04/03/2011 | Standing Committee
A current affairs debate on co-operation between the Council of Europe and emerging democracies in the Arab world will be a highlight of a meeting of the PACE Standing Committee in Paris on 11 March 2011. Other topics to be debated include an opinion on the Draft Council of Europe Convention to Prevent and Combat Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, preserving the environment in the Mediterranean, the need for a global consideration of the human rights implications of biometrics, and “Genetically modified organisms: a solution for the future?”
04/03/2011 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Mats Johansson, Standing Rapporteur of the PACE on Media Freedom, and Arne König, President of the European Federation of Journalists, today made the following statement on the situation of the media in Belarus: “We are shocked by the systematic silencing of the independent media in Belarus, which has dramatically increased since the presidential elections in December last year, resulting into a de facto denial of freedom of expression and information of the Belarus people.”
03/03/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
A leading expert on contemporary Egypt, the historian and writer Tewfik Aclimandos, as well as Egypt’s ambassador to France Nasser Kamel will be among those taking part in an exchange of views on the situation in Egypt at a meeting of the PACE Sub-Committee on the Middle East in Paris on 8 March 2011.
02/03/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has expressed deepening concern at the plight of refugees and other foreigners currently fleeing or trying to flee from Libya. “The reports now coming out from UNHCR are dramatic. The humanitarian situation is worsening hour after hour. While already over 110 000 persons have fled Libya, more than 1000 persons per hour are fleeing from Libya into Tunisia.”
02/03/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has expressed deepening concern at the plight of refugees and other foreigners currently fleeing or trying to flee from Libya. “The reports now coming out from UNHCR are dramatic. The humanitarian situation is worsening hour after hour. While already over 110 000 persons have fled Libya, more than 1000 persons per hour are fleeing from Libya into Tunisia.”
01/03/2011 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
At a conference organised in Brussels by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE), member of the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, today called on governments to support the principles of the future European Charter of Shared Social Responsibilities, and the innovation which can result from its application, in the interests of maintaining social cohesion.
01/03/2011 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on abolition of the death penalty, is dismayed by the prospect of the imminent execution of two young men, Aleh Gryshkautsou, aged 29, and Andrei Burdyka, aged 28, convicted for murder during an armed robbery in 2009. A broadcast on national television on 22 February 2011 recalled that the sentence had come into force after the two men's appeals had been turned down.
28/02/2011 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“As parliamentarians, we are more than motivated to fight the atrocious phenomenon of sexual child abuse. In the framework of the Council of Europe campaign, we will co-operate with our national governments, with NGOs and with any other partner who needs our support,” Maria Stavrositu (Romania, EPP/CD) today said in New York, speaking at a side-event on the Council of Europe campaign to stop sexual violence against children, organised on the occasion of the meeting of the UN Committee on the Status of Women.
25/02/2011 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The PACE Environment Committee warned this morning that the risks linked to GMOs in the farming and food sector are numerous and serious and called for the technology to be used responsibly. The draft resolution adopted on the basis of proposals by the rapporteur, Jean-François Le Grand (France, EPP/CD), underlines that many uncertainties remain as to the consequences of the horizontal transfer, by viruses, of genetic materials from GM crops.
25/02/2011 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Even if exposure to electromagnetic fields should not be harmful, vigilance must be maintained and scientific research on the subject must continue. In short, there is an essential need to respect the precautionary principle, to reinforce prevention measures, to hold a debate involving all those concerned and to provide serious information. This was the starting point proposed by Jean Huss (Luxembourg, SOC) at the opening of a hearing held this morning in Paris,with a view to preparing a report on the question.
25/02/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Luca Volontè (Italy, EPP/CD), rapporteur on the request from the Parliament of Morocco for partner for democracy status with PACE, will make a fact-finding visit to Rabat from 1 to 3 March. Talks are scheduled with the Speaker of the House of Councillors, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the chairmen of political groups, as well as with parliamentarians in charge of relations with the Council of Europe.
25/02/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has strongly condemned the indiscriminate and excessive use of force by the authorities in Libya, and demanded that the human rights of everyone in the country be fully respected. Following meetings in New York with the UN Representatives of several Council of Europe member and observer states, the President said the current situation in the country was deeply disturbing.