30/03/2009 | Monitoring
“It is essential for Georgia that the planned protest rallies on 9 April 2009 take place in a calm and peaceful manner without violence or provocations. This is in the best interest of the country and we trust that both sides will show restraint in this respect,” said the two Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) co-rapporteurs for Georgia, Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE) and Kastriot Islami (Albania, SOC), and the end of their fact-finding visit to the country.
30/03/2009 | Election observation
The International Election Observation Mission (IEOM), which has been deployed to observe the parliamentary elections in Montenegro, will present its preliminary post-election statement at a news conference today, in Podgorica. The statement will be delivered by Roberto Battelli, Head of the OSCE PA delegation and Special Co-ordinator of the OSCE short-term observers, followed by Andreas Gross, Head of the PACE delegation, and Artis Pabriks, Head of the OSCE/ODIHR long-term election observation mission. The IEOM comprises a total of close to 190 observers from over 40 countries, including 30 long-term and some 120 short-term observers deployed by the OSCE/ODIHR, as well as 22 parliamentarians and staff from the OSCE PA and 14 from the PACE.
27/03/2009 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
On 26 and 27 March, PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population organised a hearing in the Hague on forced return of, and assisted voluntary return programmes, for irregular migrants, with a particular focus on the situation in the Netherlands. The Chair of the Committee, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), concluded that assisted voluntary return programmes offer a mutually beneficial alternative to forced return of migrants.
26/03/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The dilemmas of temporary amnesties, the “turning point” in the fight against global impunity represented by the International Criminal Court, the impunity of Russian soldiers in Chechnya, and what to do when even the UN Security Council violates basic rights were among subjects tackled by parliamentarians, academics and experts during a major conference on impunity in Berlin on 23 March, organised by PACE’s Legal Affairs Committee and hosted by the German Bundestag.
26/03/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), PACE former rapporteur on secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees in Europe, made a statement in Berlin today to the Bundestag Committee of Inquiry responsible for investigating the possible involvement of the German authorities. "The Committee of Inquiry has worked very conscientiously. For a start, it exists, which is more than can be said of other countries against which much more serious criticisms have been levelled." But he added: "I regret, however, that the government authorities have, only too often, refused to respond to requests information from the Committee, on the grounds of state secrecy."
26/03/2009 | Election observation
A PACE delegation, comprising thirteen members and headed by Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), will observe the 29 March parliamentary elections in Montenegro alongside observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).The delegation, to be present in the country from 27 March, is expected to meet the Head of the Electoral Commission, Branislav Radulovic, representatives of the political parties running in these elections, as well as representatives of civil society, the media and the international community, before it observes the ballot and the counting of votes in a sample of polling stations across the country.
25/03/2009 | Monitoring
Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE) and Kastriot Islami (Albania, SOC), co-rapporteurs on Georgia for PACE Monitoring Committee, today began a fact-finding visit to Tbilisi, finishing on Thursday evening, to take stock of Georgia’s compliance with its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe. Talks are scheduled, among others, with President Mikheil Saakashvili, Prime Minister Nika Gilauri, Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili, Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mikheil Machavariani, as well as with members of the Georgian delegation to the Assembly.
24/03/2009 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“The media have enormous potential to foster gender equality, but they tend to perpetuate negative portrayals of women, focusing for the most part on their physical or emotional attributes and confining them all too often to stereotypical roles”, said Doris Stump (Switzerland, SOC) today at a hearing held in Paris by the PACE’s Equality Committee. “The media have a key part to play in shaping individual identities, particularly among young people, and the constant clichés purveyed by the media become rooted in the collective sub-conscience, casting each gender in a fixed role”, said Ms Stump.
24/03/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Declaring a state of emergency should be “a means of last resort only”, clearly limited in time and subject to legislative oversight, according to PACE’s Committee on Legal Affairs, meeting today in Berlin. Approving a report by Holger Haibach (Germany, EPP/CD), the committee said it was “concerned” by recent recourse to declarations of states of emergency in several member states, especially Georgia and Armenia.
24/03/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Both Greece and Turkey should treat all their citizens who are members of religious minorities according to the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights – rather than invoking “reciprocity” under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne as a basis for refusing to implement some rights. Approving a report today on “Freedom of religion and other human rights for non-Muslim minorities in Turkey and for the Muslim minority in Thrace (Eastern Greece)”, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) acknowledged the question was “emotionally very highly charged”.
24/03/2009 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population is holding two hearings in The Hague (Dutch Senate, Eerste Kamer Binnenhof 22) this week. The first, which will take place on 26 March from 9.00 am to 12.15 pm, in the presence of the Dutch State Secretary of Justice and the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, will focus on Dutch policy on the forced return of migrants and the integration of migrants and refugees in the Netherlands. The second hearing, on 27 March from 10.15 am to 1.30 pm, will look at assisted voluntary returns for irregular migrants.
23/03/2009 | Election observation
The first round of yesterday’s presidential and municipal elections in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” met most international standards, although some challenges remain to be addressed, an international election observation mission said in a statement released today. “The authorities and main political actors learnt positive lessons from the June 2008 parliamentary elections. Security during this election campaign and on voting day was significantly improved. It is clear that this presidential election made progress in restoring the confidence of citizens through a democratic process,” said Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin, Head of the PACE delegation.