Foreign

Home page

Foreign

Spring session of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe starts today

27 April 2009 08:45 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Lachin Sultanova â€“ APA. Spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) starts in Strasbourg today, APA reports. Azerbaijani parliamentâ€™s delegation to PACE led by MP Samad Seyidov left for France to attend the session that will take place on April 27-30. Addresses by Finnish President Tarja Halonen and Spanish Prime Minister JosÃ© Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero are among highlights of the spring session. On the first day of the session there will be a short celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of the Council of Europe. Report will be made on the elections held in Council of Europe member states, as well as referendum held in Azerbaijan on amendments and annexes to the Constitution.

Two requests for debates under urgent procedure have been submitted, one from the Socialist Group on the functioning of democratic institutions in Moldova, and one from the Committee of Ministers for an opinion on draft Protocol No. 14 bis to the European Convention on Human Rights, which aims at simplifying the internal procedures of the European Court of Human Rights.

The parliamentarians are also due to debate the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, as well as the follow-up given by these two member states to the Assemblyâ€™s Resolution 1647. Other items on the agenda include the situation of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member states, the honouring of obligations and commitments by Serbia, and action to combat gender-based human rights violations, including abduction of women and girls. On the fringe of this debate, Humayra Abedin, a Bangladeshi doctor working in the United Kingdom who was abducted by her family and forcibly married, will give a press conference, together with her lawyer. Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation Miguel Ãngel Moratinos will present the Communication from the Committee of Ministers to the Assembly. Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg will also present his 2008 annual activity report.