Parliamentary Assembly 07/10/2013 Cyprus to mobilise against child sexual abuse . Strasbour, 4 October 2013 - A pilot project aimed at strengthening national policies to stop sexual violence against children, together with a video clip aimed at breaking the silence that surrounds child sexual abuse, will be presented during a series of events in Nicosia, Cyprus, from 11 to 14 October as part of the Council of Europe ONE in FIVE Campaign . According to Stella Kyriakides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), General Rapporteur on Children of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), available data suggest that about 1 in 5 children in Europe are victims of some form of sexual...

Parliamentary Assembly 07/10/2013 Lampedusa: call for investigation into allegations that boats failed to carry out rescue Parliamentary Assembly Strasbourg, 04.10.2013 – Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on “Lives lost in the Mediterranean”, today called for an investigation into allegations that fishing or other boats failed to go to the rescue of drowning persons off the island of Lampedusa. “I am deeply distressed at yet another tragedy in the Mediterranean, with lives lost from this one incident already reaching 111 and a final toll of 300 expected. Having investigated a catalogue...

Parliamentary Assembly Autumn Session 03/10/2013 ICRC President Maurer: “We share key objectives relating to the protection of human dignity” Peter Maurer Strasbourg, 3 October 2013 - “Council of Europe and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) share key objectives relating to the protection of human dignity”, underlined ICRC President Peter Maurer, while addressing the Parliamentary Assembly on Thursday. The former Swiss State Secretary for Foreign Affairs highlighted the humanitarian role of his Organisation, emphasizing action in the Balkans and in the Caucasian region. “It should be remembered that it is primarily to states and parties to the...

Parliamentary Assembly 03/10/2013 Assembly welcomes Syrian chemical weapons plan, but warns: ‘it won’t stop the war’ . Strasbourg, 03.10.2013 – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has welcomed the plan to eliminate Syrian chemical weapons, but warned that while it renews hopes for peace, “it does not stop the war”. In a resolution unanimously approved this morning, based on a report by Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC), the Assembly also insisted that perpetrators of all crimes against humanity in Syria to be brought to justice – including before the International Criminal Court if necessary. It wholeheartedly backed efforts to...

Council of Europe 02/10/2013 Reform of the Court of Human Rights: opening for signature of Protocol No. 16 European Court of Human Rights Strasbourg, 02.10.2013 – Protocol No. 16 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was opened for signature by member states at a ceremony held today at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg. This treaty was the result of work carried out on the reform of the European Court of Human Rights . At the conferences held in Interlaken (2010), Izmir (2011) and Brighton (2012) the member States stressed the necessity of supplementary measures to ensure that the Convention system remained...

Parliementary Assembly Autumn Session 02/10/2013 Call for protection of ‘whistleblowers’ who reveal state wrongdoing Strasbourg, 02.10.2013 – "Whistleblowers" who disclose state wrongdoing in the public interest should be protected from retaliation, provided they acted in good faith and followed procedures, according to the Parliamentary Assembly . The resolution on “National security and access to information” adopted today underlines that “legitimate, well-defined national security interests” are valid grounds for withholding information held by public authorities, but invoking “national security” as a ground for secrecy should...

Parliamentary Assembly Autumn Session 01/10/2013 ‘Indifference is the greatest danger!’: Sergey Naryshkin, Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin Strasbourg, 1 October 2013 - Highlighting Russia’s role in addressing the conflict in Syria in his address to the Parliamentary Assembly Tuesday, Sergey Naryshkin, Speaker of the Russian State Duma said it is Europe’s common responsibility actively to recall the lessons learnt from two world wars. Mr Naryshkin expressed support for Secretary General Jagland’s reform of the Council of Europe and called for the Parliamentary Assembly to move away from anachronistic country-based monitoring towards thematic monitoring, and to focus...

Commissioner for Human Rights 30/09/2013 Judicial reform needs to be accelerated in the Republic of Moldova Nils Muižnieks Strasbourg, 30/09/2013 - “The on-going reform of the judiciary in the Republic of Moldova should lead towards an independent, impartial and effective justice system able to improve human rights protection,” said Nils Muižnieks, Commissioner for Human Rights , releasing a report on his visit to the Republic of Moldova carried out from 4 to 7 March 2013.   The Justice Sector Reform Strategy for 2011-2016 is a major undertaking in this direction, but the reform process needs to be supported by adequate funding and concrete political measures....