PACE winter session: consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, situation in Gaza and the global financial crisis

The implementation of Resolution 1633 on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, adopted in October 2008, and the humanitarian consequences of the conflict will be one of the highlights of the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which will take place in Strasbourg from 26 to 30 January 2009.

The parliamentarians will discuss the reports by Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) and Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE), co-rapporteurs of the Assembly’s Monitoring Committee, and Corien W.A. Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), rapporteur of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, following their visits to these countries.

The PACE Bureau has proposed a current affairs debate on the situation in Gaza and an urgent debate on the consequences of the global financial crisis.

The Assembly will also discuss Armenia’s implementation of Resolutions 1609 and 1620, which PACE adopted in April 2008, and will give its opinion on a proposal by the PACE Monitoring Committee to suspend the Armenian delegation’s voting rights. The committee considers it “unacceptable” that persons could be charged and deprived of their liberty for political reasons and asks the Assembly to suspend the delegation’s voting rights until the authorities have clearly demonstrated their political will to resolve this issue.

The Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero [subject to confirmation], has been invited to address the Assembly on Tuesday 27 January. In the context of the Spanish chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos will address the parliamentarians on Wednesday 28 January. Philippe Kirsch, President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), will make a speech on Tuesday 27 during a debate on co-operation with the ICC. Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, will report on the state of the Organisation on Monday 26 January.

The agenda also includes attitudes to memorials open to different historical interpretations, the investigation of crimes allegedly committed by high officials during the Kuchma rule in Ukraine, access to rights for people with disabilities and the regulation of audiovisual media services.

Draft order of business

Monday 26 January 2009 (opening at 11.30am)

• Opening of the first part of the 2009 Ordinary Session
• Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the Assembly
• Progress report of the Bureau of the Assembly and the Standing Committee
• Communication from Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, on the state of the Council of Europe
• Access to rights for people with disabilities and their full and active participation in society

Tuesday 27 January 2009

• The implementation by Armenia of Assembly Resolutions 1609 (2008) and 1620 (2008) (Doc. 11786)
• Address by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain
• Co-operation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its universality and statement by Philippe Kirsch, President of the International Criminal Court
• Investigation of crimes allegedly committed by high officials during the Kuchma rule in Ukraine – the Gongadze case as an emblematic example
• Nomination of candidates and election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights

Wednesday 28 January 2009

• The implementation of Resolution 1633 (2008) on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia
• The humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia
• Communication from the Committee of Ministers to the Parliamentary Assembly presented by Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of Spain, Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers
• Palliative care: a model for innovative health and social policies
• The regulation of audiovisual media services

Thursday 29 January 2009

• Possible current affairs debate: the situation in Gaza
• Possible debate under urgent procedure: the consequences of the global financial crisis
• Private military and security firms and the erosion of the state monopoly on the use of force
• Attitude to memorials exposed to different historical interpretations in Council of Europe member states

Friday 30 January 2009

• Electronic democracy
• Feminicides
• Environmentally induced migration and displacement: a 21st century challenge