24/11/2005 | President
Corruption could “seriously jeopardize” Romania’s bid to join the European Union by 2007, the President of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly has told Romanian Members of Parliament. In an address to Romania’s Parliament today, René van der Linden told MPs they should themselves set an example through their personal behaviour, by declaring their sources of income and any potential conflicts of interest.
24/11/2005 | News
An eight-member delegation from the Council of Europe was present in the Chechen Republic from 26 to 28 November 2005 on the occasion of the 27 November elections. The delegation – composed of five members of the Organisation’s Parliamentary Assembly and three members of its Congress of Local and Regional Authorities – gathered information on the situation in the Republic and will report back to these two bodies with its conclusions. It did not observe the elections.
24/11/2005 | News
Delegations from the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will be in Armenia from 25 to 28 November to observe the constitutional referendum on 27 November 2005. During the visit, the delegations will meet Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, President of the National Assembly of Armenia Arthur Baghdasaryan, Chairman of the Central Election Commission Garegin Azaryan, as well as representatives of the media, NGOs and other international organisations.
22/11/2005 | News
René van der Linden has appealed to all Armenian citizens to participate in the forthcoming Constitutional referendum on 27 November. "The revision of the Constitution is a major political event that will affect the daily lives of all Armenian citizens. It is therefore important that everyone expresses their opinion," he said. "This is an opportunity for Armenians to show their commitment to Europe." An Assembly and Congress delegation will observe the referendum.
22/11/2005 | News
trasbourg, 22.11.2005 – The President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, René van der Linden, has appealed to all Armenian citizens to participate in the forthcoming Constitutional referendum on 27 November. “The revision of the Constitution is a major political event that will affect the daily lives of all Armenian citizens. It is therefore important that everyone expresses their opinion,” he said.
22/11/2005 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Rapporteur of the PACE's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), who is responsible for investigating the alleged existence of secret detention centres in Council of Europe member states, today told the committee at a meeting in Paris that at this stage he had no proof of the existence of such centres, but did have indications that the implementation of anti-terrorism measures was incompatible with the Council of Europe’s human rights standards.
21/11/2005 | President
PACE President René van der Linden will make an official visit to Romania on 23 and 24 November at the beginning of the Romanian chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the 46-member Organisation. He will meet with Traian Basescu, President of the Republic, Nicolae Vacaroiu, President of the Senate, Adrian Nastase, President of the Chamber of Deputies, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, Prime Minister, and Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, Minister for Foreign Affairs. The discussions will further focus on Romania’s contribution to the democratic process in the region, the fight against corruption, the situation in Transnistria and trafficking in human beings.
21/11/2005 | News
On 25 November, the PACE Standing Committee will meet in Bucharest, at the invitation of the Romanian Senate. The meeting will be opened by the President of PACE and the President of the Senate, Nicolae Vacaroiu. The participants will hold an exchange of views with Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The Standing Committee, whose meeting will coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, is expected to adopt a declaration on this subject.
21/11/2005 | News
Senior legal advisors from the Parliament of Ukraine today begin a three-day seminar – organised at the initiative of the Assembly’s Secretary General Bruno Haller – on the legal standards of the Council of Europe. Topics to be covered include parliamentary monitoring, the Human Rights Court and Anti-Torture Committee, as well as other Council of Europe treaties, and the work of the Venice Commission and Commissioner for Human Rights. The advisors will also be briefed on the Council’s work against corruption and money-laundering.
21/11/2005 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) will discuss an information memorandum on this subject by Rapporteur Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) at its meeting in Paris on Tuesday, 22 November. This part of the meeting is not open to the press.
21/11/2005 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Representatives of member states which have not ratified the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the protection of National Minorities (Andorra, Belgium, France, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Monaco and Turkey) have been invited to a hearing, organised by the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in Paris on Tuesday 22 November. The purpose of the hearing is to examine, together with government representatives, experts, NGOs and the Chairperson of the Council of Europe expert committee which drafted the text, how to overcome possible obstacles to the signature or ratification of the Convention.
18/11/2005 | President
In his talks with Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai-Răzvan Ungureanu, PACE President René van der Linden stressed that in order to maintain a coherent and credible set of human rights standards for the whole of Europe, the EU Human Rights Agency’s scope should be limited to the territory of the EU and should not monitor human rights in Council of Europe member States that are not members of the EU. He said he would urge those members of the Committee of Ministers from EU Member States to uphold the decisions taken at the Warsaw Summit, which stress the unique role of the Council of Europe in human rights protection in Europe. In this context, Mr van der Linden pointed out that in deliberations with the Dutch Government about the European proposal to extend the mandate of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) to become a Human Rights Agency, the Dutch Senate has not been convinced of the necessity of this proposal and therefore sent a very clear message to the government to prevent the establishment of the Human Rights Agency.