29/04/2010 | Session
The 2010 Europe Prize has been awarded to the Ukrainian town of Kharkiv. The decision was taken unanimously by PACE Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs meeting today in Strasbourg. Kharkiv, which was already awarded the European Diploma in 2003, Flag of Honour in 2004 and the Plaque of Honour in 2008, is the first Ukrainian town to receive this award.
29/04/2010 | Session
"Equal, indivisible and assured security of all states should turn from a catchy slogan to reality," Sergey Lavrov, told Parliamentary Assembly on 29 April. The Russian Federation’s Foreign Affairs Minister warned against the "recurrence of nationalist attitudes," as he put forward the "principle of indivisible security" and outlined his vision for the common future of the "US-Europe-Russia triangle."
29/04/2010 | Session
Bosnia and Herzegovina must urgently launch an institutionalised process for preparing a comprehensive package of amendments to the Constitution – in particular to end the discrimination in elections to some bodies – PACE said in a resolution unanimously approved today. But the co-rapporteurs Kimmo Sasi (Finland, EPP/CD) and Karin Woldseth (Norway, EDG) spelled out that failure to do so could result in the possible suspension of the country’s parliamentary delegation or of its voting rights.
29/04/2010 | Session
Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), Chair of PACE’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, and John Greenway (United Kingdom, EDG), Chair of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population have expressed their shock and concern at the decision taken by the Slovak authorities to extradite Mustapha Labsi to Algeria on 19 April 2010, ignoring a binding interim measure ordered by the European Court of Human Rights that this applicant should not be extradited to Algeria.
29/04/2010 | Session
PACE has called on Council of Europe member states to introduce laws to protect “whistle-blowers”, people working in governments, organisations or companies who speak up to stop wrongdoing. Debating a report by Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), the Assembly said such laws – covering people in both the private and public sector – should define the kinds of unlawful acts that ought to be exposed, and give “whistle-blowers” protection against unfair dismissal, defamation or prosecution for breaching official secrets.
28/04/2010 | Session
In a resolution adopted today, the PACE strongly condemned “the cruel policies pursued by the Stalinist regime” which triggered the Great Famine in 1929 in the grain-growing areas of the former Soviet Union, culminating in 1932-33. PACE recommends establishing the full, un-biased and un-politicised truth about this human tragedy, and making it public.
28/04/2010 | Session
PACE today called on the Montenegrin authorities to "maintain the current reform dynamic in order to catch up with the deadlines" and complete the implementation of the remaining post-accession commitments. In the meantime it decided that the monitoring procedure with regard to Montenegro be continued. The unanimously adopted text, drawn up by the co-rapporteurs Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD) and Serhiy Holovaty (Ukraine, ALDE), welcomes the country’s substantial progress in implementing its commitments since accession to the Council of Europe in 2007.
28/04/2010 | Session
Both a representative of the opposition and a representative of the Belarusian authorities will take part in the urgent debate on the recent developments in Belarus that the Assembly is to hold tomorrow morning. Alexander Yushkevich, Chairman of the Standing Committee on human rights, national relations and mass-media of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, and Anatoly Lebedko, Co-Chairman of the National Committee of the United Democratic Forces (UDF) and Chairman of the United Civic Party, will be invited to take the floor in the context of the debate.
28/04/2010 | Session
At the end of a joint debate on sea piracy encompassing both political and legal aspects of the subject, PACE called on member states to "modernise and develop a common domestic legal framework in order to criminalise the act of piracy wherever it takes place, […] or introduce appropriate legislation where it does not exist". The Assembly asks member states to ensure that suspected pirates are treated in a way which complies fully with the European Convention on Human Rights during or after their transfer to a third country.
28/04/2010 | Session
As a contribution to the International Year of Biodiversity, the Presidents of PACE, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the Council of Europe’s Conference of INGOs today signed a declaration on “working together for biodiversity, the protection of natural areas and the fight against climate change.” PACE President Mevlüt Cavusoglu expressed hope that this day would “represent a milestone in our efforts to presever biodiversity in Europe”.
28/04/2010 | Session
Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg raised the spectre of the economic crisis and a resulting rise of extremism from his annual report in a speech to the Parliamentary Assembly on 28 April. Of his published conclusions in 2009, he said: "Some of these are of course controversial and may sometimes irritate some of the readers – and that is as it must be. Truth telling is an integral part of honest human rights work."
28/04/2010 | Session
“There are no winners and losers in this conflict: everyone has lost,” said Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini, summarising her fact-finding report on the 2008 conflict in Georgia during a current affairs debate. “All parties to the conflict failed, there were terrible violations of humanitarian and human rights law, and both the threat and use of force have returned to European politics.” Dialogue at all levels was the only way forward, she said.