23/03/2004 | President
“I condemn the missile-targeted murder by Israel this morning of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin,” said Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder today. “Whatever the alleged crimes committed by Sheikh Yassin, the state of Israel has taken upon itself to act as an executioner in occupied territory under its protection. This is not the rule of law, nor is it human rights. It also violates our ban on the death penalty, which must be observed and applied by all states whose parliaments enjoy observer status in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Making a martyr out of the spiritual leader of Hamas is not going to help the cause of peace in the Middle East,” said President Schieder. The Israeli Knesset has enjoyed observer status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 1957.
19/03/2004 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
The Assembly’s Culture Committee, meeting in the French city of Lille today, has denounced the deliberate destruction of churches and mosques during the outbreak of violence in Kosovo and Serbia. “As with others, I deplore the violence and call for an immediate end to it,” said Spanish senator Lluis Maria de Puig, who chairs the committee. “I am particularly horrified that places of culture are being deliberately targeted. Hundreds of years of history are going up in flames – along with hopes for a multi-ethnic society. While the protection of human life must always come first, I appeal to UNMIK, KFOR and the Serbian authorities to do what they can to protect these buildings and their contents.” An information report by British MP Eddie O’Hara on the protection of Kosovo’s cultural heritage was adopted by the committee.
19/03/2004 | President
“Just a few days ago, the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights organised a hearing on the human rights situation in Kosovo. The meeting focused on ways to protect human rights of all citizens of Kosovo. Today, Serbian villages across Kosovo are in flames, and a raging mob is set to destroy orthodox churches as symbols of the Serbian presence in Kosovo. Their acts are disgraceful, but so is the absence of clear and unequivocal condemnation of the anti-Serb violence by the Kosovo Albanian leadership. Shifting the blame to the other side, and attempts to exploit the escalation of ethnic violence to further the political cause of the majority population, are unacceptable. Kosovo cannot build its future on the blood of innocent people and the ashes of their burned homes and churches."
18/03/2004 | President
“Seven days after the tragedy of Atocha, El Pozo and Santa Eugenia, the images of horror provoked by terrorist bombs are still on everyone’s mind. 11 March – and the more than two hundred victims savagely murdered on that day – will be forever engraved in the collective memory of Europe and the world. (…) The message we should draw from the tragedy of Madrid is that in the face of such horror our anger is human, normal and justified. I say anger, not hate. Anger can make us stronger, hate only weakens us. Anger may help us to win, but if we succumb to hate, we have already lost”, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder said today, speaking in Strasbourg at a conference marking the tenth anniversary of ECRI.
18/03/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris on 25 March, is due to take position on amendments submitted to its draft resolution on euthanasia, including those in an opinion of the Legal Affairs Committee. The issue is again provisionally scheduled for debate during the Assembly's spring session (26-30 April).
18/03/2004 | News
The national, regional and global causes behind high unemployment; fostering job-creation and mobility in Europe’s labour markets; and boosting social cohesion through the creation of more and better jobs were discussed in Paris on 26 March at a hearing organised by the Assembly’s Social and Economic Affairs Committees.
18/03/2004 | Election observation
The 28 March Parliamentary election in Georgia demonstrated commendable progress in relation to previous elections. However, the continued intimidation and physical abuse against opposition supporters and journalists in Adjara, casts a shadow over the overall progress in the election process, concludes the International Election Observation Mission. Matyas Eörsi, Head of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s Delegation added that the Georgian paradox revealed promising elections with disconcerting effects. “This poll was better organized and more democratic than previous ones. Yet it almost resulted in a one-party parliament, which does reflect the will of the people, but cannot reflect the wide diversity of views indispensable for meaningful debates on Georgia’s future."
18/03/2004 | President
Assembly President made the following statement today: “The outbreak of violence in Kosovo, and its heavy human toll, has already been unanimously condemned by the international community. KFOR is sending additional troops to the province to prevent any further clashes and bloodshed. Meanwhile, in Belgrade, Nis and other cities across Serbia, protests provoked by the outbreak of violence, in some cases degenerated into a disgraceful display of ethnic hatred and vandalism. Two mosques have been burned, and a number of policemen and journalists have been brutally assaulted. While concern for the security of the Serbian population in Kosovo is justified, and shared by the international community as a whole, the events of last night have only aggravated the situation of the victims of ethnic violence in Kosovo. Again, I call on Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders to unconditionally condemn and do all in their power to stop all acts of violence, including those committed by members of their own ethnic group.”
17/03/2004 | News
Assembly President Peter Schieder today expressed his shock and consternation over the loss of human lives during the outbreak of violence in Kosovo. He also extended his condolences to the families of the victims. He expressed his concern over the current situation and called upon Kosovo Serbian and Albanian leaders to exercise restraint and use all their influence to stop the violence immediately. "I hope the escalation of tension in Kosovo will not be allowed to continue”, Peter Schieder said. “We have to ensure that the process of stabilisation and consolidation of the rule of law in Kosovo goes on in order to guarantee the security and human rights of all Kosovo citizens", he stressed, calling for dialogue aimed at resolving the situation in a non-violent way. He also called on UNMIK to fully investigate all the circumstances of the outbreak of violence.
16/03/2004 | President
“The UN Commission on Human Rights, meeting in Geneva from 15 March to 23 April, is due to consider a resolution put forward by Brazil on sexual orientation and human rights. The resolution is of great importance as it would be the first general statement opposing discrimination based on sexual orientation at the global level,” Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder stressed in an open letter published today.
15/03/2004 | Election observation
The Russian Presidential Election on 14 March was generally well administered and reflected the consistently high public approval rating of the incumbent president but lacked elements of a genuine democratic contest. In addition to a dearth of meaningful debate and genuine pluralism, the election process failed to meet an important commitment concerning treatment by the state-controlled media, in particular television on a non-discriminatory basis. Those are the conclusions of the International Election Observation Mission.
12/03/2004 | President
In a letter sent to the Speakers of the two chambers of the Spanish Parliament, Luisa Fernanda Rudi and Juan José Lucas, Assembly President Peter Schieder firmly condemned the bomb attacks in Madrid: "We democrats all feel horror and anger at such a display of inhumanity and hatred. Nothing can ever justify those who defend terrorism," he said.