07/01/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
The Chair of PACE Political Affairs Committee, Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD), has condemned the violent and unjust way in which the Iranian government suppresses the opposition in the country. “The methods used by the authorities resemble the worst practices of totalitarian regimes and cannot be accepted by the international community,” he said. “Political dialogue is the only possible solution for Iran’s problems.”
05/01/2010 | Monitoring
Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) and Joseph Debono Grech (Malta, SOC), co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, and Christoph Strässer (Germany, SOC), rapporteur on the follow-up to the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan by PACE, today welcomed the decision by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on 25 December 2009 to pardon 99 prisoners. Some of these prisoners are on the lists of alleged political prisoners of local human rights NGO’s. The pardoning decree also includes opposition Bizim Yol newspaper correspondent Mushvig Huseynov, who has been mentioned in PACE reports.
29/12/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
"I am deeply disappointed to learn that Akmal Shaikh, a British citizen condemned to capital punishment, has been executed in China this morning. To inflict death is not to do justice," said Mrs Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), rapporteur on the death penalty in Council of Europe member and observer states. "The application of the death penalty is a violation of the most fundamental of human rights, the right to life. Capital punishment has a brutalising effect in society. It must be totally removed once and for all from the legislation of all countries which strive to uphold democracy, the rule of law and human rights."
23/12/2009 | Monitoring
“We have taken note of the final judgment by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights which says that prohibiting a Rom and a Jew from standing for election to the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly and for the State Presidency in Bosnia and Herzegovina amounts to discrimination and breaches their electoral rights,” the PACE co-rapporteurs on the functioning of democratic institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG) and Kimmo Sasi (Finland, EPP/CD), said on 23 December.
22/12/2009 | Monitoring
The recommendations of the ad hoc Committee of the National Assembly of Armenia into the events of 1 and 2 March 2008 provide “a comprehensive, although not complete” response to the political crisis, according to an information note by PACE's co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia made public this week.
21/12/2009 | Monitoring
PACE's monitoring co-rapporteurs for Ukraine have expressed their concern at current attempts in the Verkhovna Rada to suspend the enactment of three laws of the anti-corruption package adopted last June – which, among other things, prohibit the private funding of courts – and called for their rapid implementation. “The funding of the courts outside the government budget, ie. with private means, would be a continuous potential for corruption and run counter to European standards,” said Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, ALDE) in an information note made public this week.
21/12/2009 | Monitoring
PACE rapporteurs have welcomed the release of three more Georgian teenagers by the de facto authorities in Tskhinvali. “This is good news,” said Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE), co-rapporteur on the war between Georgia and Russia, and Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), rapporteur on the humanitarian consequences of the war. “We hope this will help to lower tension in the region, which is sorely needed, and may herald further releases of prisoners on both sides.”
20/12/2009 | President
"The political declaration negotiated after the Copenhagen conference lacks ambition and does not provide any answer to climate change, based on solidarity and equity," said PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig. "Despite some progress, the failure to take concrete decisions in Copenhagen is a missed opportunity, given the size of the problem. I regret that the final result is so far from the proposals contained in the resolution adopted by the Assembly ahead of the conference," he added.
18/12/2009 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Reacting to the speech given by US President Barack Obama today in Copenhagen, PACE’s rapporteur on climate change, former British Deputy Prime Minister and Kyoto negotiator John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), said it was wonderful to hear an American President calling for action on climate change, but said: “When he gets in the room with the other leaders he’s going to have to offer a little bit more”.
18/12/2009 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
On the occasion of International Migrants Day, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of PACE Migration Committee made the following statement today: “Migrants are a vital source of economic growth for all our countries. However, far too many of the 200 million migrants all over the world continue to experience assaults on their rights, abominable labour conditions, discrimination, exploitation and even violence. This should not be tolerated.”
17/12/2009 | Monitoring
Only urgently-needed Constitutional reforms can unblock the “deadlock” within the state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a PACE committee said in a draft report approved in Paris today. The report – by Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG) and Kimmo Sasi (Finland, EPP/CD) – demanded “meaningful and constructive dialogue” between all domestic stakeholders on concrete proposals to amend the Constitution ahead of the autumn 2010 elections.
17/12/2009 | Monitoring
In a draft resolution adopted in Paris today, PACE Monitoring Committee urges the Albanian government and opposition to put an end to the current political crisis and assume their responsibilities in order to proceed with vital reforms. The government should set up, without further delay, a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the June 2009 elections and the opposition should return to parliament and fully participate in its work, the committee said.