24/02/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
The new Council of Europe convention to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence must set high standards and should be backed by a strong, independent and well-funded monitoring mechanism, the head of PACE’s Equal Opportunities Committee has told the group of experts drafting it. Speaking in Strasbourg yesterday, José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/DC) called for a system of parliamentary scrutiny of how well parties apply the convention, which he said would be a “trailblazing major democratic advance”. The convention came about in part because of strong pressure from the Assembly, he pointed out.
23/02/2010 | President
At the invitation of the Ukrainian authorities, PACE President Mevlüt Cavusoglu will participate in the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Viktor Yanukovich in Kyiv on 25 February. On this occasion, the President will re-iterate the invitation for Mr Yanukovich to address the Parliamentary Assembly in the near future, possibly already during its April session in Strasbourg (26-30 April). On 24 February, he will meet the Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine and the country’s delegation to PACE.
23/02/2010 | President
At the end of their visit to Albania, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Mevlüt Çavusoglu, the leaders of the Assembly’s five political groups and the monitoring co-rapporteurs for Albania today urge the Albanian parties to end the current political crisis in the country in order to proceed with the vitally needed reforms. They believe that the absence of parliamentary dialogue undermines the democratic functioning of the state’s institutions.
22/02/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“The Council of Europe Convention on action against trafficking in human beings will reach its full potential when it is ratified by other countries in Europe and beyond. The wider the ratification of the Convention is, the better the protection for victims will be. The role of parliamentarians is crucial to this end,” today recalled Kent Olsson (Sweden, EPP/CD), at a seminar on trafficking in human beings organised in London by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
19/02/2010 | President
Speaking at the press conference marking the end of a two-day conference on the future of the European Court of Human Rights in Interlaken, organised by the Swiss chairmanship of the Council of Europe, PACE President Mevlüt Cavusoglu re-affirmed the Parliamentary Assembly’s full support for the Final Declaration. He also expressed hope for a rapid EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, creating one human rights standard for one Europe.
19/02/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
In the framework of his forthcoming report on the situation in Kosovo, Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC), PACE rapporteur of the Political Affairs Committee, will conduct for the second year, a fact-finding visit to Kosovo from 21 to 25 February. The main purpose of this second visit is to get acquainted with the situation of different communities on the ground, in a number of municipalities.* All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.
19/02/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Committee on the Environment yesterday adopted the report by Rafael Huseynov (Azerbaijan, ALDE) describing the harm caused by noise and light pollution to man and other living species. Such pollution can have serious repercussions, such as disturbing ecosystems and provoking diseases in humans. The rapporteur believes that the fight against such pollution is a major environmental and public health challenge. He calls for an integrated approach to the problem and for efforts to raise awareness of the whole of society.
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.