22/02/2008 | Election observation
A delegation of 25 members of PACE, led by Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), will observe the Presidential election in Russia on 2 March 2008. The parliamentarians will arrive in Moscow on Wednesday 27 February to meet the candidates standing for election, representatives of political parties and the head of the Russian parliamentary delegation to PACE.
21/02/2008 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Rapporteur on human rights defenders of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) calls upon the Russian authorities to reconsider their decision not to issue a travel visa to Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, who was due to visit Moscow to present a report on legal restrictions on civil society in Russia.
20/02/2008 | Election observation
Yesterday’s presidential election in Armenia was conducted mostly in line with the country’s international commitments, although further improvements are necessary to address remaining challenges, international observers have said. "While we noted improvements in the framework for these elections, problems with its implementation, especially during the vote count, in some cases undermined the trust of the people," said John Prescott, head of the PACE delegation.
20/02/2008 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig has said that Fidel Castro’s retirement from politics in Cuba opened a window of hope, which might mark the beginning of a new era of peaceful transition to democracy and respect for human rights.
20/02/2008 | President
“Bicameral systems still have a bright future ahead of them”, said Lluís Maria de Puig, President of the PACE, today when addressing the participants in the Conference on “The role of second chambers in Europe”, being held in Paris by the French Senate and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. “We could consider doing more to open up the Parliamentary Assembly to regional parliaments” he said, pointing out that a draft agreement on strengthening co-operation between the PACE and the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies was currently under preparation.
19/02/2008 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig will travel to Paris on 20 and 21 February 2008 on his first official visit since his election in January. Mr de Puig will meet Christian Poncelet, President of the French Senate, and Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French Secretary of State for European Affairs. Among subjects to be discussed are the partnership between the Council of Europe and France in promoting shared values, co-operation in the Mediterranean Basin, the promotion of intercultural and inter-faith dialogue and the forthcoming European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments, to be held by PACE in Strasbourg on 22 and 23 May 2008.
17/02/2008 | President
Reacting to Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence today, Lluís Maria de Puig, President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), called on all parties to keep their pledge to preserve peace and dialogue in all circumstances and to refrain from any incitement to violence as well as to fully comply with Council of Europe standards with respect to human rights, the rule of law, the rights of national minorities and the treatment of refugees, displaced and stateless persons.
14/02/2008 | Election observation
A 27-member delegation of the PACE, headed by John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), will visit Armenia from 18 to 20 February 2008 to observe the presidential election together with observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and the European Parliament. The delegation members will meet the candidates in the election, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission and representatives of NGOs and the media; they will then travel to various parts of the country to observe the conduct of the poll on 19 February.
12/02/2008 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig has warmly welcomed the proposal by a cross-party group of Japanese MPs for a four-year moratorium on executions. "Death is not justice, but the sudden, secretive hangings carried out in Japan are particularly chilling, and a suspension of this grisly procedure is long overdue," said the President. "I urge the Japanese Diet to adopt this proposal."
08/02/2008 | Election observation
A PACE pre-electoral delegation concluding a two-day visit to Moscow, has expressed concern at the prospects for the holding of a good Presidential election in Russia. At the end of the visit, from 7-8 February 2008, the delegation declared: “An election where candidates are confronted with almost insurmountable difficulties when trying to register risks not qualifying as free. An election where there is not a level playing field for all contestants can hardly be considered as fair.”
07/02/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
"The three capital executions which took place on Tuesday in Belarus sadly show that this country is still a long way away from European values and standards," commented Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE), rapporteur of PACE's Political Affairs Committee, following the executions of Sergei Morozov, Valery Gorbaty and Igor Danchenko of the Morozov criminal gang. "It is particularly disconcerting that the same day on which a prominent political prisoner such as Artur Finkevich is released, three people are executed. The death penalty is to be condemned in all circumstances and should be completely abolished," he said.
06/02/2008 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig today expressed his profound dismay at the executions of Syarhey Marozaw, Ihar Danchanka and Valerii Gorbatii in Belarus. “The Belarusian authorities have once again chosen the course of barbarism and injustice. President Lukachenko could have commuted these sentences and thus shown a clear determination to bring Belarus closer to the Council of Europe. Instead he decided to distance his country even further from the values shared by 800 million Europeans,” the PACE President said. He added that “this atrocity has unfortunately overshadowed the good news of yesterday’s release of the political prisoner Artur Finkevich”.