10/04/2010 | President
“I was deeply shocked to learn of this morning’s crash, which is both a terrible personal tragedy and a national tragedy,” said PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu in a statement. “I want to extend my most heartfelt condolences to the families of those who died so suddenly in Smolensk, but also to the authorities and the people of Poland. Poland has lost a great President, a man of profound values who served his country with conviction and determination in a time of change.
09/04/2010 | Monitoring
Kimmo Sasi (Finland, EPP/CD) and Karin Woldseth (Norway, EDG), PACE co-rapporteurs for monitoring the honouring of obligations and commitments by Bosnia and Herzegovina, will make a fact-finding visit to Sarajevo on 12-13 April. During this visit, they will examine the progress of constitutional reform and the execution of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Sejdic and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina.
08/04/2010 | President
"Roma are full citizens of Europe. Yet their situation within our society raises serious human rights issues," say Micheline Calmy-Rey, Chair of the Committee of Ministers, and PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu, in a statement to mark International Roma Day.
08/04/2010 | President
Common values such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law are a form of “soft security” that promote prosperity and peace, PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has stressed at a joint parliamentary conference in St Petersburg on the future of European security. “Our countries increasingly look at common problems through the same prism, or from the same vantage point,” he pointed out, referring to the work of PACE and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly. But there should be “no slackening” in joint efforts to deal with common threats such as terrorism or nuclear proliferation, he added.
07/04/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur for the abolition of the death penalty, strongly protested against the execution in China for drug smuggling of Japanese national Mitsunobu Akana. "The execution in China of this Japanese citizen, and the impending execution of several others, is an outrage. Reportedly, the accused Japanese did not even have a qualified interpreter when he was interrogated and his argument that he only played a subordinate role in the offence was not accepted at all...
07/04/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu today recalled that the Council of Europe has twice led a process of post-war reconciliation – after the Second World War and the Cold War – and pledged that it will do so again. Addressing parliamentarians at a conference in St Petersburg to mark the 65th anniversary of the Second World War, the President said: "Today we should not only celebrate the anniversary of a great victory. There is one more reason to celebrate: the fact that we have achieved a reconciliation process and have a common language of human rights and democracy...".
06/04/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
On the eve of International Roma Day, József Berényi (Slovak Republic, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on the situation of Roma in Europe, has denounced “an increasing trend towards anti-Gypsyism of the worst kind” and called for an urgent probe into why efforts to help Roma over the last 20 years have all but failed.
01/04/2010 | President
PACE is to jointly organise, with the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an international parliamentary conference on “The future of European security” in St Petersburg on 8 April 2010. PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu will join Sergey Mironov, Chair of the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, to introduce the event, which will focus on the legal bases for future European security and the concept of “soft security”.
01/04/2010 | Monitoring
Josette Durrieu (France, SOC) and Egidijus Vareikis (Lithuania, EPP/CD), PACE co-rapporteurs for monitoring the honouring of obligations and commitments by Moldova, will be making a fact-finding visit to Chisinau on 5-6 April. During this visit, the co-rapporteurs are due to meet the Acting President of the Republic and Speaker of Parliament Mihai Ghimpu, the Prime Minister Vlad Filat and the leaders of the parliamentary parties.
01/04/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“I welcome the official condemnation of the Srebrenica massacre, declared by the Serbian Parliament, as a major step forward in the process of reconciliation taking place in the former Yugoslavia. This is a sign of present-day Serbia’s willingness to turn away from the past and to reinforce its place in a Europe which cherishes peace and shares common values,” declared Pietro Marcenaro (Italy, SOC), who is preparing a report on “reconciliation and political dialogue between the countries of the former Yugoslavia” for PACE.
31/03/2010 | President
"The Council of Europe strongly condemns the explosions in Dagestan (Russian Federation), which come only two days after the terrorist attacks in Moscow," said the Chair of the Committee of Ministers Micheline Calmy-Rey, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Mevlüt Çavusoglu and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland in a joint statement. "We reiterate our message of support for and solidarity with the Russian Federation at this very difficult moment."
29/03/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“Having only returned a few hours ago from the North Caucasus, I learned with shock what was happening in Moscow," Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), PACE's rapporteur on the situation in the North Caucasus, said today. "I want the authors of these crimes found and judged, and I hope that those who try to destroy the democratic system and the rule of law will fail. I am confident that Russia’s institutions will know how to respond in a way which is both effective and remains true to the values which the people of the Russian Federation hold dear. President Medvedev’s reference, in his statement following the attacks, to the importance of respecting human rights is a very positive signal in this regard.”