20/01/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Piero Fassino (Italy, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the situation in the Middle East, who today completes a four-day visit to the region, will hold a press conference on Thursday 21 January at 10.30 a.m. at the King David Hotel (Holy Room) in Jerusalem. In Ramallah, on 17-18 January, Mr Fassino met the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, the Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Malki, the Chief Negociator Saeb Erekat, the Minister of Prisoners Affairs Issa Qaraqi', and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
20/01/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, has ended a two-day visit to Athens (18-19 January 2010) with a call for a number of problems in the execution of these judgments to be solved. Mr Pourgourides called on the representatives of the Greek authorities to co-ordinate more effectively the different state bodies which are responsible for the execution of the European Court's judgments. He also invited Greek parliamentarians to monitor the implementation of these judgments within the Parliament, and has been assured that they will do so.
19/01/2010 | President
Lluís Maria de Puig, visiting the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) yesterday, carried out his last official act as President of the Parliamentary Assembly. He chose this prestigious university to receive a collection of more than 100 Council of Europe publications relating to the organisation's activities in the fields of education, communication and culture. The President of PACE emphasised the “often discreet, but always irreplaceable” role of “the 47” in protecting and promoting culture in Europe. “Although our fellow citizens all too often focus on Brussels, another Europe exists which would feel bereft without our organisation's work on culture; this is a continent which wants education, in the context of European construction, to have its rightful place at the very heart of society.”
18/01/2010 | Election observation
The first round of Ukraine’s presidential election was of high quality and showed significant progress over previous elections, meeting most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments, concluded the international election observation mission in a statement published today. The observers noted that the election demonstrated respect for civil and political rights, and offered voters a genuine choice between candidates representing diverse political views. Candidates were able to campaign freely, and the campaign period was generally calm and orderly.
15/01/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Piero Fassino (Italy, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the situation in the Middle East, will visit the Territories under the Palestinian Authority as well as Israel, with a view to the debate on the situation in the Middle East which is foreseen during the next PACE plenary session (25–29 January 2010).
15/01/2010 | President
Statement by Micheline Calmy-Rey, Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers and Lluís Maria de Puig, President of the Parliamentary Assembly Strasbourg, 15.01.2010 - “We welcome the approval, for ratification, of Protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights by the Russian State...
15/01/2010 | President
PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, has called on Council of Europe member states to shoulder their humanitarian responsibilities following the Haiti devastation. “At this moment in time our thoughts lie with the victims, and the families and friends of the victims. The uncertainty and lack of communications just add to the suffering of all those involved. My condolences go to the people of Haiti, as well as to our colleagues in the United Nations and others who are caught up in the earthquake and who may have died, gone missing, been injured or are suffering,” the President added.
15/01/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), rapporteur of PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, will make a fact-finding visit to Athens on 18 and 19 January as part of the preparation of his report on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The judgments considered by Mr Pourgourides cover those not fully implemented more than five years after final delivery, or raising important implementation issues, particularly where they concern human rights violations of extreme gravity.
12/01/2010 | Session
“Faked pandemics: a threat to health” will be one of the major themes of the next plenary session of PACE, to be held in Strasbourg from 25 to 29 January. The PACE Social Affairs Committee has proposed the holding of an urgent debate on this subject. If the Assembly agrees when it adopts its agenda on the opening day, the debate is likely to be held on the morning of Thursday 28 January. The committee will be holding a public hearing on the same subject on Tuesday 26 January at 8.30 am, attended by representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the European pharmaceutical industry and experts on the subject.
11/01/2010 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Italy and Europe must learn lessons from the “cauldron of racist violence, xenophobia and exploitation” that boiled over in the Italian town of Rosarno over the weekend, according to Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of PACE Migration Committee. “The fire under the cauldron was lit by the drive-by shootings of migrants with air-guns,” said Mrs Jonker. “The causes were cumulative, however, with exploitation of both regular and irregular migrants, involvement of criminal gangs and xenophobia, leading ultimately to the riots, injuries, death and the transfer of a large number of the migrants to reception centres away from Rosarno.”
11/01/2010 | President
“The legacy of party closures in Turkey remains a source of concern,” PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig stressed, referring to the recent closure of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) following a decision of the Turkish Constitutional Court. The President expressed the hope that this decision would not undermine the authorities’ positive steps in favour of reconciliation.
08/01/2010 | Election observation
A 39-member delegation of PACE, led by Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE), will be in Ukraine from 14 to 18 January to observe the presidential election, alongside observers from the OSCE and NATO Parliamentary Assemblies, the European Parliament and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The delegation will meet the leading candidates, election officials, civil society and media representatives before observing the ballot on 17 January in a sample of polling stations across the country.