05/04/2007 | Monitoring
In its annual report, the Monitoring Committee says progress has been made in all 13 countries under a monitoring or post-monitoring procedure, but also points to “setbacks” and lists problem areas – such as free and fair elections, full respect for the principle of the rule of law, or corruption. The committee also makes recommendations to the 11 non-monitored states subject to this year’s cycle of periodic reports. The report constitutes the committee’s contribution to the plenary session’s special debate on the state of democracy and human rights in Europe, scheduled for Wednesday 18 April.
04/04/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Renate Wohlwend, the rapporteur of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, today appealed to Vietnamese President Nguyễn Minh Triết to reprieve Le Manh Luong, a British national facing the death penalty in Vietnam. "The Council of Europe campaigns worldwide for an end to the death penalty - and this case of a British national shows once again that European countries are directly concerned by executions in other parts of the world. Putting this man to death will not achieve justice, and I appeal to the President to send a progressive signal by sparing his life."
04/04/2007 | Session
A special debate on the state of human rights and democracy in Europe – with contributions from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the heads of the main Council of Europe human rights monitoring mechanisms, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – will be a highlight of the spring plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which takes place from 16 to 20 April 2007 in Strasbourg. Also due for debate, on Tuesday 17 April, is Montenegro’s accession to the Council of Europe, with the participation of the Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament Ranko Krivokapić. Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is invited to address the Assembly on the same day at noon.
03/04/2007 | President
Following yesterday’s Presidential Decree dissolving the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament), PACE President René van der Linden today made the following declaration: "The Parliamentary Assembly views the current political developments in Ukraine with great concern. The situation that has emerged needs to be resolved in full compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine, and through the legal avenues it offers, as well as through a constructive dialogue between all political forces represented in the Parliament."
02/04/2007 | President
On the occasion of his meeting with Cardinal State Secretary Tarcisio Bertone, who is in charge of the Holy See's political and diplomatic activities, PACE President René van der Linden reiterated his invitation to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to address the Parliamentary Assembly at one of its forthcoming plenary sessions.
30/03/2007 | Monitoring
“PACE monitoring is a mutal enterprise, not a one-sided interference in internal affairs,” said Luc van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) and Theodoros Pangalos (Greece, SOC), co-rapporteurs of the Assembly’s Monitoring Committee, speaking at the end of a visit to Novosibirsk and Moscow from 26 to 29 March 2007. “Our intention is to end PACE’s monitoring of Russia as soon as possible, but for this we need the full co-operation of the Russian authorities,” said Mr Pangalos at a Moscow press conference.
29/03/2007 | President
PACE President René van der Linden today received the “Premio Mediterraneo” Award of the Fondazione Mediterraneo, the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Cultural and Social Dialogue, at a ceremony in Naples (Italy). According to the Foundation, Mr van der Linden "has contributed with his political action to the spreading of the values of dialogue in the area of the Greater Mediterranean”.
27/03/2007 | President
PACE President René van der Linden has sent his condolences to the family of Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, who passed away at the weekend, and to the people of Armenia. In a letter to the Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly, the President said Armenia had lost a man who “was praised for his humanity and for his talent to rise above the political divide and reach compromise”. He had done his utmost to stabilise the country politically and strengthen it economically, the President recalled.
23/03/2007 | News
On the occasion of the celebration ceremony of the 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaties in Rome on 23 March and during a seminar organised in Florence on the eve, PACE President René van der Linden stressed the need for stronger involvement of civil society in European politics. “Civil society”, he said, “is often closer to European citizens than are some of the politicians.”
23/03/2007 | Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Russia of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) and Theodoros Pangalos (Greece, SOC), will make a fact-finding visit to Novosibirsk and Moscow from 26 to 29 March to assess the country’s honouring of its obligations and commitments.
21/03/2007 | Session
A special, all-day debate on the state of human rights and democracy in Europe – with contributions from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the heads of the main Council of Europe human rights monitoring mechanisms, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – will be the main highlight of the Assembly’s spring plenary session (16-20 April 2007). Also on the draft Order of Business, made public today, are Montenegro’s accession to the Council of Europe, a monitoring report on Azerbaijan, and fair trial issues in criminal cases concerning espionage or divulging state secrets.
21/03/2007 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Eddie O’Hara (United Kingdom, SOC), rapporteur on the cultural heritage in the South Caucasus for PACE, has welcomed the announcement of the opening on 29 March of the Armenian Akhtamar Church on Lake Van in Turkey, following extensive restoration funded by the Turkish Ministry of Culture. “The involvement of the Turkish Government, the Armenian Church authorities, experts from Turkish and international universities and local contractors is an outstanding example of how co-operation can help save the rich cultural heritage of this region,” said Mr O’Hara. “It now remains to work on access to the site, on its landscape surroundings and on the uses to which the restored site as a whole can be put.” He said he hoped the Armenian authorities will be able to participate in the opening.