15/12/2005 | Monitoring
Georgia’s progress over the last year can be regarded as “generally encouraging” but this is still only a first step towards fully meeting its Council of Europe obligations and commitments, PACE's Monitoring Committee said in a draft report approved today.
15/12/2005 | Monitoring
In a declaration adopted today, the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has urged the Ukrainian Parliament to carry out its constitutional duty and renew the composition of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine without any further delay.
15/12/2005 | President
PACE President, René van der Linden, has called on the US Congress to ensure that US laws and practice conform to international legal standards. In an open letter to the Congress, sent as the “McCain amendment” to the defence bills is being discussed on Capitol Hill, he wrote: “The US position on this issue is crucial to showing that the same rules apply to all.”
14/12/2005 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE's Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris today, adopted a draft resolution and a draft recommendation on the "Need for international condemnation of the crimes of totalitarian communist regimes". The text, prepared par Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD), strongly condemns the massive human rights violations committed by these regimes and expresses "sympathy, understanding and recognition to the victims of crimes". According to the committee, "this clear position of the international community will pave the way to further reconciliation".
14/12/2005 | News
Debates on “The need for international condemnation of the crimes of totalitarian communist regimes” and “Combating the resurrection of nazi ideology”, as well as on human rights violations in the Chechen Republic are among highlights of PACE’s winter session (23-27 January). Invited guests include UN General Assembly President Jan Eliasson, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Romanian President Traian Băsescu and Bulgarian Prime Minister Serguei Stanichev. Other subjects to be discussed include the policy of return for failed asylum seekers in the Netherlands and the concept of “nation”. A request will also be made for an urgent debate on allegations of secret detention centres in Council of Europe member states.
13/12/2005 | News
Details of a two-year programme of support for parliamentary institutions in Serbia and Montenegro, conceived jointly by the Assembly and the European Agency for Reconstruction, were presented to PACE’s Bureau at its meeting this week. The EUR 1.58 million programme – aimed at the State Union Assembly and the Parliaments of Serbia and of Montenegro – will involve help for harmonising these bodies’ rules with European norms and seminars for MPs and adminstrators – on the separation of powers, the electoral system, the media and the electorate – as well as study visits and language courses. The overall aim is to promote “European-minded leadership and a constructive political dialogue” as part of helping Serbia and Montenegro to meet its Council of Europe obligations and commitments.
13/12/2005 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Information gathered to date has “reinforced the credibility of allegations concerning the transfer and temporary detention of individuals, without any judicial involvement, in European countries”, according to Dick Marty, the Swiss parliamentarian looking into allegations of secret detention centres. In a statement today to PACE’s Legal Affairs Committee, Mr Marty said legal proceedings in certain countries “seemed to indicate that individuals had been abducted and transferred to other countries without respect for legal standards”, although he said it was too early to assert there had been complicity of member states in illegal actions. He noted that the allegations had never formally been denied by the US.
12/12/2005 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) is due to discuss the progress of the inquiry by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) into "Alleged secret detention centres in Council of Europe member states" at a meeting in Paris on Tuesday 13 December 2005. The meeting begins at 9am on Tuesday 13 December at the Council of Europe office (55 avenue Kléber, Paris 16e, Métro: Boissière). Mr Marty will be available for interviews from 2 p.m.
09/12/2005 | President
PACE President René van der Linden today expressed his satisfaction that Ante Gotovina, a Croatian war crimes suspect who has for many years been amongst those most wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, was today arrested in Spain.
09/12/2005 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
In a statement adopted today during its meeting in Paris, PACE's Migration Committee expressed its deep concern over the way in which accelerated asylum procedures are developing in Europe: "Accelerated procedures, leading to allegations of ‘refoulement’ of asylum seekers, are increasingly used across Europe," it said.
07/12/2005 | News
"Culture and cultural heritage can bring down barriers. They build bridges of peace and understanding. This sort of spirit is essential in such problem areas as Cyprus or in the South Caucasus," PACE President René van der Linden said today in his speech at the Europa Nostra Forum in Brussels.
07/12/2005 | News
After a meeting with EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana in Brussels today PACE President René van der Linden said he was pleased that Mr Solana, like Vice-President Frattini before him, has extended his full support to PACE's enquiry into the alleged secret CIA detention centres and extraordinary rendition flights in Council of Europe member states. "Every day, further details and fresh accusations are emerging. This shows the seriousness of the allegations that have been made and underlines the importance of the Assembly's enquiry. They are one more reason why CE member states, the EU, Eurocontrol and the US authorities, amongst others, should extend their full cooperation to Mr Marty and his team", Mr van der Linden said.