07/12/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A PACE committee has called on the Russian Federation to fulfil its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights by launching an independent and effective investigation into the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, adding that those carrying it out “must be independent from the FSB...
07/12/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Declassifying today an information note prepared by Vladimir Vardanyan (Armenia, EPP/CD), the Legal Affairs Committee took stock of the abolition of the death penalty in Council of Europe member States (the Russian Federation), observer States (United States, Japan and Israel), States whose...
15/11/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Alexandra Louis (France, ALDE), the Parliamentary Assembly's General Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, has expressed her concern following the launch by the Russian Prosecutor’s office of proceedings aimed at closing down the human rights NGO “Memorial”. “’Memorial’ is the...
12/11/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The “Panama papers”, “Paradise papers”, “Laundromats”, and “Pandora papers” scandals have involved allegations that politicians used offshore schemes to evade taxes and conceal assets, raising suspicions of corruption and money laundering. Adopting a draft resolution based on the report prepared...
08/10/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
On the occasion of the World Day against the Death Penalty (10 October), PACE General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty Vladimir Vardanyan (Armenia, EPP/CD) made the following statement: “This year’s World Day against the Death Penalty is dedicated to women who risk being sentenced...
28/09/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Following credible reports that CIA officials discussed assassinating Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), the Parliamentary Assembly’s General Rapporteur on the protection of whistleblowers, has expressed serious concern at the possibility of the extra-judicial...
26/07/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Alexandra Louis (France, ALDE), General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the situation of human rights defenders and former rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus, has condemned the new anti-NGO campaign in Belarus. "Civil society in Belarus...
19/07/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Titus Corlățean (Romania, SOC), PACE rapporteur on Ensuring accountability for the downing of flight MH17, has commemorated the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on 17 July 2014. “Seven long years ago, all 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch nationals, lost their lives when Malaysia...
09/07/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), the rapporteur on political prisoners in Russia for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has commented on recent developments in the case of Alexey Pichugin: “I am gravely concerned at news reports from Russia that Alexey Pichugin...
06/07/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Vladimir Vardanyan (Armenia, EPP/CD), General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the abolition of the death penalty, has welcomed last Thursday’s announcement of the United States Attorney General Merrick Garland to temporarily halt federal executions...
24/06/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Rapporteur for follow-up to Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 2335 (2020) and Recommendation 2177 (2020) on “Drug policy and human rights in Europe: a baseline study”, Hannah Bardell (United Kingdom, NR), welcomed the adoption by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of a...
23/06/2021 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, as identified and described in a January 2020 resolution of the Assembly, “has been neither duly recognised nor adequately addressed by the authorities, let alone resolved”, according to a follow-up report declassified yesterday. The follow-up...