26/09/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“I was impressed by the progress made by the Russian Federal and local authorities in the North Caucasus in terms of construction and security in favour of the general population and IDPs,” said Nikolaos Dendias (Greece, EPP/CD), rapporteur of PACE's Migration Committee, ending a five-day visit to Moscow and the Republics of North Ossetia-Alania, Chechnya and Ingushetia as part of a fact-finding visit for his report on the “Situation of IDPs and retrurnees in the North Caucasus region”.
23/09/2011 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Parliamentarians have an important role to play in ensuring that governments take all necessary measures to secure fundamental social rights,” today said Carina Ohlsson (Sweden, SOC), addressing a colloquium marking the 50th anniversary of the European Social Charter in Paris. “Europe’s social achievements must be protected,” she stressed.
22/09/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on co-operation with the emerging democracies in the Arab world, and Konstantinos Vrettos (Greece, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the situation in the Middle East, will be visiting Egypt from 23 to 26 September 2011.
22/09/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Cavusoglu today called for increased co-ordination between PACE and the European Parliament (EP). At a meeting of the PACE Presidential Committee and the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament, he welcomed “good progress with regard to the accession of the European Union to the European Convention of Human Rights, in particular the agreement reached on the modalities of participation of EP representatives in PACE meetings when the Assembly elects judges onto the European Court of Human Rights.”
22/09/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“Keep the focus on the people and do not be side-tracked by politics when dealing with the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia.” This was the plea of Tina Acketoft (Sweden, ALDE), rapporteur of the Migration Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), ending a three-day visit to Georgia.
21/09/2011 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“Following the decision of the Georgia parole board to deny Troy Davis clemency, I appeal to the Georgian authorities, even at this late hour, not to carry out his execution,” said Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on abolition of the death penalty. “To carry out this irrevocable act now would be a terrible mistake which could lead to a tragic injustice,” she said.
21/09/2011 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“Effective parliamentary supervision at the national level is important to ensure the implementation of Strasbourg Court judgments,” today said in Kyiv PACE Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), in a conference on “The prevention of human rights violations” organised by Ukraine’s Justice Ministry.
21/09/2011 | Session
An address by the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, on Thursday 6 October 2011 will be one of the highlights of PACE's Autumn session, which will be taking place in Strasbourg from 3 to 7 October. On Tuesday 4 October the Assembly will consider the request for Partner for Democracy status submitted by the Palestinian National Council, whose President, Salim Za'noun, will address the Assembly the same day.
20/09/2011 | President
“I am shocked by the news of today’s bomb explosion in Ankara, in which – according to initial reports – three people have died and several people have been injured as a result of this act of violence," said PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu. "My thoughts are with them and their families. The perpetrators of such terrorist activities should know that terrorism has no place in a democracy, and that no-one can reach their goals through such inhuman and heinous attacks."
19/09/2011 | President
“In my mind, ‘wider’ Europe is associated rather with countries which are our neighbours, but beyond the strictly geographical frontiers of Europe,” the Assembly President said, referring to PACE's recently-established “Partnership for Democracy” status. The Assembly, he added, is pursuing a strategy of bringing non-member states closer to the Council of Europe and to its standards. “In the wake of the Arab revolutions, we have even intensified our efforts,” he said, recalling that the Parliament of Morocco was recently granted this status and that the Palestinian National Council is likely to receive it during the October plenary session.
19/09/2011 | President
Today’s politicians bear responsibility for overcoming humanity’s past errors and moving the world community in a direction which will preserve civilization, PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu has said. Speaking at a round table in Kyiv on risk reduction, the President said humanity could either move towards balanced development, with human rights and democracy at its core, or regress to promoting only short-term interests which could eventually lead to the destruction of civilization.
16/09/2011 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
"Any kind of ‘sexualisation’ of children in the media and elsewhere is to be avoided and combated, for it constitutes a first step towards representing as sexual objects our children, who then find themselves exposed to abuse and exploitation by sex offenders and criminal groups", according to Augustin Conde Bajén (Spain EPP/CD), speaking today when he presented to the Social Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris, his report on child abuse images.