09/10/2006 | News
The President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), René van der Linden, has described the murder of leading Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya as an attack on democracy. “Journalistic freedom is one of the pillars of democracy, so attacking journalism is an attack on democracy itself,” he said. “I am shocked by this assassination of one of the most courageous journalists in Russia, who did outstanding work in exposing human rights abuses in Chechnya. I would like to express my deepest sympathy to her family. It is now absolutely essential that the authorities in Russia carry out a thorough investigation in order to bring those responsible to justice.”
06/10/2006 | News
In the debate held today on the need to reconcile work and family life, the PACE has noted that the aim of reconciling both is far from being achieved in many member states. It has furthermore pointed out that the absence, inadequacy or inaccessibility of minding and support structures for children or old people, together with wage discrepancies between sexes, affect mainly women and oblige them to work part-time or stop working altogether. Moreover, the PACE is convinced that ''measures making it easier to reconcile work and family life are a factor for growth and employment and provide an answer to the challenges posed by the ageing of the population''.
06/10/2006 | News
The Assembly today recommended that the Committee of Ministers of the ‘46’ establish a political agreement and provide a legal framework to enable co-operation on local democracy to be developed with the countries adjoining Council of Europe member States. According to the parliamentarians, the European continent, drawing confidence from its democratic success, must not from now on seal itself off inside its delineated area of democratic security, “at the risk of isolating itself politically from the rest of the world”.
06/10/2006 | Session
PACE today debated the economic development of Russia, pointing out that the country had come a "long, difficult way" in its efforts to stabilise its economy, succeeding in the last seven years where many thought it would not. However, significant income disparities, wide gaps in regional development and a continuing lack of diversification still represented "serious obstacles" to lasting economic growth, the parliamentarians said in a resolution. Referring to energy supply to Europe, they also said the "rules should not be changed during the game" and that energy should be guaranteed on purely commercial terms.
06/10/2006 | Bureau
"The legal order of the Republic of Montenegro meets the standards of the Council of Europe, provided that an appropriate constitutional reform is carried out in a manner which will ensure its legitimacy," concludes a report on the conformity of Montenegro’s legal order with Council of Europe standards made public today by PACE’s Bureau. According to the study, prepared by two experts from the Venice Commission as part of the Assembly’s opinion on the country’s request to join the Council, priority areas for reform are the protection of human rights and minority rights, together with the independence of the judiciary, corruption and the fight against economic and organised crime. The report also points out that one major challenge is the implementation of existing legislation, which is compatible with European standards.
05/10/2006 | News
René van der Linden, President of the PACE, urged Russia and Georgia "to enter into a process of de-escalation" at a meeting he convened last night between the two countries’ delegations to the Assembly in a bid to ease tensions. "You are both member states of the Council of Europe and as such are committed to settling conflicts by legal and diplomatic means," he said.
05/10/2006 | News
PACE today pledged to explore possibilities for "meaningful dialogue" with the parliaments of the broader Middle East region as well as stepping up its efforts to bring members of the Knesset and the Palestinian Legislative Council together. In a resolution, it welcomed the announcement of a Middle East summit, and said recent attempts to establish a unity government in the Palestinian Authority should be pursued, notwithstanding the difficulties.
05/10/2006 | News
It is the right of each member state to regulate the entry of foreign nationals and to return irregular migrants to their country of origin while respecting international human rights law, underlines a text on the Mass arrival of irregular migrants on Europe’s Southern shores adopted today by the PACE. The parliamentarians encouraged European states to share the burden of these mass arrivals by contributing to the different air and sea patrols being put into place by the European Agency FRONTEX and to the humanitarian and material needs of arrivals. The governments should guarantee non-refoulement and the right to asylum and prohibit the collective expulsion of aliens. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), they said, should give priority to the issue of mass arrivals and detention conditions for these arrivals in its future visits and work programmes.
05/10/2006 | News
The media plays an essential role in ensuring that issues linked to migration, refugees and asylum are portrayed in a fair and balanced way and that is why, according to the PACE, it is the media’s responsibility to reflect also the positive contribution to society made by these persons. The Assembly today has debated the image of asylum seekers, migrants and refugees in the media and has adopted a recommendation that calls on the Committee of Ministers to ''pay particular attention to the legislation impacting on racism and intolerance in the media and promote the production of films dealing with issues relevant to migrants and produced by persons coming from these groups''.
05/10/2006 | News
In a close vote, PACE said today that it was in favour of the creation of a European remembrance centre for victims of forced population movements and ethnic cleansing, but a concrete proposal to the Committee of Ministers to set up such a centre failed to receive the two-thirds majority necessary to pass. In a resolution, adopted by a majority of one vote, the Assembly said such a centre – which should not cover the deportation of the Jews, or deal with compensation for lost property – would “remind Europeans of their history of forced migration, favour reconciliation and act as an instrument of conflict prevention”.
04/10/2006 | News
The Assembly celebrated today the half–centenary of the Hungarian uprising against Stalinist rule in 1956. At the opening of an exhibition on this events, in presence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Kinga Göncz, PACE President said : "During the long years of the Cold War and the division of our continent the Hungarian uprising came to be seen as a 'victory in defeat'. On this solemn day of remembrance, it is the duty of this new and united Europe of ours to uphold the values of freedom, human rights, democracy and the rule of law that inspired the Hungarian and other European peoples at that time. These values must never be taken for granted but must be fought for and defended by every new generation of Europeans. Today the Assembly thank Hungary for its inestimable contribution to the cause of freedom", PACE President said.
04/10/2006 | News
PACE today called on the eight Council of Europe member states which have not yet ratified the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities to do so, and appealed for the withdrawal of reservations or restrictive declarations. The parliamentarians said the convention – which allows states to protect the religion, language, traditions and culture of designated minorities on their territory – helped to maintain social and political stability.