18/03/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
In a report published today, the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men calls on member states which have not already done so to decriminalise abortion. "Abortion on request is, in theory, available in all Council of Europe member states, except Andorra, Malta, Monaco, Ireland and Poland," explains Gisela Wurm (Austria, SOC) in her report, but "even in member states where abortion is legal, conditions are not always such as to guarantee women effective access to this right.
17/03/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The importance of teenage suicide is underestimated as there are tens of thousands of suicides every year. It is a serious public health issue and has to be made a top political priority,” according to a report drawn up by Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE). According to statistics available from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, suicide kills more people than traffic accidents. The Russian Federation, Hungary and Slovenia are among the Council of Europe member states with the highest suicide rates.
17/03/2008 | Session
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Slovak President Ivan Gašparovic, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner are among the leading personalities to address PACE during its spring session in Strasbourg (14-18 April). An urgent debate has been requested on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia, and a current affairs debate on the situation in the Middle East. Topics to be debated include access to safe and legal abortion in Europe, Muslim communities confronted with extremism, abuse of the criminal justice system in Belarus, and the teaching of European literature, with an intervention by French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf.
13/03/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE Political Affairs Committee is to hold a public hearing on the freedom of speech of Olympic athletes, following reports that some European countries are proposing restrictions on political statements by athletes ahead of the forthcoming Games. Committee Chair Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD) said: “Freedom of speech is something we hold dear at the Council of Europe, and many athletes from our member states will be going to China. We need to know if there will be any restrictions on what they can say, and why.”
13/03/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
In the introduction to his report on European Muslim communities confronted with extremism, João Bosco Mota Amaral (Portugal, EPP/CD) explains that, erroneously or not, the question many people ask themselves is whether the Muslim faith is compatible with Western values and way of living. “I do not accept the concept of the clash of civilisations: Islam and the West have coexisted for centuries, are compatible and based on the same universal core values. But I see a serious danger in the clash between the ideology of Islamic fundamentalism and the ideology of democracy and human rights which is the cradle of European states,” he says.
12/03/2008 | President
“The Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament have always co-operated and supported each other on such issues as EU enlargement, the Parliament’s powers or the European Constitution. Today, our major joint project is the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights”, declared PACE President Lluis Maria de Puig today at a ceremony in Strasbourg to mark the EP’s 50th anniversary. On this occasion the PACE President presented his EP counterpart Hans Gert Pöttering with a recording of the Parliament’s first session and reminded those present that the two institutions had shared the same premises until 1999.
11/03/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“No threat to the physical or mental integrity of a woman or a girl is justifiable in the name of cultural relativism" said Antigoni Papadopoulos (Cyprus, ALDE) today at the close of a hearing on abduction and illegal confinement of women and girls in the name of practices contrary to human rights. "Forced marriage, genital mutilation and all other gender-based human rights violations must be penalised by law," she declared.
11/03/2008 | European Conference of Presidents of Parliament
This Conference of Presidents of Parliament was held at the Council of Europe Headquarters in Strasbourg on 22 and 23 May 2008. The Conference was composed of Speakers and Presidents of the Parliaments of the Member States of the Council of Europe; parliaments enjoying observer status with PACE...
11/03/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
The abduction and illegal confinement of women and girls in the name of practices contrary to human rights – in particular, forced early marriage, female sexual mutilation, slavery and gender-related violence – will be the focus of a hearing held in Paris on Tuesday 11 March by the PACE's Equal Opportunities Committee. The purpose of this hearing is to take stock of the good practices and legal solutions developed at international level, in particular the role for diplomatic representations abroad, and possible prevention methods in Council of Europe member states.
11/03/2008 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Dick Marty, PACE Rapporteur on secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees in Europe, has protested against President Bush's veto of a law aimed at banning the use of waterboarding: "Waterboarding is a mock execution, no more, no less. It ranks as torture under internationally recognised definitions.It is deplorable that President Bush has opposed both Congress and Senate by using his veto", he said.
10/03/2008 | Monitoring
John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the Armenian elections, today welcomed the lifting of two provisions of the State of Emergency declaration by the Armenian authorities following his visit to Armenia last week. “I especially welcome the lifting of the suspension of the activities of political parties and NGOs, which I specifically called for during my visit. I now call upon the authorities to lift the remaining provisions of the declaration of the State of Emergency, especially those that limit the freedom of the media.
10/03/2008 | Monitoring
John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the Armenian elections, has called upon all sides to show restraint, respect and avoid any precipitate action that could make matters worse, following two days of meetings with all relevant parties in Yerevan. "This is essential if we are to move to a genuine and open dialogue,” said Mr Prescott. “I am convinced that a solution can be found to the present difficulties. This requires the recognition by all of the authority of the Constitutional Court and its ruling on the outcome of the Presidential election", he said.