06/04/2009 | Election observation
The second round of the presidential and municipal elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Sunday met most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards for democratic elections, although some of the issues identified in the first round, including credible reports of intimidation, were of increased concern, international election observers said in a statement released today.“The voting process was significantly improved from the parliamentary elections in 2008,” said Jørgen Poulsen, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
06/04/2009 | Election observation
Yesterday’s parliamentary elections in Moldova met many international standards and commitments, but further improvements are required to ensure an electoral process free from undue administrative interference and to increase public confidence, the IEOM said in a statement issued today. “The people of Moldova are to be congratulated on a relaxed, mainly well-run and democratic polling day. Now the new parliament needs to make the necessary improvements to Moldova’s legal framework and electoral code,” said David Wilshire, head of PACE delegation.
06/04/2009 | Monitoring
Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD) and Evguenia Jivkova (Bulgaria, SOC), co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Azerbaijan by PACE, will make a fact-finding visit to the country on 7-11 April. They are due to meet the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the Milli Mejlis and the Foreign Affairs and Justice Ministers, as well as members of the majority and opposition parties, journalists, ambassadors and NGOs. The rapporteurs will also visit the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
02/04/2009 | Monitoring
PACE's monitoring co-rapporteurs on Ukraine, Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, ALDE), will make a fact-finding visit to the country from 6 to 7 April to discuss, among other things, constitutional and electoral reform, the reform of the judiciary and current political developments.
02/04/2009 | Monitoring
PACE's monitoring co-rapporteurs for Armenia, Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), have welcomed the adoption of amendments to Articles 300 and 225 of the Armenian criminal code, which they said were "a clear improvement to the Law", and should have a considerable effect on the cases concerning those deprived of their freedom in relation to the events of 1 and 2 March 2008. However, they stressed that it is the application of these amendments that will ultimately count.
01/04/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, ALDE), rapporteur on behalf of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on "allegations of politically-motivated abuses of the criminal justice system", has carried out a fact-finding visit to Moscow. “Judges who take their independent role seriously deserve our greatest respect. They need support both from Russian and from European institutions, such as the Council of Europe”, she declared today.
01/04/2009 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
The North-South Centre of the Council of Europe and the PACE Sub-Committee on Equal Participation of Women and Men in Decision-Making will be holding a conference on the theme: “status and political participation: women as agents of change in the Euro-Mediterranean region” in Lisbon on 2 and 3 April 2009. Lydie Err (Luxembourg, SOC), Chairperson of the Sub-Committee, José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), Vice-Chairperson of the PACE Equal Opportunities Committee, Christine McCafferty (United Kingdom, SOC), Chairperson of the PACE Social Affairs Committee, and other members of PACE will speak about the participation of women in politics, society and economic life and changes in family codes and women’s rights in the Euro-Mediterranean area.
01/04/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, ALDE), rapporteur on behalf of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on "allegations of politically-motivated abuses of the criminal justice system" has expressed her shock at the attack on Lev Ponomarev, head of the “All Russia movement for human rights”.
31/03/2009 | Monitoring
Russia has made “measurable progress” in several areas in fulfilling its obligations to the Council of Europe, but this is “less important than we had hoped for and expected after a nearly five-year period”, especially on some key commitments, according to a new assessment by PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs. In an information note made public during a two-day meeting of the Assembly’s Monitoring Committee in Valencia (30-31 March), Luc van den Brande (Belgium EPP/CD) and Theodoros Pangalos (Greece, SOC) said the current state of the monitoring procedure was “both complex and ambiguous”, a situation compounded by the consequences of the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia.
31/03/2009 | Election observation
A 14-member PACE delegation, led by David Wilshire (United Kingdom, EDG) will be visiting Moldova from 3 to 6 April to observe the parliamentary election, 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 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 on 5 April in a sample of polling stations across the country.
31/03/2009 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Francine John-Calame (Switzerland, SOC) is to speak at a seminar being held in Kinshasa from 30 to 31 March, by the Network of Women Parliamentarians of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (Assembly of parliamentarians with an interest in French-speaking concerns). The seminar will concern monitoring of implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the role of women parliamentarians in conflict resolution. Two reports connected with these issues are being prepared by the PACE Equal Opportunities Committee, one on "Sexual violence against women in armed conflict" and the other on "Involving women in the prevention and solution of unsolved conflicts in the Council of Europe area".
30/03/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, ALDE), rapporteur on behalf of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on "Allegations of politically-motivated abuses of the criminal justice system", will be making a fact-finding visit to Moscow from 31 March to 2 April 2009 to prepare a report on the matter. Her trip will include meetings at the Supreme Court, the Council of Judges, the Qualifying Collegium of Judges and the Prosecutor General's Office, as well as with lawyers and representatives of Civil Society. This is the fourth visit to a Council of Europe member state, coming after similar visits to the United Kingdom, France and Germany.