21/08/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“With yesterday’s report that Lithuania hosted a secret CIA prison, as well as other recent revelations regarding the ‘black sites’ in Poland and Romania, the time has now come for Europe to account in full for its involvement in this shameful episode," said Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), PACE's rapporteur on secret detentions. "My own sources seem to confirm yesterday’s news report that US ‘high-value detainees’ were held in Lithuania. The authorities should now carry out a full, independent and credible investigation [into] what occurred on the outskirts of Vilnius."
18/08/2009 | Monitoring
Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) and Evguenia Jivkova (Bulgaria, SOC), PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs for Azerbaijan, said today they were saddened to learn of the death in prison of Novruzali Mammadov, a prominent member of the Talysh ethnic community who is considered a political prisoner by the Federation of Human Rights Organizations of Azerbaijan. PACE had made numerous calls for his release, including on humanitarian grounds, given his age and state of health, which "fell on deaf ears", they said.
18/08/2009 | President
“I strongly condemn yesterday’s terrorist attack in Nazran, which will bring only further sadness and anger to this troubled part of Europe,” said Lluís Maria de Puig, the President of the PACE. “My thoughts are with those facing grief and distress.”
11/08/2009 | President
PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, and various Assembly rapporteurs expressed their grief and shock this morning following the murder in Grozny of Zarema Sadulayeva, head of the NGO "Save the Generation," and of her husband: "We have just been horrified to learn that the bodies of Zarema Sadulayeva, head of the NGO "Save the Generation," and of her husband, have been discovered lifeless in the boot of their car. We wish to pay tribute to the courage and commitment of Mrs Sadulayeva and above all to express our condolences to their family and our solidarity with their friends and colleagues.
07/08/2009 | President
On the eve of the 60th anniversary of PACE's first meeting, that took place on 10th August 1949, its President, Lluís Maria de Puig, gives a very positive account of its achievements, but recalls that the work of the Council of Europe and its Assembly as the “conscience of Europe” is far from over: “I am among those who consider the Organisation’s record after sixty years as very positive. At a time of budgetary austerity we can say that the Council of Europe represents “good value for money” for its Member States. It has successfully conducted a highly ambitious political project, bringing together under the same roof, around the same values, all the countries of a continent with a wide range of histories, cultures, languages and traditions...
06/08/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
"It is totally unacceptable to ignore binding interim measures ordered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). It is disgraceful, for a mature democracy like Italy, to have send Ali Toumi back to Tunisia last Sunday, a case in which there exists an imminent risk of irreparable damage to the applicant”, today said Herta Däubler-Gmelin (Germany, SOC) and Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), respectively the Chair of the PACE Legal Affairs Committee and the rapporteur on the implementation of Strasbourg Court judgments.
03/08/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
In connection with his forthcoming report on inhuman treatment of people and illicit trafficking in human organs in Kosovo, Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), rapporteur of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, today began a fact-finding visit to Serbia (3 to 5 August), immediately followed by a visit to Albania (5 to 6 August). Mr Marty will meet various official representatives in the two countries, including the Justice and Interior ministers and state prosecutors, the national parliamentary delegations and NGOs, particularly ones representing the families of missing persons.
30/07/2009 | Election observation
Yesterday's parliamentary elections in Moldova met many international standards, but the process underscored the need for continued democratic reforms to restore public trust, the international election observation mission concluded in a preliminary statement issued today. "I welcome the active participation of voters in this election, which is a good signal for democracy in Moldova. However, voters must feel confident with the entire election process. The inaccuracy of the voters lists has once again exposed weaknesses and an urgent need for major improvement. The voters of Moldova have expressed their will; it is now time for the country's political forces to demonstrate their ability for constructive political dialogue and power-sharing," said Mevlüt Çavusoglu, head of the PACE delegation.
28/07/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Christoph Strässer (Germany, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the follow-up to the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, is disturbed by the arrest in controversial circumstances of Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade, two activist members of civil society who studied in Germany. "These arrests will draw the international community's attention to the cases of journalists and NGO activists convicted on the basis of dubious allegations of vandalism and slander", said Mr Strässer. "I shall, when preparing my report, pay great attention to the arrest and conviction of opposition activists and representatives of civil society."
24/07/2009 | Election observation
A PACE delegation led by Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG) will be visiting Moldova from 27 to 30 July 2009 to observe the anticipated parliamentary elections on Wednesday 29, alongside observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR). The delegation is to meet notably the President of the Central Electoral Commission and representatives of the political parties standing in the election, civil society and the media, before observing the ballot in a sample of polling stations across the country. Preliminary conclusions will be announced during a press conference on Thursday 30 July (place and time to be confirmed).
23/07/2009 | Monitoring
Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP/CD) and Leonid Slutsky (Russian Federation, SOC), co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee on Monaco, are to make a fact-finding visit to the Principality on 27 and 28 July, to take stock of the honouring of its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe and finalise the report to be debated during the autumn PACE session (28 September – 2 October 2009).
22/07/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, ALDE), former PACE rapporteur on the Gongadze case and co-rapporteur on Ukraine, today welcomed the arrest of former general and top Ukrainian Interior Ministry official Oleksiy Pukach, who had been in hiding since 2003. He was charged in absentia with having participated in the murder of journalist Giorgiy Gongadze, for which three policemen were sentenced to prison terms last year. "The arrest of Oleksiy Pukach provides the Ukrainian law enforcement authorities with a unique opportunity of shedding light on who ordered the gruesome murder of journalist Giorgiy Gongadze”, Mrs. Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said.