20/06/2008 | Monitoring
An urgent debate on Armenia at the plenary session of the PACE is warranted, according to the head of PACE’s Monitoring Committee. Progress made so far by the Armenian authorities in meeting the Assembly’s demands following the February 2008 post-election violence has been judged insufficient by the committee’s co-rapporteurs Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), its chair Serhiy Holovaty said in a letter today to the Assembly’s President.
19/06/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
At the initiative of Senator Jean-Guy Branger (France, EPP/CD), who is a member of the PACE and a contact parliamentarian for the recently ended Council of Europe campaign "Stop domestic violence against women", a Council of Europe photo exhibition, “Break the silence on domestic violence”, officially opens at the French Senate at 5 p.m. on 24 June. The opening will be attended by the Deputy Speaker of the Senate, Michèle André, and the head of the Senate delegation for women’s rights and gender equality, Gisèle Gautier.
19/06/2008 | President
“I condemn the latest executions of three men in Japan, including that of a 73-year-old man,” said PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig, in a statement today. “The secrecy surrounding executions in Japan is already deeply disturbing, and now it appears that the rate of executions under Justice Minister Hatoyama Kunio has increased, suggesting a worrying degree of arbitrariness in when the sentence of death is carried out.”
19/06/2008 | President
PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, today welcomed the Euro 2008 Campaign against Trafficking in Women, which has the backing of 25 Swiss organisations including NGOs, mutual assistance associations, advice centres and trade unions. It was instigated by Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold, former Chair of the PACE Sub-Committee on Trafficking in Human Beings. Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold always showed unstinting commitment to the cause of women in the Parliamentary Assembly.
19/06/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Women fleeing the horror of systematic rape and sexual violence perpetrated during conflicts should be provided refuge in Europe, according to the Chair of PACE Migration Committee. Speaking on the eve of World Refugee Day, 20 June, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD) said: “It is a sad fact that systematic rape and sexual violence have become a weapon of war in today’s world, and a sickening feature of ‘ethnic cleansing’ campaigns."
16/06/2008 | Election observation
"Yesterday's re-run elections gave voters in areas affected by serious irregularities on 1 June the opportunity to express their will in a secure and generally calmer environment, which represents considerable improvement over the 1 June election. Despite the efforts made by state institutions to ensure successful re-runs, cases of tensions and intimidation remained evident in the run up to and on 15 June", the International Election Observation Mission said today.
16/06/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
On the occasion of the 2008 World Day to combat desertification, PACE's Committee on the Environment called on the member states of the Council of Europe particularly concerned to urgently take all the measures necessary to fight against land degradation and to promote sustainable agriculture. According to the Committee, land is a global heritage which is vital for the well-being of all, and no human being can live without it.
12/06/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
At the end of a two-day meeting of the first ever “Tripartite Forum” in Rhodes (Greece), which brought together Israeli and Palestinian parliamentarians with members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), its organiser pledged an “ongoing process” to build mutual confidence.
12/06/2008 | Monitoring
Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE co-rapporteurs on the monitoring of Armenia’s obligations and commitments, will be making a fact-finding visit to Armenia on 16 and 17 June, in order to assess the implementation of PACE Resolution 1609 (2008) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia.
11/06/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Parliamentarians are key players who can bring about changes to national legislation in order to provide better protection for women victims of domestic violence, punish those responsible and offer better prevention arrangements,” Paul Wille (Belgium, ALDE), PACE Vice-President, said yesterday at the closing conference of the Council of Europe campaign to combat violence against women, held over the last two days in Strasbourg.
10/06/2008 | Session
An urgent debate on the functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey, to which Turkey’s Foreign Minister has been invited, a general policy debate on the situation in China, and a special debate on the state of democracy in Europe, involving guest speakers from civil society, are among the highlights of the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) taking place in Strasbourg from 23 to 27 June 2008. Serbian President Boris Tadic will also address the Assembly on Thursday 26 June.
09/06/2008 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Strasbourg, 09.06.2008 -“Member states parliaments should be more rigorous in ensuring regular verification of the compatibility of their legislation with European human rights convention standards ” declared Marie-Louise Bemelmans-Videc (Netherlands, EPP/CD) in a keynote speech today at a...