Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland replied to questions from members of the Assembly in a question and answer session during the Assembly’s summer part-session.
During this exchange, PACE members asked Mr Jagland for his reaction to the lifting of immunity from prosecution of Turkish members of parliament. The Secretary General responded by saying that he had already raised his concerns on this subject with the Turkish authorities, and expressed his hope that prosecutions would be avoided.
Another question concerned upcoming elections in Belarus and Russia, and the former’s continuing use of the death penalty. Mr Jagland said he hoped progress could be made regarding the death penalty, suggesting a moratorium on capital punishment as a first step which would lead to improved relations between Belarus and the Council of Europe. Concerning the elections in Belarus and Russia, Mr Jagland underlined the Assembly’s leading role in observing and monitoring them.
In response to a question about human rights in Crimea, Mr Jagland emphasised that the Council of Europe has been the only international organisation on the ground monitoring the human rights situation by meeting with key groups including representatives of civil society, Crimean Tatars and young people.
On the subject of the agreement between Turkey and the EU on the return of refugees and migrants, Mr Jagland said he supported it as the only option to avoid the continuation of people smuggling on a mass scale, provided the individual right to apply for asylum was maintained. He added that Greece was so far respecting this principle, and that the Council of Europe was closely monitoring the situation.
Other topics addressed included questions on the implementation of the action plan to combat terrorism and radicalisation, constitutional reforms in Poland, the improvement of gender balance in national parliaments and the execution of judgements of the European Court of Human Rights.