02/08/2024 | President
After recalling the extermination on 2 August 1944 of some 4,300 Roma and Sinti in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps, as well as the horrific experiments carried out on humans (in particular Roma children), PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos underlined the importance of memory as “the...
01/08/2024 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Fourat Ben Chikha (Belgium, SOC), PACE General Rapporteur on combating racism and intolerance, made the following statement on the eve of the European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day: “This year’s commemoration of European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day marks the 80th anniversary of that tragic night of...
01/08/2024 | President
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President Theodoros Rousopoulos today made the following statement: “It is with great joy that I welcome, on behalf of the Assembly, the liberation of our friend Vladimir Kara-Murza as well as the other political prisoners who have reached safety...
19/07/2024 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE General Rapporteur for political prisoners, Thórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), has reacted to today’s judgment of a court in Yekaterinburg, sentencing a journalist of the Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, to 16 years’ imprisonment on fabricated espionage charges. “I was...
17/07/2024 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE rapporteur on ensuring accountability for the downing of flight MH17, Titus Corlăţean (Romania, SOC), issued the following statement marking the 10th anniversary of the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 by the Russian-controlled separatist forces in eastern Ukraine: “On 17 July 2014...
12/07/2024 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
In line with the priorities set in the Reykjavík Declaration calling for reinforced action against the smuggling of migrants and as the European Committee on Crime Problems is exploring avenues towards reinforced co-operation between member States, a PACE committee has urged a dual approach to...
12/07/2024 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
According to the Committee on Culture, the metaverse – a network of interconnected virtual worlds characterised by presence, persistence, immersion and interoperability – represents a new frontier for the digital age, with immersive technologies already being used successfully in multiple sectors...
10/07/2024 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Migration Committee has expressed its concern about the phenomenon of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers going missing, “a tragedy largely underestimated and [...] a human rights issue” requiring policy responses across Europe and the world. It expressed its solidarity with the families of...
09/07/2024 | President
PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos opened on 8 July the second edition of the Liverpool Summer School on the Law of the Council of Europe. The theme chosen for this second edition is: “Council of Europe at 75: Protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law in the rapidly changing world...
09/07/2024 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), PACE’s General Rapporteur for Political Prisoners and Rapporteur for follow-up on The arbitrary detention of Vladimir Kara-Murza and the systematic persecution of anti-war protesters in the Russian Federation, has expressed deep concern at the situation of...
08/07/2024 | President
“Today I'm both saddened and angry at the barbaric destruction wrought this morning by Russian rockets in Ukraine,” said PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos. “The number of victims has yet to be established, as many are still trapped under the debris, children and adults alike, including medical...
05/07/2024 | Monitoring
Following their visit to Chisinau from 1 to 3 July 2024, the PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of the Republic of Moldova, Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC) and Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica (Latvia, EPP/CD), expressed their deep concern about the increasing number of reported attempts by...