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 | 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 | Elections
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 | Session
“The consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continue to dominate the agenda,” said Krišjānis Kariņš, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Chair of the Committee of Ministers, when addressing the Parliamentary Assembly. “Impunity cannot prevail,” he added. The minister...
11/10/2023 | Session
“Nothing can justify the atrocities committed by Hamas and there can be no ambiguity on this point,” today said Piero Fassino (Italy, SOC), at the opening of a current affairs debate on “Escalation of violence in the Middle East following the recent Hamas attack on Israel”. He expressed his full...
11/10/2023 | Session
PACE today emphasised that violence against women with disabilities, whether physical, sexual, psychological or economic, remained a taboo subject. The parliamentarians believe that society infantilises women with disabilities by not allowing them to make informed choices about their lives...