23/06/2010 | Monitoring
In an information note on their fact-finding visit to Kyiv (1-4 June 2010), declassified by the Monitoring Committee on 22 June, the co-rapporteurs Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) and Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) express their concern about the increasing number of allegations that democratic freedoms, such as freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of the media have "come under pressure in recent months". Any regression in the respect for and protection of these rights, they said, "would be unacceptable for the Assembly".
23/06/2010 | Monitoring
In an information note on recent developments in Moldova, declassified by the Monitoring Committee on 22 June, the co-rapporteurs Josette Durrieu (France, SOC) and Egidijus Vareikis (Lithuania, EPP/CD) underline one more time that "it is imperative that the present institutional crisis be swiftly resolved". They call for the organisation of a referendum on the choice of the presidential election procedure as "the sole possible solution". This will allow, they say, to give the present political class "a clear indication of the voters’ choice".
22/06/2010 | Session
In a joint debate today the Assembly called on member States to only apply readmission agreements in the cases of countries which respect human rights and have a fully functioning asylum system. This is fundamental, the parliamentarians said, to protect irregular immigrants, especially third-country nationals who may risk finding themselves in a country which is not their`s of origin and where they have limited social rights and no opportunities to submit an asylum application. According to the rapporteur Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC) , ”the chain of readmission agreements will hinder the chances of refugees to reach a safe haven”.
22/06/2010 | Session
In a recommendation adopted today, the Assembly advocates greater Council of Europe involvement in Kosovo* beside other international partners such as EULEX and OSCE. The parliamentarians feel that a larger commitment by the Organisation could help “raising standards in the field of democracy, human rights and the rule of law”, and enable the population of Kosovo to enjoy an equivalent level of rights as that upheld by the Council of Europe.
22/06/2010 | Session
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting this week in plenary session in Strasbourg, today elected Vincent Anthony De Gaetano as judge to the European Court of Human Rights with respect to Malta. Mr De Gaetano, having obtained an absolute majority of votes cast, is elected a judge of the European Court of Human Rights for a term of office of 9 years starting as of the date of taking up office and in any event not later than 3 months as from 22 June 2010. Judges are elected by PACE from a list of three candidates nominated by each State which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights.
22/06/2010 | Session
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting this week in plenary session in Strasbourg, today elected Angelika Nussberger as judge to the European Court of Human Rights with respect to Germany. Mrs Nussberger, having obtained an absolute majority of votes cast, is elected a judge of the European Court of Human Rights for a term of office of 9 years starting on 1 January 2011. Judges are elected by PACE from a list of three candidates nominated by each State which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights.
22/06/2010 | Session
"We say Dosta! To injustice, humiliation, ignorance and violation of human rights," declared Fanny Ardant, Ambassador of the Council of Europe Dosta! Campaign when she addressed the Assembly on 22 June during the debate on the situation of Roma in Europe. She also gave a very fine reading of a letter of Franz Liszt concerning the Gypsies.
22/06/2010 | Session
At the end of a debate on the situation of Roma in Europe, the Assembly said it is shocked by recent outrages against this minority in Europe. It is the “reflect of an increasing trend in Europe towards anti-Gypsyism of the worst kind”, a situation that is “reminiscent of the darkest hours in Europe’s history”. On the base the proposals by the rapporteur József Berényi (Slovak Republic, EPP/CD), the adopted text calls on member States for determined measures in terms of access to education, employment, health services and housing or social integration.
22/06/2010 | President
“We strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack on a bus in Istanbul, in which three people have been killed, including a child,” the Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Antonio Milošoski and the President of its Parliamentary Assembly Mevlüt Çavusoglu said in a joint statement. “Bloodshed like this will never bring victory, only sadness and anger. We stand together with the families of those killed this morning, and share in their distress, they added.
22/06/2010 | Session
The President of Ingushetia (Russian Federation) today said before the Assembly that he had taken measures to advance human and civic rights and ongoing dialogue with civil society and the different religious communities. Crime, youth unemployment and radicalism nevertheless remain major problems in the region. "Power is not to be served by man, but to be placed at the service of man," he concluded.
22/06/2010 | Session
In his address to the Assembly, Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic described progress so far to promote democracy, the rule of law and economic stability and development since his country joined the Council of Europe as the 47th member state in 2007. He praised the Venice Commission’s contribution to ‘the quality of legislation’ in his country and stressed his support for reform of the European Court of Human Rights, which would introduce case screening methods and promote the building of stable legal frameworks and independent judiciaries at national levels.
22/06/2010 | Session
PACE has urged Russia to fight terrorism in the North Caucasus by “respecting fundamental rights and the tenets of the rule of law”, by following the example of other countries that have had to face it, and by working more closely with local NGOs and the Council of Europe. In a resolution unanimously approved today based on a report by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), the Assembly expressed “compassion and solidarity” with the families of those who had suffered terrorist attacks, but said the human rights situation in the North Caucasus was “the most serious and most delicate” in the whole Council of Europe area.