06/10/2011 | Session
“The hour of the Palestinian spring is here,” declared the President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas, addressing the Assembly today. Mr Abbas said that in the light of the stalemate in negotiations, the “only alternative” for Palestinians was to turn to the international community to open new horizons for the peace process, through UN recognition of the state of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders.
06/10/2011 | Session
Unjustified resort to the doctrine of “state secrets” is too often shielding secret services and intelligence agencies from scrutiny of involvement in human rights violations such as torture, abduction or renditions, PACE has said. In a resolution adopted today, based on a report by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), the Assembly said information on responsibility for such violations should not be considered as state secrets worthy of protection.
06/10/2011 | Session
“Europe needs a truly pan-European co-ordination mechanism, supported at the highest political level by all Council of Europe member states,” said PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Strasbourg today, opening a current affairs debate on how Council of Europe member states can come to the aid of countries touched by humanitarian catastrophes such as those in East Africa.
06/10/2011 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
A former TV news presenter who was stalked three times in a 15-year career has told Council of Europe parliamentarians of “a devastating crime that, beginning often with small, incremental, steps, utterly destroys lives”.
06/10/2011 | Session
There is no need for a "trade-off" between protecting human rights and effective counter-terrorist action, according to PACE, as safeguards exist in human rights law itself. Adopting a resolution based on a report by Lord John E. Tomlinson (United Kingdom, SOC), the Assembly reminded States Parties to the ECHR that they are duty-bound to secure within their jurisdiction, including for individuals or regions under their effective control but outside their ordinary territory, the rights and freedoms guaranteed therein.
06/10/2011 | Session
Despite an overall positive assessment of the situation in the Balkans, the recent upsurge of tension and political impasse in some parts of the region give rise to concern, PACE said today. Following an urgent debate, based on a report by Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC), the Assembly listed a series of steps to reduce the growing tension in North Kosovo, end the political stalemate in Bosnia and Herzegovina and improve the situation in Albania.
05/10/2011 | Session
"High unemployment is the big elephant in the room: this job crisis is the human face of the crisis", highlighted OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria while addressing PACE on Wednesday. The former Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs underlined many interconnections between areas of expertise of both OECD and Council of Europe, such as youth unemployment, gender, and tax havens.
05/10/2011 | Session
In a context of modest growth, weak public finances and persistently high unemployment in many member states, the Assembly considers that combating unemployment is one of the central challenges confronting the OECD economies; it has called on the OECD to develop appropriate policy advice in order to prevent high long-term unemployment rates from becoming entrenched.
05/10/2011 | Session
“Child pornography is a crime and a grave violation of the rights of the child,” the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography emphasised in her address to the Parliamentary Assembly.
05/10/2011 | Session
Deeply concerned at the public’s increased access to violent and extreme pornographic material, the Assembly has called on European governments to ensure the effective implementation of existing law regulating the production, distribution and sale of pornography. “A common feature in Council of Europe member states is the poor enforcement of existing law and regulations,” it underlined.
05/10/2011 | Session
According to the PACE, the partnership between the Council of Europe and the EU facilitated by the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty should lead to “a common space for human rights protection across the continent in the interest of all people in Europe”, through the European Union’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, which is a requirement of the treaty.
05/10/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE Political Affairs Committee today backed the intention of the Rapporteur for Belarus, Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), to make a fact-finding visit to Minsk in the coming months in order to have the opportunity to meet not only with the authorities but also with political prisoners, including former Presidential candidates and Ales Bialiatski, President of the Human Rights Centre Viasna, following reports of physical and psychological ill treatment.