21/01/2011 | President
"The European Court of Human Rights today delivered a milestone judgment damning how Europe is protecting its refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants,” today said PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. “While the M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece judgment is only against two member states, the implications of the judgment will be rippling through the capitals of Europe,” he added.
18/01/2011 | Monitoring
"We should not argue about the past any more - we need to discuss the future. The cornerstone of building the future is of course a lasting political settlement of the conflict in conformity with international law and guaranteeing security and the freedoms and rights of the populations concerned. Until this lasting settlement is found, the conflict will continue to compromise both the stability and the economic development of the whole region," declared PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu at the opening of a hearing on the current situation with regard to “the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia”.
17/01/2011 | Monitoring
PACE co-rapporteurs for Ukraine Mailis Reps (ALDE, Estonia) and Marietta Pourbaix–Lundin (EPP/CD, Sweden), welcomed today’s adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of the Law on Access to Public Information. “The adoption of this law, which was called for by the Assembly, takes into account recommendations made by the international community and civil society, and will increase the transparency of governance and will be an important tool in the fight against corruption”, they said.
17/01/2011 | Session
A report on illicit trafficking in human organs in Kosovo will be among the highlights of the winter PACE plenary session (24-28 January 2011), along with addresses by the President of Turkey Abdullah Gül, the President of Serbia Boris Tadic, the President of Romania Traian Basescu and the Prime Minister of Albania Sali Berisha.
14/01/2011 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on "The death penalty in Council of Europe member and observer states - an unacceptable violation of human rights", has welcomed the decision of the Illinois legislature to abolish the death penalty. "It will now be up to the new Governor Pat Quinn, a close ally of Barrack Obama, to sign this initiative into law. I can only encourage him to do so without hesitation," said Renate Wohlwend.
13/01/2011 | Monitoring
“The implementation of reforms by Turkey will be closely monitored,” said Josette Durrieu (France, SOC), PACE rapporteur for the post-monitoring dialogue with Turkey, at the end of her initial fact-finding visit to Turkey from 8 to 12 January 2011. "There are positive trends and real progress has been made. However, there are still major problems with regard to the length of detention on remand and court proceedings, the functioning of the judicial system, freedom of expression and the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights...
12/01/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has expressed profound concern at the recent social and economic tension in Tunisia and voiced his regret that protests which have been ongoing since mid-December have degenerated into violent clashes with the police, leading to the deaths of at least 21 people. The President, speaking at the end of an official visit to the country (10-12 January 2011), called on the authorities to “manage the crisis in a responsible manner and in full conformity with Council of Europe standards, in particular avoiding the disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials”.
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).