|
Themes |
|
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will address the Assembly
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I is due to address the Assembly on Monday 22 January, as a contribution to intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, one of the priorities of PACE President René van der Linden. Also invited to address the Assembly are the Prime Ministers of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, and Greece, Kostas Karamanlis. (More)
René van der Linden will visit Belarus from 18 to 20 January 2007 to engage in a dialogue with the authorities, the opposition and civil society - including students - with a view to encouraging democratic developments and promoting Council of Europe values in the country. Mr van der Linden will address the main concerns of the Assembly with regard to Belarus, including the functioning of the opposition, imprisonments for allegedly political reasons, freedom of expression and the death penalty. (More)
| ||||||||||||
|
'The death penalty perpetuates violence' PACE President René van der Linden deplored the execution of Saddam Hussein. 'The Council of Europe is completely opposed to the death penalty in all its forms, even for the most appalling criminals of this world. Human rights apply to every one of us, without exception', he said. (More)
PACE to observe parliamentary elections in Serbia A 19-member PACE team of observers, headed by Tadeusz Iwinski (Poland, SOC), will observe the 21 January parliamentary elections in Serbia alongside observers from OSCE/ODIHR and the OSCE and NATO Parliamentary Assemblies. The delegation will meet with representatives of political parties, as well as with NGOs and the media, before deploying around the country to observe the conduct of the vote, including in Kosovo. (More)
A new 93-page handbook sets out ways parliamentarians can press for the application of the new Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings by introducing legislation, allocating funding and lobbying their governments. This ground-breaking treaty – not yet in force, and so far ratified by only three countries – sets out ways to prosecute traffickers and protect victims, overseen by a monitoring mechanism. (More)
|
| |||||||||||
|
 | |||||||||||
A debate on the current situation in Kosovo on Wednesday 24 January, with the participation of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on the future status process for Kosovo, Martti Ahtisaari, is one of the highlights of the PACE Winter Session (Strasbourg, 22-26 January 2007). 
