FOR THE ATTENTION OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE HONOURING OF OBLIGATIONS AND COMMITMENTS BY MEMBER STATES

 

Secretariat of the Assembly

 

Synopsis N° 2001/125

7 November 2001

            The Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe, meeting in Strasbourg on Tuesday 6 November 2001 with Mr Mota Amaral in the Chair:

-           Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights: held an exchange of views with Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles;

-           Ukraine (co-rapporteurs: Mrs Severinsen, Denmark, LDR and Mrs Wohlwend, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD): in the absence of the co-rapporteurs heard a statement by the Ukrainian delegation on the follow-up to Resolution 1262 (2001);

-           Russia (co-rapporteurs: Mr Atkinson, United Kingdom, EDG, and Mr Bindig, Germany, SOC): in the absence of the co-rapporteurs heard a statement by the Russian delegation on the comments they had presented on the draft report on the honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation;

-          Armenia (co-rapporteurs: Mrs Belohorska, Slovakia, EDG, and Mr Jaskiernia, Poland, SOC): heard a statement by Mrs Belohorska on her fact-finding visit (15-18 October 2001) and authorised the co-rapporteurs to follow the discussions in the Venice Commission concerning Armenia;

-          Azerbaijan (co-rapporteurs: Mr Gross, Switzerland, SOC, and Mr Martinez-Casan, Spain, EPP/CD): heard a statement by Mr Gross on the fact-finding visit (29 October – 3 November 2001), took note of the publication of a report on cases of alleged political prisoners in Armenia and Azerbaijan, prepared by independent experts at the initiative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and approved a proposal by the co-rapporteurs to consider the issue of the political prisoners with the Azeri authorities, Mr Clerfayt, rapporteur of the Legal Affairs Committee and, if appropriate, the Secretary General’s experts;

-          Albania (co-rapporteurs: Mr Smorawinski, Poland, EPP/CD, and Mr Soendergaard, Denmark, UEL): took note of the recommendations in the report published by OSCE/ODHIR on the recent parliamentary elections, and held an exchange of views on the present political situation in the country;

-           Proposal to set up a sub-committee: held an exchange of views and decided to return to this matter on the basis of the Chairman’s revised draft memorandum;

-           Post-monitoring dialogue: “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”: held an exchange of views on the contribution of the Macedonian delegation to the post-monitoring dialogue and asked its Chairman to present a memorandum in the framework of this dialogue;

-           Post-monitoring dialogue with the Czech Republic: approved a memorandum by the Chairman and asked him to write to the Chairman of the Czech parliamentary delegation to request further information about the follow-up to Recommendation 1338 (1997);

-           Post-monitoring dialogue with Lithuania: approved a memorandum by the Chairman and asked him to write to the Chairman of the Lithuanian parliamentary delegation to request further information about the follow-up to Recommendation 1339  (1997);

-           Georgia (co-rapporteur: Mr Eörsi, Hungary, LDR, and …): appointed Mr Peter Weiss (Slovakia, SOC) co-rapporteur and authorised the co-rapporteurs to make a fact-finding visit to the country on dates to be arranged;

-           Next meeting: decided to meet in Paris on 11 December 2001.

 

Egbert Ausems, Géza Mezei, Valérie Clamer, Marine Trévisan