Politics
The Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize was awarded to Murat Arslan in Strasburg yesterday. Murat Arslan is the Turkish magistrate currently in prison. The final trio of candidates included also an Austrian Jesuit, Father Georg Sporschill, who has been working with street boys and girls in Romania, Moldavia and Austria for years. The ceremony took place during the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), going on in Strasburg. Today, the World Day against Death Penalty is being celebrated: apart from the joint declaration of Mogherini (EU) and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Jagland (SIR spread the news yesterday), the Council dedicates one convention morning to “Return of the death penalty in Europe: genuine threat or populist fiction?”, set up by the NGO Conference in collaboration with FIACAT (Fédération Internationale de l’Action des Chrétiens pour l’Abolition de la Torture). On Thursday, 12 October, the Report “Prosecuting and punishing the crimes against humanity or even possible genocide committed by Daesh” (speaker: Pieter Omtzigt) will be debated. The Report denounces the genocide character of acts against religious minorities (in particular: Christians, Yazidis and non-Sunni Muslims) in Syria. On the same day, the Report “The use of new technology in human beings” will be debated and approved. Speaker: Petra de Sutter. The report points out the challenges and risks posed by new genetic-editing technologies. Moreover, on Thursday, the Report on elimination of discriminations against intersex people should be approved.
