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PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS : CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

 

Strasbourg, 17.03.2006 - The Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is deeply concerned that the Presidential elections to be held in Belarus on Sunday will take place in a rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the country. Evidently the authorities in Belarus are failing to meet basic international standards for democratic elections, as the pre-election campaign is dominated by a climate of fear, involving intimidation and detention of candidates and their campaign representatives.

 

 

The Chairman of the Committee of Ministers notes and supports the committed work of the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission to observe the presidential elections, but deeply regrets that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was not given this opportunity, for the sake of transparency of the ballot and the credibility of its results.

 

The Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe urges the Belarusian authorities to ensure the conduct of a free and fair electoral process on 19 March, in compliance with international election standards. The Chairman calls upon the authorities not to prevent the Belarusian people from exercising their fundamental rights of assembly and freedom of speech in this context. Election-related violence is unacceptable and all participants in political life in Belarus must act in a responsible way to secure a peaceful election process. 

 

 

Council of Europe Press Division
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
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pressunit@coe.int
www.coe.int/press

 

 

 

 

 

Nelson says: "European I may be"

 

 

 

Assembly strongly condemns human rights abuses committed by Franco regime

 

[17/03/06] The Parliamentary Assembly has strongly condemned the extensive and wide-ranging human rights abuses committed by the Franco regime in Spain from 1939 to 1975. In a recommendation adopted unanimously, the Standing Committee – which acts in the name of the Assembly between plenary sessions – called on the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers to adopt a similar declaration at international level and to designate the 18 July 2006 as an official day of condemnation of the Franco regime. The report, by Leo Brincat (Malta, SOC), lists executions, torture and political prisoners as among abuses committed by the regime. 

Adopted recommendation (provisional)

Mr Brincat's report

 

 

'Freedom of expression is not negotiable, but has never been synonymous with a right to insult the faith of others', according to the Chair of the Culture Committee

 

[17/03/06] "Freedom of expression is not negotiable, a view that is shared Europe-wide. But while that freedom is not open to negotiation, it has never been synonymous with a right to insult the faith of others or to slander their belief", according to Jacques Legendre (France, EPP/CD), speaking at the opening of today's current affairs debate on freedom of expression and respect for religious beliefs, organised on the occasion of the meeting of the Standing Committee of the PACE. "And that freedom, if it is to be humanistic and respectful, must allow for the fact that the faith of a believer is absolute, and that true suffering may result if that absolute is denied or caricatured", Mr Legendre continued.  (more...)

 

 

Standing Committee

Standing Committee sets out vision for regenerating Europe’s coalfields

 

[17/03/06] The Parliamentary Assembly has called for the preservation and development of Europe’s mining sites for cultural and environmental purposes as well as tourism and small businesses. “Without coalmining, Europe would never have played its part in the world,” said the Assembly’s Standing Committee in a resolution. Presenting the report, Jacques Legendre (France, EPP/CD) dedicated it to the memory of those who died in the mining disaster in Courrières, which took place exactly 100 years ago. The report, by Jean-Pierre Kucheida (France, SOC), also calls for the training of men and women from coalmining areas, solidarity with victims of mining accidents and further study of the “exemplary” social structures inherited from mining. 

 

 

Standing Committee

The Assembly must condemn discriminatory practices that particularly affect Roma and families of African origin in certain Council of Europe member countries

 

[17/03/06] At a debate of the PACE Standing Committee today in Paris on a dynamic housing policy as an element of European social cohesion, rapporteur Denis Jacquat (France, EPP/CD) stressed that the right to housing as a fundamental social right secured in the revised Social Charter of the Council of Europe is the prime foundation for housing policies. "The Assembly must condemn once more the discriminatory practices, whether active or passive, that particularly affect Roma and families of African origin in certain Council of Europe member countries,“ said Mr Jacquat..  (more...)

 

 

 

 

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