19/02/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Ahead of the entry into force on August 1 of the Convention on cluster munitions, Johannes Pflug (Germany, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the ban on cluster munitions, today made the following statement: "Following the recent ratification of the Convention by Moldova, this legal instrument can now enter into force. We can all be proud of the successful outcome of this long process led by the international community, including the Assembly, which last May adopted Resolution 1668.
18/02/2010 | President
“The Strasbourg supervisory mechanism is subsidiary in nature. Primary responsibility for the protection of human rights should be shifted back to national legal systems and practices,” PACE President Mevlüt Cavusoglu stressed at the opening of the Interlaken Conference on the future of the European Court of Human Rights. He also stressed that a well-functioning national human rights protection machinery could make a separate filtering body within the Court superfluous.
18/02/2010 | President
Mevlüt Çavusoglu, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), today warmly welcomed Russia’s ratification of Protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights. “This ratification will further enhance the protection of the fundamental rights of all individuals within the jurisdiction of the 47 Council of Europe member states,” he said.
18/02/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu and the leaders of the five political groups together with the monitoring co-rapporteurs for Albania will visit Tirana on 22 and 23 February. They will meet the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the Parliament, the Prime Minister, leaders of political parties and representatives of the international community. Their visit is a response to the request made by the Assembly to “support the process of resolving the current political situation and assist President Topi in his role of mediator and his efforts to restore political dialogue”.
15/02/2010 | President
In a letter to Viktor Yanukovych, PACE President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, congratulated him on his election and invited him to address PACE in the near future, preferably during its April session in Strasbourg (26-30 April). In his letter, the President stressed that PACE members would particularly appreciate hearing his views on the situation in his country and his policies for the future at this important moment for Ukraine. He recalled that the Parliamentary Assembly was a forum for dialogue and co-operation which gave an opportunity to exchange views with parliamentarians from 47 European countries.
11/02/2010 | President
Shortly after his election as PACE President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu met the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül, the President of the Turkish Parliament, Mehmet Ali Sahin, and the Turkish Minister for EU Affairs, Egemen Bagis. M. Çavusoglu thanked them for their support and welcomed major reforms implemented in Turkey. "I am convinced that these reforms will continue successfully. The Assembly will assist Ankara in achieving the necessary reforms," said PACE President, who, at the same time, has asked Turkey to support the process of reforms undertaken in the Council of Europe.
11/02/2010 | President
Immediately after his election as President of PACE, Mevlüt Çavusoglu visited Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ankara. He thanked him for his support and kind visit to Strasbourg on 29 January. The President said that their talks had concentrated on the important reforms which have been made by Turkey. He added that he firmly believed that the reforms will continue successfully and that PACE will do its utmost to assist Turkey in this process. “As far as the the Council of Europe's reform process is concerned, I have asked for Turkey's support,” he concluded.
11/02/2010 | President
During their official visit to Turkey, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, David Bakradze and his parliamentary delegation met with PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu in Ankara on 9 February. Mutual goodwill and the intention to co-operate were at the heart of their discussions, the PACE President said. Mr Çavusoglu also announced that he was very pleased to accept the official invitation by the Georgian Speaker to visit Georgia.
10/02/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“I am appalled and outraged by the murder of a 16-year-old girl recently committed in Turkey, in the name of so-called ‘honour’”, said José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, speaking today. “The torture suffered by this young girl, buried alive, is intolerable. There is no honour in so-called ‘honour crimes’, and no tradition or culture can invoke any kind of honour to violate women’s fundamental rights”, he added.
10/02/2010 | Monitoring
Joseph Debono Grech (Malta, SOC) and Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) started yesterday a fact-finding visit to Azerbaijan in view to finalise their report on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Azerbaijan vis-à-vis the Council of Europe.
10/02/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, has just ended a visit to Moscow (7-10 February 2010) with a call to the Russian authorities to make a renewed effort to speedily implement Strasbourg Court judgments, notably those relating to repetitive and structural violations, as well as grave human right violations.
08/02/2010 | Election observation
Ukraine's run-off presidential election confirmed the international election observation mission's assessment that the electoral process met most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments. In a statement issued today, the observers noted that the election consolidated progress achieved since 2004. "Some say the Orange Revolution has failed. I say no. Thanks to the Orange Revolution, democratic elections in Ukraine are now a reality," said Matyas Eörsi, Head of PACE delegation.