17/04/2008 | Prizes
The 2008 Europe Prize has been awarded to the Polish town of Katowice. The decision was taken unanimously by PACE's Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs meeting today in Strasbourg. This town in Upper Silesia, developed a very dense network of international contacts with municipalities in central, western and eastern Europe, the United States of America and China.
17/04/2008 | Session
Addressing the Assembly on 17 April, Bernard Kouchner, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of France, applauded the work of the Council of Europe, describing the organisation as a genuine instrument of freedom and peace in Europe for the past 60 years. The progress made in the protection of human rights and the rule of law should not, however, lead to acceptance of the status quo. He also made a ''solemn and friendly'' appeal to the Russian Federation to ratify Protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights.
17/04/2008 | Session
In order to move forward, Armenia should urgently undertake reforms of the political system and of the electoral process, guarantee the independence of the judiciary, the public media and freedom of assembly, and stop the harassment of opposition media outlets, arbitrary arrests and politically motivated detentions, said PACE today. According to the resolution adopted, “the only way to allow the country to move forward with the above-mentioned urgently-needed reforms is the initiation of an open and constructive dialogue between political forces”, the parliamentarians said.
17/04/2008 | Session
“China does not have a public relations problem, it has a human rights problem,” said Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD), Chair of PACE Political Affairs Committee, opening a hearing today on the political situation in China on the eve of the Olympic Games. “The Olympics have put the spotlight on China, but not in the way the Chinese government thought they would,” he added. “They have put the spotlight on China’s lack of human rights and democracy.”
17/04/2008 | Monitoring
Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) and Theodoros Pangalos (Greece, SOC), co-rapporteurs on Russia for PACE Monitoring Committee, will make a fact-finding visit to Moscow from 20 to 23 April to take stock of Russia’s compliance with its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe, for a forthcoming report.
16/04/2008 | Session
The Assembly today issued an appeal to member states to take a series of measures aiding risk detection and prevention of child and teenage suicide, including repeated attempts. “It is crucial that governments recognise teenage suicide as a major public health problem and implement appropriate health and welfare policies to prevent such despairing acts,” said Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE), rapporteur of the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, pointing out that tens of thousands of teenagers commit suicide each year.
16/04/2008 | Session
“Irrespective of its status, the Parliamentary Assembly wants people in Kosovo to enjoy the same rights and freedoms and have the same opportunities”, today said Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC) opening a Current Affairs debate on the consequences of the declaration of independence by the Kosovo Assembly. “There are two million Europeans in Kosovo. Is the Council of Europe out there for them after the declaration of independence? What this Assembly can do is to send a message to our Governments and to the Committee of Ministers to say loudly and clearly that our organisation must continue to work in Kosovo for the benefit of its people”, he said.
16/04/2008 | Session
PACE today called on the Council of Europe's member states to decriminalise abortion, within reasonable gestational limits, if they have not already done so, and to guarantee womens’ “right to access to a safe and legal abortion”. The Assembly – which brings together national parliamentarians from 47 European countries, representing 800 million Europeans – adopted the resolution by 102 votes to 69 after a four-hour debate and deciding on 72 amendments.
16/04/2008 | Session
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly on 16 April, the Ukrainian Prime Minister emphasised her country's commitment to continue its constitutional reforms, introducing in particular an independent judicial system and a parliamentary system of government, and to advance along the path of democracy and the rule of law. Yulia Tymoshenko also pointed to the special role of the Council of Europe, not only in the upholding of European values and in European integration, but also in the reform process in Ukraine.
16/04/2008 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A supplementary introductory memorandum by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) on “legal remedies for human rights violations in the North Caucasus” was yesterday declassified by PACE’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.
16/04/2008 | Monitoring
The Monitoring Committee of the Assembly, meeting yesterday in Strasbourg on the fringe of PACE's Spring Session, decided to declassify the information note of the co-rapporteurs on Georgia, Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE ) and Kastriot Islami (Albania, SOC), on their information visit to Tbilisi on 26 and 27 March 2008.
15/04/2008 | Session
PACE today called for the identities of those involved in perpetrating abuses of the criminal justice system in Belarus to be carefully recorded so that when the country one day joins the Council of Europe, justice can be done and individuals held to account. Approving a report by Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), the Assembly also called on judges, prosecutors and police officers in Belarus to show “personal courage and imagination” to mitigate the worst effects of its unjust laws.