11/12/2009 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Children witnessing violence against their mother are far too often neglected as victims of psychological trauma, as possible future victims and as links in a chain of violence, when they could help identify potentially violent situations and avoid new violence in the future. Adopting a report by Carina Ohlsson (Sweden, SOC) in Paris on 11 December, PACE Social Affairs Committee agreed on a list of measures to be taken by national parliaments and governments.
11/12/2009 | Monitoring
A press briefing is held today at 11.30 am at the Council of Europe office in Paris, in connection with the adoption of the report of Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG) and Kimmo Sasi (Finland, EPP/CD), co-rapporteurs of PACE, who are monitoring Bosnia and Herzegovina's commitments and obligations to the Council of Europe.
11/12/2009 | Monitoring
Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), co-rapporteur of PACE for the monitoring of Ukraine, announced on Tuesday an agreement on the establishment of a clear roadmap for the adoption of the legal reforms demanded by the Council of Europe.
10/12/2009 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
As the Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe have never ceased to emphasise, violence against women, including domestic violence, is a serious violation of human rights incompatible with the Council's norms and standards, Paul Wille (Belgium, ALDE), Vice-President of the Assembly, told today's opening session of a conference in Paris on migration and violence against women in Europe. “Action must be taken to prevent and punish such violations. Cultural relativism or references to culture, religion or customary practices can never be invoked to justify them,” he stressed.
10/12/2009 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Immigrant women are victims of a “triple penalty”, that of being a woman and an immigrant, and the fact that they are often there illegally, according to Jean-Claude Mignon (France, EPP/DC), speaking at the opening of a conference on migration and violence against women in Europe, in Paris on 10 December. “Fear of being forced to leave a country where they have found at least a precarious refuge is not an incentive to seek the protection of the law, for fear that they will once again find themselves on the move,” he said.
09/12/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“Wisdom resides in the people – this is a truth lying at the heart of the democratic culture which has kept Europe secure for the last sixty years. But democracy can be practised in many ways. National referenda have a valuable role to play, yet we have seen how they can also be misused for political ends. I believe there are fundamental values that should never be put to a popular vote,” pointed out Lluís Maria de Puig, on the eve of Human Rights Day.
09/12/2009 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“Not solving property issues of some 2,5 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Europe means perpetuating their displacement and complicating peace-building efforts,” Jorgen Poulsen (Denmark, ALDE) explained when presenting his report on this issue on 9 December to the PACE Migration Committee in Paris. The restoration of legal rights and physical possession of properties through restitution, or the provision of equivalent properties or value through compensation, are essential forms of redress.
09/12/2009 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The use of detention as a response to the arrival of asylum seekers and irregular immigrants has significantly increased in Council of Europe member states and resulted in mass and needless detention. According to a report adopted by the PACE Migration Committee in Paris on 9 December, capacity had risen 10-fold since the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, France had increased it from 739 in 2003 to 1724 in 2007, Italy’s Lampedusa centre counted 1800 detainees instead of the 800 it has capacity for.
08/12/2009 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“We cannot continue to offer exclusive protection for copyright in an open and global society, where the new opportunities afforded by the Internet have led to the wide dissemination of creative works,” said today José Luis Arnaut (Portugal, EPP/CD), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Culture. “We now have to strike a balance between an adequate level of remuneration for the creative effort, the right to privacy, freedom of expression and access to information,” he added.
08/12/2009 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Andrew McIntosh (United Kingdom, SOC), rapporteur of PACE Committee on Culture, on respect for media freedom, said he was shocked by the increase in attacks on journalists and media – at least twenty journalists have been killed since 2007 in Europe, including thirteen in Russia.“It is important to collate information on violations of media freedom on a continuing basis, to analyse this information systematically country by country and disseminate it to the governments of member states and to the media,” said Andrew McIntosh. "We need to draw as much attention as possible to these violations," he added.
08/12/2009 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Should women facing gender-based violence in their home countries be entitled to seek asylum in Europe? What types of persecution do women, in particular face, which cause them to seek asylum? How can traffickers be stopped from exploiting them? Are Council of Europe member states accountable, beyond their borders, for the violations of fundamental rights of migrant women living in Europe? These and other questions will be debated at a parliamentary conference on “Migration and violence against women in Europe” in Paris on 10 and 11 December 2009, attended by some 80 parliamentarians and experts from around 25 countries.
08/12/2009 | Prizes
The Council of Europe Museum Prize for 2010 has been awarded to the Portimão Museum in Algarve in Portugal. The committee's decision was motivated by the success story of the museum, the relevance of its theme and the extent of its educational programme to the benefit of the local community. The Portimão Museum housed in a former sardine canning factory on the estuary of the Arade River has successfully restored the industrial/historical heritage of the Portimão area.