20/04/2007 | News
The Assembly today called on member states to tackle the problem of counterfeiting in a more comprehensive manner, and suggested the preparation of a European convention on the suppression of counterfeiting as well as information campaigns on its dangers and better protection of intellectual property. Counterfeiting can endanger consumers’ health and safety, seriously damage the economy and nurture criminal networks, the parliamentarians said.
19/04/2007 | News
The ruling of Ukraine’s Constitutional Court in the current crisis, if delivered, should be accepted as binding by all sides, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) said in a resolution adopted today at the end of an urgent debate attended by Ukraine’s Parliamentary Speaker Oleksandr Moroz. However, the Assembly also warned that pressure in any form on the judges of the Court was “intolerable”, and should be investigated and criminally prosecuted.
19/04/2007 | News
The Chair of PACE’s Legal Affairs Committee Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) today urged Europe to address the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, opening a Current Affairs debate of the Assembly. Denouncing limited concrete action and a certain indifference from the international community, the parliamentarian asked : “Is Europe really far from Darfur? Where do arms come from? Who are the suppliers and where are their bank accounts?” Mr Marty also stated that there is proof that some aircraft, decorated in false United Nations livery, had been used to deliver arms into the area of conflict. He added that Europe should be concerned by the related wave of migration.
19/04/2007 | News
Legislation on official secrecy in many Council of Europe member states is “rather vague or otherwise overly broad” and could cover a wide range of legitimate activities of journalists, scientists or lawyers, PACE said in a resolution adopted today. It singled out the German, Swiss and Italian, as well as US, authorities for threatening, or attempting to prosecute, journalists or other “whistleblowers” of official secrets, and said there were strong indications fair-trial principles were not respected in a series of high-profile espionage cases in Russia. Scientists Igor Sutyagin and Valentin Danilov, as well as former FSB agent Mikhail Trepashkin, should be freed by Russia’s competent bodies without delay, the Assembly said.
19/04/2007 | News
In an urgent debate on the situation in the Middle East, the Parliamentary Assembly today welcomed the creation of a new Palestinian government of national unity, but regretted however that it has not committed itself to the recognition of Israel. The Assembly nevertheless sees in this government a “potential new interlocutor” in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Parliamentarians also welcomed the renewed commitment by the Arab league states to the Arab peace initiative. Finally, the Assembly again offered its assistance, and recalled its proposal to organise a Tripartite Forum with the Knesset and the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
18/04/2007 | President
The International Museum of the Reformation in Geneva last night received the 2007 Council of Europe Museum Prize in a formal ceremony at the Palais Rohan in Strasbourg. In the presence of the Mayor of Strasbourg, PACE President René van der Linden awarded the prize – a bronze statuette by Joan Mirò, a diploma and a cheque – to the Museum’s director Dr Isabelle Graesslé.
18/04/2007 | President
'The report we discuss today must be put at the top of the political agenda and become the essential reference on the state of democracy and human rights in Europe', PACE President René van der Linden said today at the opening of the special debate on the state of human rights and democracy in Europe organised by the PACE. 'I invite all our national parliaments to hold their own debates on the report, to ensure that governments take these issues much more seriously both at home and abroad', he added. Representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and of the main Council of Europe human rights monitoring mechanisms, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, will address the Assembly during the debate.
18/04/2007 | News
'Despite important progress in member states achieved with the help of the Council of Europe, serious human rights violations, such as enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, secret detentions, torture and inhuman treatment still take place on our continent. In several countries, human rights defenders themselves, who are trying to help others uphold their rights, are harassed and face repression, PACE's Legal Affairs Committee rapporteur Christos Puorgourides today said adressing the Debate on the situation of democracy and human rights in Europe. 'It is time to turn words into deeds and respect in actual fact human rights and the rule of law. Human rights must first and foremost be enforced at the national level. To be credible, member States must avoid double standards when dealing with human rights violations', he added.
18/04/2007 | News
PACE today demanded that European governments institute a policy of “zero tolerance” towards human rights violations in Europe and take action on the worst violations – such as enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, torture and secret detentions – to preserve the Council of Europe’s credibility. At the end of a special debate on human rights and democracy on the continent, the parliamentarians denounced “the gap between standards on paper and the reality on the ground” as regards both human rights and democracy, and declared: “It is time to end hypocrisy and turn words into deeds.”
17/04/2007 | News
PACE today expressed a positive opinion to Montenegro’s request for accession to the Council of Europe and recommended to the Committee of Ministers of the Organisation that this country becomes the 47th member state. Following the proposals of the rapporteur (Jean-Charles Gardetto, Monaco, EPP/CD), the parliamentarians welcomed the progress Montenegro has already made in many fields and the political will expressed by its authorities to pursue reforms, but they said this commitment must now be translated into practice.
17/04/2007 | News
"Dividing Ukraine into ‘pro-Western’ and ‘pro-Russian’ is an offence to the wisdom of the people of Ukraine," said PACE President René van der Linden today when welcoming Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. "Ukraine, Russia, Europe – these are notions and realities which cannot exist without one another. Ukraine is a crucial link for unity of the whole continent. We are all concerned by the need for it to maintain good relations with its neighbours both in the West and in the East," he said.
17/04/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE Legal Affairs Committee today expressed indignation that serious human rights violations continue to be committed in Europe, especially in the North Caucasus, and said co-operation with the European Court of Human Rights and the Anti-Torture Committee was “essential”. In a statement adopted on the eve of a special, all-day debate on human rights in Europe, the committee reminded the Committee of Ministers, the Council’s executive body, that it was responsible for holding states accountable if they did not co-operate with these bodies.