13/10/2023 | Session
The Assembly held three urgent debates on "Humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh", "Call for the immediate release of Osman Kavala" and "Ensuring a just peace in Ukraine and lasting security in Europe", as well as two current affairs debates on "Escalation of violence in the Middle-East...
13/10/2023 | Session
The Assembly strongly condemned “the systemic violence” against women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban. The parliamentarians urged member States to respect UNHCR's Guidance Note and especially not to return Afghans to Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, where over 95% of Afghan refugees are...
13/10/2023 | Session
Addictive behaviours in children can have a “disastrous” impact on their mental and physical health and their development, PACE has pointed out, urging innovative new policies to prevent early addiction, more research, increased cooperation with the digital industry, bans on the sale of...
13/10/2023 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
A PACE committee is calling for human rights to be placed back at the heart of medical supply chains – pointing out that the current system for supplying drugs and other medical products is both ineffective, resulting in shortages, and discriminatory. “Medical products cannot be governed by...
12/10/2023 | Election observation
A “road map” for handling elections in times of crisis – a new publication setting out the conclusions of May’s successful conference in Bern on this theme – was launched today at a reception marking the 60th anniversary of Switzerland’s accession to the Council of Europe. The 58-page illustrated...
12/10/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A livestreamed public hearing on "The human rights and humanitarian situation of Karabakh Armenians and the international obligations of Azerbaijan" took place today in Strasbourg on the margins of the Assembly's autumn plenary session. Participants included: * Thomas de Waal, scholar and writer...
12/10/2023 | Session
“The EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights remains a priority, but is still also an obligation, due to the Treaty of Lisbon. It's very clear. You can count on my personal commitment in this regard,” today said Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, addressing the...
12/10/2023 | Session
The price of war will always be much higher than that of preventing it. However, after a gradual decline, the number of armed conflicts in the world started to rise again in 2010. Some "35 conflicts are currently ongoing, and the international order has been put under an existential threat as a...
12/10/2023 | Session
PACE today condemned Russia's ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, stressing the importance of upholding Council of Europe standards and calling for “a united front to stop the aggression and win a peace which is comprehensive, just and lasting, ensuring that the rule of law prevails over...
12/10/2023 | Session
During an urgent debate, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting in Strasbourg in plenary session, called on Türkiye to “comply with binding judgments” of the European Court of Human Rights, and “to immediately release Osman Kavala, who remains unlawfully detained in...
12/10/2023 | Session
PACE has called on Azerbaijan to “create a climate of trust and the material conditions” for Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh to be able to return to their homeland – including active steps to encourage and reassure them to do so. In a resolution based on a report by Domagoj Hajduković (Croatia...
11/10/2023 | Election observation
A 26-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Mireille Clapot (France, ALDE), will travel to Poland from 13 to 16 October to observe the conduct of the parliamentary elections on 15 October, alongside observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly...