22/02/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“International cooperation is vital in addressing the problem of chemical weapons dumped in the Baltic Sea after World War II, all the more so since interstate agreements have been forged to use the seabed for economic purposes” said Gedimionas Jakavonis (Lithuania, ALDE), rapporteur of the PACE Committee on the Environment today in Paris at the opening of a hearing on the subject.
22/02/2008 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), the author of two reports by the PACE on CIA secret flights and detentions in Europe in 2006 and 2007, welcomed the revelation of the truth on the CIA’s use of the British Diego Garcia airbase.“Yet more denials prove to be untrue. Further admissions will undoubtedly confirm the facts established by the Council of Europe. Truth is on the march. I call on the parliaments and the courts of the countries named in the resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly to step up their efforts to shed full light on this matter.
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.”