Terrorism, “absolute horror”

The tragic series of attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait stormed in the Assembly Hall of the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg on June 26, during the final debates of the summer plenary meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE-June 22-26). The concept of “absolute horror” was expressed by CoE Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, while for Anne Brasseur, PACE president, “violent extremism and terrorism undermine the very foundations of democratic societies and are totally unacceptable”, and called upon all 324 members of the Assembly “to convey in strong and clear terms their stand against terrorism and against hatred and intolerance that fuel it”. During the proceedings, MEPs reconfirmed Gabriella Battaini Dragoni (Italy), who completed her first term in office, as deputy secretary general of the Council of Europe. UN and CoE. On 23 June the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon assured the support of the United Nations to Europe in the fight against violent extremism, radicalization leading to terrorism, the emergence of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and related forms of discrimination. He expressed appreciation for the work of the organism in Strasbourg to that regard. To counter the threat of terrorism, he added, “it may be necessary to adopt security measures and even resort to military action”. Ban welcomed the support of the Council of Europe to Ukraine, renewing the appeal “to do everything possible to ensure that the involved parties rigorously implement the Minsk agreements and reach a political solution”. He requested the creation of “legal channels” to Europe for all refugees and asylum seekers (resettlement, family reunification, work and study visas),that were subject of debate among the parliamentarians. Ukraine. A painful, yet unsolved issue involves missing persons during the Ukrainian conflict. In a resolution adopted on the basis of the report by Jim Sheridan (United Kingdom) the Assembly asked Ukrainian and Russian authorities as well as seperatist groups controlling the occupied Territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to share information and adopt measures to help families find and identify the remains of their dear ones. In particular, it was proposed to set up a joint working group tasked with coordinating the various actions. Between Syria and Turkey. For the UN the war in Syria triggered the worst humanitarian crisis of our times, as stated by MEP from Anatolia Reha Denemeç, who asked for “a common European response to the challenges of migration” in neighbouring Turkey that “accepted two million Syrian refugees”. Hence the invitation to the members of the Assembly to urge European leaders to “assume their responsibilities towards refugees”, accepting part of them of their territories and supporting the countries that “endure most of the burden”. For Denemeç, the “sharing of the burden” is “a humanitarian duty”. Russian Federation. Towards the Russian delegation the Parliamentary Assembly maintains all the sanctions imposed, but leaves the door open to dialogue. In their resolution adopted on the basis of the report of Stefan Schennach (Austria), MEPs noted the lack of progress in the commitments required of Moscow, expressing concern over the decision of the Russian delegation to suspend contacts with the Assembly until the end of 2015, and renewing their demands for the withdrawal of troops from the territory of Ukraine and the full implementation of the agreements of Minsk. MEPs equally reaffirmed the illegality of the annexation of Crimea. Against racism and intolerance. Faced with the rising tide of racism, xenophobia and intolerance that worms its way across the continent, on a basis of a report by Milena Santerini (Italy), the Assembly asked in a resolution “that the legal framework on hate speech includes the broadest possible range of grounds of discrimination”, including “race”, colour, ethnicity, language, religion, disability, migrant status, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity” as well as regulations by national parliaments and political parties with penalties in case of acts of racism and incitement to hatred.