26/08/2005 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
After a three-day visit to Libya, Tony Lloyd, (United Kingdom, SOC), the Parliamentary Assembly’s rapporteur, spoke with satisfaction of his high-level meetings with Abdelrahman Shalgam, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nassar Al-Mabruk, Minister of Public Security, and Mohammed Zikree, Deputy Minister of Justice, concerning the fate of the five Bulgarian nurses who have been sentenced to death.
25/08/2005 | President
Constitutional reform in Armenia, the forthcoming elections in Azerbaijan and reforms in Georgia were the main issues discussed during high-level meetings held by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), René van der Linden during his visit to the South Caucasus from 18 to 23 August. Overall, the President concluded that the reform process in the South-Caucasus as a whole needs to be boosted.
24/08/2005 | President
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President (PACE) René van der Linden today completed his visit to Azerbaijan and with it his week-long visit to the South Caucasus. In Azerbaijan he discussed principally the issues of the November Parliamentary elections, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and political prisoners, with a range of actors. The President stressed that the November elections would be a test case for Azerbaijan and an important opportunity for the international community to see that the government was doing its utmost to ensure free and fair elections.
23/08/2005 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) rapporteur Tony Lloyd (United Kingdom, SOC), is due to meet representatives of the Libyan authorities in Tripoli from 22 to 23 August, in order to raise the question of the fate of the five Bulgarian nurses condemned to capital punishment for having caused the death of 46 children and contaminated another 380 through blood transfusions causing an AIDS epidemic at the children’s hospital in Benghazi. The medical staff was arrested without charges by the Libyan police in 1999 and allegedly suffered severe torture during police and secret service interrogation.
23/08/2005 | President
Strasbourg, 23.08.2005 - Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President René van der Linden today welcomed the completion of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. “I hope that the partial withdrawal from the West Bank will follow without incidents,” he stressed appealing for calm and restraint. He also, once again, urged the Palestinian Authority to prevent acts of terror in an effective manner. He finally expressed his conviction that the withdrawal would provide impetus to the Middle East peace process on the basis of the Road Map.
22/08/2005 | President
The President welcomed the progress made since the Rose Revolution, while recognising that state and society can not be transformed overnight. Nevertheless, the President urged the authorities to maintain the momentum of reform so as to ensure that all obligations and commitments were met within the previously extended deadlines.
22/08/2005 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Strasbourg, 24.08.2005 - A rapporteur of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold (Switzerland, SOC), will visit Ukraine from 29 August to 1 September to investigate the alleged disappearance of newborn babies in mysterious circumstances. German media had reported that two babies born in a clinic in Kharkov at the end of 2002 had been taken away from their mothers a few hours after being born.
19/08/2005 | President
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President René van der Linden today completed a two-day visit to Armenia, as part of his visit to the South-Caucasus from 18-23 August at - as he stressed - “a crucial time for the country”. The President urged dialogue between the government, opposition and civil society. The constitutional reform was a test case for further democratic development in Armenia and of its willingness to fulfil its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe, he said.
17/08/2005 | President
Strasbourg, 17.08.2005 – Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President René van der Linden (PACE) has expressed sadness and consternation on hearing that Frère Roger, founder of the Taizé community, had been murdered during a prayer vigil last night attended by more than 2 500 young people from all parts of Europe. The President paid tribute to a man of peace who had worked tirelessly for a church close to all of humankind, a place for reconciliation, sharing and simplicity. He also encouraged Frère Aloïs, Frère Roger's designated successor, to continue to work for peace, reconciliation and trust between human beings - all values upheld by the Taizé community through its very existence and through the difficult work it did every day - and which also lie at the heart of the Council of Europe’s mission.
05/08/2005 | President
PACE President René van der Linden is to make an official visit to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia from 18 to 23 August. He is due to meet Presidents, Prime Ministers, Foreign Affairs Ministers, Speakers of Parliament and national delegations to PACE of all three countries, as well as NGO representatives and other members of civil society, to discuss a range of issues including proposed constitutional reform in Armenia, forthcoming elections in Azerbaijan and recent developments in Georgia.
03/08/2005 | President
PACE President René van der Linden today called on the authorities of Iran not to bypass the historic opportunity to come to an agreement with France, Germany and the United Kingdom on its nuclear programme. “The EU offer is indeed generous and will lead to a ‘win-win’ situation for all parties,” he said. The President recalled Resolution 1436 (2005), adopted by PACE in April 2005, which he said “gave due consideration to Iran’s legitimate security and economic concerns”, but nonetheless condemned the incompatibility of its nuclear activities with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which it is a party. Iran borders three Council of Europe member states. The President reiterated the Assembly’s confidence in the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency and its support for the European initiative. “The Assembly, for its part, is ready to engage in a dialogue with Iran for an open society and democratic values”, the President said.
01/08/2005 | News
"The statement by the IRA to henceforth renounce violence is a major step forward toward a peaceful solution to the Northern Ireland conflict and is to be warmly welcomed by all those who believe in the primacy of peace and an orderly political process," PACE President René van der Linden stated today. "We must now hope that this commitment will be honoured by the IRA in its entirety and met with the necessary trust and positive response by all those involved in the peace process, leading as soon as possible to the restoration of devolved government in the province," he concluded.