05/09/2011 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights will be meeting in Paris on 7 September. Its agenda will include adoption of the report by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) on the abuse of state secrecy and national security, which places obstacles in the path of parliamentary and judicial scrutiny of human rights violations.
02/09/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC), the rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) carrying out an inquiry into responsibility for loss of life in the Mediterranean Sea, in particular the death of "boat people" fleeing Libya, will make a fact-finding visit to Rome on 6 and 7 September 2011.
02/09/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“Many people in Europe today are overwhelmed by the speed of globalisation, economic crisis and fear of losing grips with the identity of their communities in the face of perceived inflows of migrants and changing societies,” today stated Daphné Dumery (Belgium, NR), PACE rapporteur on the portrayal of migrants and refugees during election campaigns, at the close of a three-day visit to Copenhagen and Stockholm. “As politicians, we cannot change the world, but we can change our approaches and set the tone of debates, which must be positive and forward-looking,” she added.
01/09/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
At the invitation of the Italian delegation to the PACE, its Bureau, the Political Affairs Committee and the Committee on Rules of Procedure meet in Caserta (Italy) on 5 and 6 September. The Political Affairs Committee will discuss the granting of “partner for democracy” status to the Palestinian National Council, based on a report to be presented by Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL). The PACE will vote on a draft resolution on this subject at its next plenary session in Strasbourg (3-7 October 2011).
29/08/2011 | Prizes
The German town of Hünfeld (Hesse) received the 2011 Europe Prize at a ceremony on Saturday 27 August which brought together a large public and local personalities. The 2011 Europe Prize has been awarded jointly to the town of Hünfeld and its French twin-town, Landerneau. The presentation ceremony in Landerneau will take place on 15 October 2011.
23/08/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has told participants at a Ramadan reception in the Danish Parliament that “the best model for living together” is to bring cultures and religions together in a spirit of respect, dialogue and tolerance.
19/08/2011 | President
PACE President, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, is due to participate in the 2011 Ramadan reception and discussion evening to be held at the Danish Parliament on 22 August 2011, in co-operation with the Scandinavian edition of the Zaman newspaper. On this occasion, he will address the participants, focusing on the Assembly’s contribution to promoting the principle of living together in Europe.
11/08/2011 | Monitoring
Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD), co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Ukraine by the PACE, have expressed concern at the ongoing detention of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. “Her detention, ostensibly for contempt of court, strengthens the perception of the political nature of the charges against her,” said the two rapporteurs.
08/08/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Following last week's arrest of Ales Bialiatski, head of the NGO Viasna and Vice-President of the International Human Rights Federation, on charges of “tax evasion”, Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on Belarus has urged the authorities in Belarus to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr Bialiatski and to put an end to all forms of harassment against him and other human rights defenders in the country.
27/07/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
At the end of a one-day visit to the Hatay region in Turkey on 26 July, a four-member delegation from the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, headed by Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), stated that “the Turkish authorities must be congratulated for their quick response to the situation". The delegation, which visited two refugee camps in the Hatay region and met those involved in managing the situation said the conditions in the camps were of high standards.
23/07/2011 | President
Following the massacre at Utoeya island youth camp and the bombing in Oslo, the President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Mevlüt Çavusoglu made the following statement: "As every single European, I am deeply shocked by the massacre at Utoeya island youth camp and the bombing in Oslo, which caused the death of nearly one hundred people and wounded many others. On behalf of the 800 million Europeans which our Assembly represents, I extend my sincere condolences to the families of those dead as well as to the authorities of Norway. Terrorism remains the greatest threat to the universal values of human rights...
22/07/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
On 26 July, a four-member delegation from PACE’s Migration Committee will visit reception camps near Antakya, on the Turkish-Syrian border, set up to give refuge to the flow of people fleeing conflict in Syria. The cross-party delegation, headed by Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), will meet residents of the camps and local and regional authorities, as well as representatives of the Turkish Red Crescent.