Motion for a resolution | Doc. 12225 | 28 April 2010

Mediation by the Council of Europe in cases of hostage-taking of Council of Europe member states citizens

Signatories: Mr Felix MÜRI, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Mario BARBI, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Iosif Veniamin BLAGA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Imre CZINEGE, Hungary ; Ms Emelina FERNÁNDEZ SORIANO, Spain, SOC ; Ms Blanca FERNÁNDEZ-CAPEL BAÑOS, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Andreas GROSS, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Mike HANCOCK, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Jean HUSS, Luxembourg, SOC ; Mr Shpëtim IDRIZI, Albania, ALDE ; Ms Francine JOHN-CALAME, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Michail KATRINIS, Greece, SOC ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Theo MAISSEN, Switzerland, EPP/CD ; Mr Bernard MARQUET, Monaco, ALDE ; Mr Dick MARTY, Switzerland, ALDE ; Ms Liliane MAURY PASQUIER, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Christine McCAFFERTY, United Kingdom ; Mr Gebhard NEGELE, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD ; Mr Maximilian REIMANN, Switzerland, ALDE ; Ms Marina SCHUSTER, Germany, ALDE ; Mr Marc SPAUTZ, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Ms Doris STUMP, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Luca VOLONTÈ, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Andrej ZERNOVSKI, ''The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'', ALDE

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

The Parliamentary Assembly notes that regularly nationals of Council of Europe member states are abducted or detained illegally as hostages by pirates, terrorists or states acting arbitrarily, without having the possibility to defend themselves by legal means.

Frequently, such hostage-taking is followed by a ransom demand against the government of the state of which the hostage is a national.

In this connection, the cases of the Bulgarian nurses (1999) or of the two Swiss ABB engineers detained in Libya (2009) and the case of Italian citizens in Africa (2010) are recalled.

Because of the importance and urgency of this matter, the Assembly instructs its competent committee to draft a report proposing ways and means for Council of Europe mediation in cases of hostage-taking including the appointment of a High Representative or the constitution of a group of experts supporting the concerned states and families.