach to any attempt to express dissent. “The authorities in Minsk are deliberately turning their back on Europe and the values it upholds”, the Assembly said.
25/01/2012 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Strasbourg, 25.01.2012 - Representatives of the the Parliamentary Assembly of the 47-nation Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament have urged national governments – notably the UK and France – not to stand in the way of the EU signing up to the European Convention on Human Rights...
25/01/2012 | Session
"I firmly believe that the process of integration into European institutions is the best prevention mechanism against renewed instability and violence," declared Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze, supporting the Council of Europe's reform during an address to PACE on Wednesday.
25/01/2012 | Session
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon and the new Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks, today underlined their willingness to co-operate fully in their respective roles because "we can do better together". As Mr Mignon had already stated in his inaugural speech, he intends to involve the Commissioner in some of his visits, depending on the subject.
25/01/2012 | Session
PACE's Committee on Migration today said that addressing protracted displacement of populations in the North Caucasus "will demand sustained political will and allocation of resources, and may require capacity-strengthening of some state institutions".
25/01/2012 | Session
In a statement adopted today at its meeting in Strasbourg, PACE's Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy called on the Iraqi authorities to prevent turning Camp Liberty into a prison and calls on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to start its work in Ashraf and end the delay in affirming the refugee status of the residents.
25/01/2012 | Session
British Prime Minister David Cameron told the Assembly today that the 47 countries of the Council of Europe had a "once in a generation" chance to improve the cause of human rights, freedom and dignity. "For the sake of the 800 million people the Court serves, we need to reform it so that it is true to its original purpose," Mr Cameron told the Assembly.
25/01/2012 | Session
Speaking to British Prime Minister David Cameron, who delivered a speech today to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), its President Jean-Claude Mignon stressed that considering the challenges Europe is facing "it is essential to remain united and committed".
25/01/2012 | Session
In her final address as Finnish President to the Parliamentary Assembly, Tarja Halonen announced a meeting next month (9-10 February) in Helsinki of European Presidents – the so-called Arraiolos Group – to combat discrimination. She invited Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland to take part in the meeting.