05/10/2007 | Monitoring
The departure of Silvio Berlusconi from office has temporarily remedied the conflict of interest created by his position as both Prime Minister and owner of Mediaset, one half of the “duopoly” which dominates Italian television, but new laws are still needed to prevent such potential abuses of power in the future, according to PACE's Monitoring Committee.
05/10/2007 | Session
Since its establishment, the Commissioner for Human Rights has made brisk and steadfast progress and the hopes placed in the Commissioner are now considerable. The Assembly stressed the need to endow the Commissioner with the human and financial resources needed to enable him to live up to these expectations.
05/10/2007 | Session
At the end of a debate on the mid-term assessments of the Council of Europe campaign “Stop domestic violence against women”, PACE called on national parliaments to reinforce their actions, adopt laws against violence against women or control their application, disseminate the information material of the campaign and set up a group of male parliamentarians committed to combating violence against women.
04/10/2007 | Session
Parliamentarians from the 47-nation Council of Europe have urged its member governments to “firmly oppose” the teaching of creationism – which denies the evolution of species through natural selection – as a scientific discipline on an equal footing with the theory of evolution. In a resolution passed by 48 votes to 25 during its plenary session in Strasbourg, PACE declared: “If we are not careful, creationism could become a threat to human rights.”
04/10/2007 | Prizes
After an introductory speech by René van der Linden, PACE President, Walter Schmied, Chairperson of the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs, together with Danuta Jazlowiecka, Vice-Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize, today awarded the European Diploma 2007 to the mayors of the 24 prize-winning municipalities at a ceremony attended by some 100 participants. Mr. van der Linden welcomed the great interest shown in the award by the municipalities represented at the ceremony.
04/10/2007 | Session
Addressing the Assembly, Agung Laksono, the next president of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, said that interaction between both institutions would help to create peace and security in the world. Mr Laksono rejected isolationism, unilateralism and exclusive approaches towards global issues. "We in Asia see Europe as a balancing power in the world,” he said.
04/10/2007 | Session
While recalling that the press’s right to report and debate freely is a cornerstone of democracy, the Assembly regretted that in some member states – notably Albania, Azerbaijan and Russia, according to civil society – prosecutions for defamation are misused. According to parliamentarians, defamation laws should always be applied with the utmost restraint. States should abolish prison sentences for defamation altogether, and set reasonable limits to damages awards, they said.
04/10/2007 | Session
The Assembly has strongly condemned forced prostitution and trafficking in human beings and has called on all member states, which have not yet done so, to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings. Parliamentarians recommended that all member states prohibit child prostitution (under the age of 18), since it can never be considered voluntary.
04/10/2007 | Session
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly on 4 October, Vuk Jeremic, Serbia’s Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, said: ''Never before in the history of South East Europe has there been such an opportunity to cement regional co-operation and overcome past differences.'' He added: ''We place great emphasis on transforming the relationship between Serbs and Albanians from one of historical suspicion and antagonism, to one of twenty-first century’s trust and co-operation. The way forward lies in forging a partnership under a common sovereign roof.''
04/10/2007 | Session
“The Serbian chairmanship of the Council of Europe is a success not only for your country but also for our organisation,” President René van der Linden said in his welcome address to Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, Chairman of the organisation’s Committee of Ministers. He hailed the “landmark decision” that was reached by the Committee of Ministers under Serbian chairmanship to proclaim the European Day against the Death Penalty.
04/10/2007 | Session
More than ever, according to the Assembly, multilateralism and a collective response to global threats are the only ways to meet the complexity of today’s challenges, especially for new threats of terrorism and WMD proliferation. Council of Europe member states should reject the principle of unilateral preventive war, parliamentarians said, drawing lessons from its disastrous application in the recent past. However, they should also support the urgent reform of the Security Council to enable it to play the role originally envisaged for it, of rapidly and efficiently deciding the response to international threats.
03/10/2007 | Session
The Assembly has unanimously proposed preparation of a European convention to promote public health policies aimed at fighting drug abuse. The rapporteur, Paul Flynn (United Kingdom, SOC), emphasises that various public health measures, such as substitution treatment, needle exchange programmes and psychosocial treatment, have in recent decades proved effective in rehabilitating narcotics-users and helping to reduce crime, cut health and legal expenditure, and also reduce the risks of HIV transmission.