2012 ORDINARY SESSION

________________________

(Fourth part)

REPORT

Thirty-first Sitting

Tuesday 2 October 2012 at 3.30 p.m.

ADDENDUM 1

The honouring of obligations and commitments

by the Russian Federation

      The following texts were submitted for inclusion in the official report by members who were present in the Chamber but were prevented by lack of time from delivering them.

Mr JAKIČ (Slovenia) — As is stated in the report before us, it was not an easy task for the rapporteurs to prepare the report, considering the size and diversity of Russia and the important changes this country is undergoing. The overall impression might be that the report is rather negative toward Russia, but in my opinion, this is not the case and was not its primary aim either.

That is why I would underline – or at least suggest – that the conclusions also contain information on the progress made in the fulfilment of commitments by Russia in various fields. The fact is that progress is mentioned in the draft resolution, but the absence of a positive assessment in the conclusions of the report is too obvious. Besides justified criticism in the report it is important that we encourage and support countries in their efforts in the fields where progress is already evident.

I am sure we all agree on the importance of free and fair elections, party pluralism, the separation of powers, the checks and balances system and media pluralism, as well as an active and well-organised civil society, including in the form of NGOs which have to be given the right and ability to operate independently.

We also concur on the importance of the independence of the judiciary, combating corruption, respecting the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, abolishing the death penalty, not only on a declarative level but in practice, and the necessity to combat abuses by law enforcement agencies.

Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience and religion, protection of minorities and the fight against xenophobia and racial intolerance are core elements of democracy that should be respected – with no exception to that rule.

After all, the Council of Europe was founded to draw attention to deficiencies in the field of respect of fundamental rights and freedoms, and it is of utmost importance that we as parliamentarians pay particular attention to ensuring that such are respected.

Mr ALIGRUDIĆ (Serbia) — Let me first congratulate the rapporteurs on their exhaustive and thoroughly prepared report.

At the outset, I believe that it needs to be underlined that the Russian Federation has achieved significant progress in meeting its obligations and commitments ranging from reform of the electoral system, the position of the political parties and judicial reform to the de facto abolition of the death penalty by the decision of the constitutional court.

The rapporteurs have pointed out several issues, shortcomings and concerns with regard to the fulfilment of Russia’s respective commitments. Some of the concerns are justified, but many of them are similar to those existing in a number of member states.

As you are aware, in the course of the past several years the draft recommendations have not been proposed as part of the practice within the monitoring procedure. Personally, I have nothing against it. However, the recommendations that are before us are very particular. They refer to the Committee of Ministers for further consideration all 45 issues mentioned in paragraph 23, regardless of their importance and political weight. This is by all means a precedent and it could undermine the legitimacy of the Assembly. The resolutions and the opinions of this Assembly have always been the result of the dedicated work of us parliamentarians and they should be perceived as such. I believe that we should have certain demands for the Committee of Ministers to consider, but such recommendations could easily be read as an expression of weakness of the Assembly and our doubt about further development of a meaningful dialogue with the Russian Federation. I do not believe that this is the case. I think that we should not offend any of the member states with such actions, especially when the state in question has clearly demonstrated that it has made significant steps forward in the past few years.

Dear colleagues, I am urging you to vote against the recommendations and by doing so uphold and protect the legitimacy and the effectiveness of this distinguished body.

Mr VILLUMSEN (Denmark) — I would like to thank the rapporteurs for this report. It is a good report that has been improved upon, for example in the paragraphs mentioning the conviction of the Pussy Riot group in which we demand their immediate release. I find this a very proper and correct demand.

I hope the Assembly will adopt Amendments 13 and 15 concerning the violations of freedom of assembly and freedom of speech for LGBT people. Those amendments will make the report sufficient on this issue as well. However, I have been surprised to see the developments since the Monitoring Committee meeting in Paris. Following that meeting, the draft recommendation has been introduced.

I understand the wish to have recommendations in respect of the monitoring procedure, and I will suggest that at the next Monitoring Committee meeting we make a decision to introduce this practice in general, but I will warn against introducing recommendations only in the case of Russia. I am afraid that such a step will be counterproductive and will harm this good report, as the Russian authorities can reject the report on claims of unequal treatment. We should not give them such an easy escape.