PACE DEBATES THE STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY

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Strasbourg, 04.04.2007 – A special debate on the state of human rights and democracy in Europe – with contributions from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the heads of the main Council of Europe human rights monitoring mechanisms, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – will be a highlight of the spring plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which takes place from 16 to 20 April 2007 in Strasbourg.

Also due for debate, on Tuesday 17 April, is Montenegro’s accession to the Council of Europe, with the participation of the Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament Ranko Krivokapić.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is invited to address the Assembly on the same day at noon (to be confirmed), while San Marino Foreign Minister Fiorenzo Stolfi will present the traditional communication from the Committee of Ministers in the afternoon, and answer parliamentarians’ questions on behalf of the Council’s executive body.

Other issues on the draft agenda include Azerbaijan’s honouring of obligations and commitments, fair trial issues in criminal cases concerning espionage or divulging state secrets, the suppression of counterfeiting and the quality of medicines in Europe.

There have been requests for urgent debates on the situation in the Middle East and on the Council of Europe’s draft convention on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

A hearing on “Belarus: strategies towards democratisation”, on Tuesday 17 April, will bring together PACE members and members of the opposition in Belarus, including Alexander Milinkievich, Anatoly Lebedko and the wife of imprisoned opposition leader Aleksandr Kozulin.

In a special preview event to the debate on human rights and democracy, PACE President René van der Linden will answer written questions from the public in a live “video blog” on Monday 16 April (5-6 p.m).