04/10/2005 | Session
Freedom of religion is the key to protecting human rights, including women’s rights, according to the UN's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Asma Jahangir, who addressed PACE today as part of a debate on women and religion in Europe. "The link between the state and religion is often at the origin of problems relating to women’s rights," said Ms Jahangir. Welcoming her, President Rene van der Linden said Ms. Jahangir had been a critic of blasphemy laws in her home country, Pakistan, and a staunch defender of human rights, including women's rights.
04/10/2005 | Session
European governments should guarantee the separation between church and state to ensure that women are not subjected to “religiously-inspired policies and laws”, for example in the area of family, divorce and abortion law, PACE said today. Approving a report on women and religion in Europe by 84 votes to 16, the parliamentarians declared: “Women’s rights are often curtailed or violated in the name of religion”. Freedom of religion and respect for culture and tradition should never be accepted as a pretext for such violations, they said.
04/10/2005 | President
"This statue is also emblematic of the idea of team-spirit that characterises our work and the differing political and cultural identities that make up the Council of Europe. The same spirit is present in the team that has led to the presentation of the statue to the Council of Europe today. I thank the Government of Spain for presenting the gift, the Region of Murcia for its generosity and the artist Gonzalez Beltran for the imagination and skill that has gone into its creation" said René van der Linden on the occasion of the inauguration of the Spanish "Monument to Human Rights" at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg today.
04/10/2005 | News
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting in plenary in Strasbourg, today unanimously elected Mateo Sorinas Balfegó as Secretary General of the Assembly for a five-year term, beginning on 1 February 2006. Mr Sorinas was born in Tarragona (Spain) on 13 March 1946. After obtaining a master’s degree in physical sciences from Complutense University, Madrid in 1968, he worked as a teacher in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, where he was a member of the executive committee of the Teachers’ Union.
04/10/2005 | Election observation
In the first round of the election for Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, held this morning, Thomas Hammarberg (Sweden) received 78 votes, Marek Antoni Nowicki (Poland) received 89 votes and Marc Verwilghen (Belgium) received 65 votes. No candidate having obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast, a second round ballot will be held tomorrow between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
04/10/2005 | President
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President René van der Linden today discussed possible fields of co-operation with UEFA officials, including ethics, good governance, the fights against racism and doping in sport. They also held an exchange of views on difficulties encountered by UEFA in promoting their activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina – the organisation of football structures, security in and around football arenas and visas for incoming football teams. UEFA’s main concern is the lack of co-operation and co-ordination between government authorities and football associations at both Entity and State level. The President will address a letter to the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina urging them to co-operate better, to overcome ethnic divisions in sport and to speed up the adoption of a law on sport at state level.
04/10/2005 | News
The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, addressing PACE today, called for "structured co-operation" between the Council of Europe and the OIC to promote understanding between cultures and religions, which he described as "the most pressing issue of our time". Extremism went against the spirit of Islamic values, Mr Ihsanoglu stressed, pointing out that Islamic civilisation in the past fourteen centuries had stood for human rights, justice, tolerance and compassion.
04/10/2005 | Session
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly today, Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos put forward proposals for an alliance of civilisations, supported by the Spanish government and the United Nations. The aim is to fight terrorism by emphasizing the importance of dialogue and co-operation between different cultures, in the cause of peace and global security, he said. Mr Moratinos invited the Council of Europe to play a major role in promoting intercultural and interfaith dialogue.
04/10/2005 | Session
Moldova has advanced significantly on the path of democratic reform during its ten-year membership of the Council of Europe, but a number of important commitments have not yet been met in a satisfactory manner, according to PACE. In a resolution adopted following a plenary debate in Strasbourg today, the parliamentarians said the pace of reform has been slowed because, in parallel with working on its democratic institutions, Moldova has had to build its national identity and deal with a separatist regime and foreign troops on the Transnistrian part of its territory.
04/10/2005 | Session
The history of the main religions, and the option of having none, should be taught with "complete impartiality" to European schoolchildren, according to PACE. Debating a report on education and religion, the Assembly said pupils should have the opportunity to learn about different religions in school – since a good general knowledge of religions can lead to a sense of tolerance – but should be taught that everyone has the same right to believe their religion is 'the true faith'.
03/10/2005 | President
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President René van der Linden paid tribute to Simon Wiesenthal, who died on 20 September at the age of 96, at the opening of the Assembly's autumn session. "Mr Wiesenthal devoted five decades of his life to hunting war criminals. Today, there are still war criminals at large, and we too must be relentless in our efforts and in our commitment to bringing them to justice. Whatever other issues may complicate our agenda, we must never forget that the principles that inspired Simon Wiesenthal are the principles that underlie our own organisation and that remain as valid and important now as they have ever been," he said.
03/10/2005 | News
"The New Neighbourhood Policy should be a great opportunity for the Council of Europe. By sharing our many years of experience and our unrivalled expertise, we can further enhance our co-operation with the European Union by contributing to the development, implementation and assessment of its external policies," PACE President René van der Linden said today in his opening speech to the PACE autumn session in Strasbourg.