11/01/2011 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, has ended a two-day visit to Ankara (10-11 January 2011) with a call for the Turkish authorities to make a more concerted effort to comply with Strasbourg Court judgments.
07/01/2011 | President
PACE President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, will be paying an official visit to Tunisia from 10-12 January 2011. In Tunis he will hold talks with Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, the President of the Chamber of Advisers Abdallah Kallel, the President of the Chamber of Deputies Fouad Mebazaâ, Foreign Affairs Minister Kamel Morjane and the Minister for Development and International Co-operation Mohamed Nouri Jouini.
02/01/2011 | President
"I am deeply shocked by the attack against a Christian church in Alexandria (Egypt), which caused the death of at least 21 people and wounded many others. I extend my sincere condolences to the families of those dead as well as to the authorities of Egypt. Terrorism remains the greatest threat to the universal values of human rights," said PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu.
27/12/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
‘The guilty verdict and especially the very harsh sentence announced against Mr Khodorkovsky does not deliver justice but instead serves only political ends,’ stated Christos Pourgourides, Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
23/12/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“In a democracy, media must not be treated as enemies of the state. The Media and Communications Authority to be established in Hungary on 1 January is an alarming sign that Hungary wishes to police the media,” said Markku Laukkanen (Finland, ALDE), the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
21/12/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu today encouraged Morocco to pursue its ambitious objective to obtain the newly created PACE status of Partner for Democracy. “This will bring our co-operation to a new level,” he said. In this respect, the President recalled the broad reforms that the country has undertaken during the last decade in the political, economic and social sphere, and all the work done in order to expand fundamental freedoms and to strengthen democratic institutions.
21/12/2010 | Session
A report on the illicit trafficking in human organs in Kosovo will be a highlight of the Assembly’s winter plenary session (24-28 January 2011), along with addresses by the Presidents of Turkey, Serbia and Romania, as well as the Prime Minister of Albania and the French Foreign Minister. Other topics to be discussed include the protection of journalists’ sources, and a series of reports on reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia.
20/12/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Strasbourg, 20.12.2010 – The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) rapporteur for Belarus, Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC) has expressed her deep concern at yesterday’s episodes of violence on the streets of Minsk following the presidential elections on Sunday 19 December. “I am...
18/12/2010 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Chair of the PACE Migration Committee, Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), made a call “not to ignore or forget the tragedy played out on the rocks of Christmas Island earlier this week, when over 30 migrants, asylum seekers and refugees met their death within sight of safety, sanctuary and solid ground.”
17/12/2010 | President
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, expressed alarm that, on 15 December, Sweden forcibly returned around 20 Iraqi refugees to Iraq, including Christians who are currently the victims of particular persecution in this country. “I am concerned since this is not the first time that Sweden has forcibly sent back refugees to Iraq”.
17/12/2010 | President
Le Président de l'APCE, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, a fait part de sa vive inquiétude à la suite du renvoi forcé par la Suède, le 15 décembre, d’une vingtaine de réfugiés irakiens en Irak, y compris de chrétiens alors que ceux-ci sont actuellement victimes de persécutions particulières dans ce pays. « Je suis inquiet, car ce n’est pas la première fois que la Suède renvoie de force des réfugiés en Irak ».
17/12/2010 | President
PACE President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, is to make an official visit to Morocco from 19 to 22 December. On 20 December, in Rabat, he will meet the Speaker of the House of Councillors Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Abdelwahed Radi, the Minister of the Interior Taib Cherkaoui and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and of Cooperation Taieb Fassi Fihri.