21/03/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Politicians must condemn racial discrimination and put the fight against it “at the heart of their public engagement”, PACE’s Equality Committee has said in a declaration to mark the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
20/03/2012 | President
Following the shootings in Toulouse, PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon this morning visited the Aquiba School in Strasbourg, in order to express his sympathy and voice the Parliamentary Assembly’s solidarity with the Jewish community.
20/03/2012 | Rules, Ethics and Immunities
Parliamentarians from Norway voted most often in plenary debates of the Assembly during 2011, according to statistics made public today. in a “league table” of the voting rates of national delegations.
19/03/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“We need to think about the definition of environmental crime, since we are becoming increasingly aware that the health of our citizens is being endangered by the failure to comply with safety standards in the interests of profit”, said Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE), speaking in Marseilles at the 6th World Water Forum.
19/03/2012 | President
Following the shooting which took place outside a secondary school in Toulouse, in which four people, including three children, died, PACE President made the following statement: “I am horrified by this cowardly and despicable act which cost the lives of three children and one of their young teachers at a school in Toulouse. Early indications suggest that there could be a direct link with the shootings which claimed the lives of three soldiers last week in Toulouse and Montauban..."
18/03/2012 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon has said he is appalled by the executions of Vladislav Kovalev and Dmitry Konovalov in Belarus, confirmed by several different sources today. “An irreparable act has been committed. The Belarusian authorities have once again remained deaf to the many calls of the international community for clemency..."
16/03/2012 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon has welcomed the election, in a vote in parliament this morning, of the new President of the Republic of Moldova. “I would like to congratulate Nicolae Timofti wholeheartedly on his election as President of the Republic of Moldova. It will be my pleasure to be able to wish him every success during a visit to his country from 2 to 5 April.
16/03/2012 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE), PACE rapporteur on match-fixing, has outlined a seven-point plan, or “holistic strategy” for combating the problem of fraudulent betting, match-fixing and corruption in sport. Addressing European ministers of sport yesterday at a conference in Belgrade, she listed the Assembly’s proposals for dealing with the problem: awareness-raising and training of young athletes, closer co-ordination between police and judges, working with sports authorities and betting operators to improve detection of fraud, banning bets on the most vulnerable competitions, and stronger, more dissuasive sanctions against perpetrators.
15/03/2012 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE’s Political Affairs Committee has repeated its call to the Iraqi authorities to stop turning Camp Liberty – a site near Baghdad where around 800 members of an Iranian opposition group are now living – into a prison. In a statement adopted yesterday, the committee called for armed units and surveillance to be removed from the camp, as well as free movement for its residents and improved conditions, including access to medical services, lawyers and UN monitors.
15/03/2012 | President
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President Jean-Claude Mignon and the rapporteurs on Belarus, Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) and Marieluise Beck (Germany, ALDE), and on the death penalty, Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) today jointly launched a solemn appeal to the Belarusian authorities not to execute Dmitry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalev, the two young men sentenced to death in connection with the Metro bombing in Minsk in 2011.
15/03/2012 | Monitoring
Lise Christoffersen (Norway, SOC) and Piotr Wach (Poland, EPP/CD), PACE’s co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of the Republic of Moldova, have again urged the country’s political parties to elect a President without delay, and to seek consensus on any future constitutional changes to avoid future deadlock...
15/03/2012 | Monitoring
John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC) and Axel Fischer (Germany, EPP/CD), PACE’s co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia, have repeated their call for “a credible public inquiry” into the ten deaths that took place during the post-electoral events of March 2008...