20/07/2011 | President
Following the arrest today of Goran Hadzic, the President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu made the following statement: “The arrest of Goran Hadzic is excellent news, and I congratulate the Serbian authorities on this important step – which our Assembly has long been calling for. Together with the arrest of Ratko Mladic less than two months ago, this sends a strong signal that Serbia is at last fulfilling its commitment to bring to justice those who committed awful crimes in the dark years of the war.
18/07/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said that the “winds of change” sweeping the Arab world offer “huge opportunities” for the creation of a neighbourhood to Europe which is more peaceful, stable, democratic and prosperous. Addressing a round table at the Odessa National Academy of Law, Mr Çavuşoğlu listed the steps the Council of Europe – and particularly the Assembly – was taking to share its deep knowledge of democratic transformation, yet without “giving lessons or imposing models”.
18/07/2011 | Monitoring
John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC) and Axel Fischer (Germany, EPP/CD), PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia, will make a fact-finding visit to the country from 19 to 21 July. In Yerevan they are due to discuss the latest developments regarding the normalisation of the political environment, as well as the reform programme started by the authorities, in particular election reform ahead of the 2012 parliamentary elections.
15/07/2011 | President
The autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia in Moldova is a good model for the peaceful coexistence of different national communities in one country – and could be “an inspiration” for other European countries, PACE President Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu has said at the end of a visit to the region. Speaking today following a meeting with the Bashkan of Gagauzia Mikhail Formuzal and other officials in Komrat, Mr Cavuşoğlu said the administrative arrangements for the region – where around 4.5 per cent of Moldova’s population lives – could be used as a model for the reintegration of Transnistria.
12/07/2011 | Monitoring
György Frunda (Romania, EPP/CD) and Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of the Russian Federation, will make a fact-finding visit to Moscow on 13-14 July to discuss with Duma representatives the road-map for fulfilment of Russia’s obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe.
11/07/2011 | President
In a letter of condolence addressed today to the Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Boris Gryzlov, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu today wrote: “I was shocked and saddened by the news of more than 100 people, many of them children, perishing in a boat accident on the Volga river...
11/07/2011 | Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s Monitoring Committee for Georgia, Michael Aastrup Jensen (Denmark, ALDE) and Kastriot Islami (Albania, SOC), today hailed the adoption of the amendments to the civil code that allows for other faiths and denominations than the Georgian Orthodox Church to be registered as legal entities of public law.
08/07/2011 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Contrary to the announcements issued by certain press agencies, Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), who is a member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the PACE, will not be attending the debate to be held in Belgrade tomorrow by the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, at which an OSCE resolution on combat against illicit trade in human organs is to be discussed. Mr Marty, who wrote the report on the "inhuman treatment of people and illicit trafficking in human organs in Kosovo*", has stated that the invitation from the OSCE reached him belatedly, and that, as he had prior commitments, he would be unable to contribute to this debate.
06/07/2011 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on the death penalty, today launched a last-ditch appeal to the Texan authorities to refrain from executing Humberto Leal García, a Mexican national, who was sentenced to death in 1995. His execution is currently scheduled for July 7 in Huntsville, Texas. “Mr. Leal was never informed about his right to request consular assistance, as he should have been under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” Ms Wohlwend stated.
05/07/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE rapporteur on the situation in Belarus, Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), has condemned the new wave of violence against peaceful protesters, journalists and human rights defenders in Belarus. “I am concerned about the rough dispersal of peaceful demonstrations in Minsk and other cities on July 3rd, Independence Day, with hundreds of protesters being brutally beaten and detained merely for clapping hands,” he said.
04/07/2011 | Monitoring
Kerstin Lundgren (Sweden, ALDE) and Jana Fischerová (Czech Republic, EDG), PACE co-rapporteurs who have been appointed to assess the request for the opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary, will make a fact-finding visit to the country from 6 to 8 July. A January 2011 motion, signed by 24 members of the Assembly, raised “serious concern” about recent developments in Hungary in four areas related to human rights, the rule of law and the functioning of democratic institutions.
01/07/2011 | Monitoring
Josette Durrieu (France, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the post-monitoring dialogue with Turkey, voiced her concern about the situation in the country following the refusal of 170 opposition MPs belonging to the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to take the oath at the inaugural sitting of parliament.