AA13CR29

AS (2013) CR 29
Addendum 3

2013 ORDINARY SESSION

________________________

(Fourth part)

REPORT

Twenty-ninth sitting

Monday 30 September 2013 at 3 p.m.

Communication from the Committee of Ministers
Parliamentary Questions for Oral Answers

This document contains written replies to oral questions not answered by the Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers during the debate.

Question from Ms Mateu Pi (Andorra, ALDE)

On behalf of the ALDE group, I thank you, Minister, for your precise report. We were informed that during the meeting of Deputies on 11 September the Committee of Ministers mentioned the possibility of organising a mission in Hungary to support the implementation of freedom of expression in the media of that country. Can you provide us with further details, and will the Committee of Ministers consider doing the same thing in other member States?

Reply

As the Honourable Parliamentarian may know, there have been technical visits by the Secretariat to Hungary to discuss media legislation.

When it comes to visits by the Committee of Ministers to member States, these can only take place when a decision of the Committee has provided a legal basis for this. This has been the case in the past with regard to member States subject to a monitoring procedure decided by the Committee. The possibility of organising a mission to Hungary has not been discussed within the Committee of Ministers.

Question from Mr Biedroń (Poland, SOC)

Since Romania is in everyone’s eyes, my question is about preventing the persecution of, and threats and acts of violence against, human rights defenders, LGBT – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender – groups and organisations working for gender equality in Romania. I am thinking of the recent attacks on clubs and the diversity march in 2012, and the closing down of those organisations and what the government is doing.

Reply

In reply to the Honourable Parliamentarian, I should point out that no alleged incidents concerning Romania have been reported to the Committee of Ministers. This being so, I would recall the Committee of Ministers’ Declaration on action to improve the protection of human rights defenders adopted in 2008, as well as its Recommendation of 2012 on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.