20/03/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
"In 2006, PACE strongly condemned the massive human rights violations committed by totalitarian communist regimes and expressed sympathy, understanding and recognition for the victims of these crimes", Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD), Chairperson of the PACE Political Affairs Committee, recalled today at a Conference organised in Toronto on ‘Twenty Years After: Dealing with the Heritage of Communism’.
20/03/2009 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Access to water should be recognised as a fundamental human right. A rights-based approach to water would be a very important means for civil society to hold their governments accountable for ensuring access to an adequate quantity of good quality water as well as sanitation,” said PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, speaking today ahead of World Water Day on 22 March. “The challenges to be tackled are numerous: chronic water shortages in the south, floods in the north and problems with water management and quality in central Europe," said Mr de Puig.
19/03/2009 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
How are women portrayed in the media? Do the media promote sexist stereotypes? What is their impact in society, especially among young people? What can be done to combat these stereotypes? What is the responsibility of the media? All these questions will be discussed at a PACE hearing organised by the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, to be held in Paris on Tuesday 24 March. The hearing is the initiative of Doris Stump (Switzerland, SOC), who is currently preparing a report on “Combating sexist stereotypes in the media”.
19/03/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein/EPP), the Parliamentary Assembly’s Rapporteur on “The death penalty in Council of Europe member and observer countries – an unacceptable violation of human rights” congratulated New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for signing into law the abolition of the death penalty in this State. “The reason given by Governor Richardson – that DNA evidence has shown that innocent people have been condemned to death in the past – is but one of many good reasons, pragmatic and principled, to rid the world of this barbaric form of punishment.”
19/03/2009 | President
“I welcome the decision by Democratic governor Bill Richardson to sign the bill abolishing the death penalty in New Mexico, following last Friday’s vote in the Senate, which came out in favour of abolition by 24 votes to 18,” said PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, in a statement today. “Since 1997, the 47 Council of Europe member states have formed a de facto death- penalty-free zone. I am glad that a growing number of civilised countries share our position on this fundamental human rights issue and that recourse to capital punishment is decreasing throughout the world. To inflict death is not to do justice,” he added.
19/03/2009 | News
Following the decision of the Azerbaijani authorities to organise a referendum on the amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided to send a delegation to be present during this referendum.
18/03/2009 | Election observation
A 13-member PACE delegation, led by Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD) will be visiting “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” from 20 to 23 March 2009 to observe the presidential election alongside observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR). The delegation members will meet the seven candidates standing in the election, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission and representatives of the international community, NGOs and the media. They will then travel to various parts of the country to observe the conduct of the poll on 22 March.
17/03/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Council of Europe parliamentarians and leading human rights figures from around the world – including from international courts, NGOs, law firms and universities – will gather at the German Bundestag in Berlin on Monday 23 March for a major conference on “The state of human rights in Europe: the need to eradicate impunity”. Organised by PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, in co-operation with the Bundestag’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, the conference will focus on topics such as states’ failure to bring to justice the perpetrators of torture, disappearances and killings, impunity for organised crime and the spread of government corruption.
16/03/2009 | President
Speaking at a ceremony in Lisbon to award the Council of Europe’s 2008 North-South Prize, PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig said the two winners represented a “meeting of civilisations” which had marked the Iberian Peninsula in the past. The prize was being awarded to Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan and former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, High Representative of the UN’s Alliance of Civilisations initiative. “The memory of humanity has been marked by this crossroads of civilisations, where the three monotheist religions were able to show that intelligence and reason can overcome destructive passions and prejudice,” Mr de Puig said. He also welcomed Italy's decision to rejoin the North-South Centre.
16/03/2009 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“Following my visit to South Ossetia, I am greatly concerned by the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, and the humanitarian scars left by the conflict,” said Corien Jonker, Chair of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, at the end of her two-day visit to the region on 13 and 14 March 2009. “These scars run deep and are visible on the population remaining in South Ossetia, on those who sought refuge in North Ossetia, and on ethnic Georgians who have been expelled and whose properties have been razed to the ground.”
16/03/2009 | News
John D. Priestman, who served as the fifth – and one of the most long-serving – Secretaries General (Clerks) of the Parliamentary Assembly, has died in Strasbourg just short of his 83rd birthday. Bringing a wealth of diplomatic experience from the British Foreign Office, his nearly fifteen years at the head of the Assembly’s secretariat (1972-86) covered many key moments in the life of the Council of Europe. Paying tribute to him, current Secretary General Mateo Sorinas said: “John was a highly-respected Clerk who in many ways defined the role. He was a great defender of the Assembly and its independence, and led an effective team which served the people of Europe well at a time of change.”
13/03/2009 | Prizes
British Irish Rights Watch has been selected as the winner of the first ever PACE Human Rights Prize, which honours “outstanding civil society action in the defence of human rights in Europe”. The independent non-governmental organisation – which has been monitoring the human rights dimension of the conflict in Northern Ireland, and latterly the peace process, since 1990 – was unanimously selected from among fourteen individuals and NGOs nominated for the prize by a distinguished panel including leading figures from the world of human rights.