Council of Europe – Parliamentary AssembleSource: http://stars.coe.fr/SessionAgenda/ECALSES2_01.htm#Wednesday 25 April 2001
DRAFT ORDER OF BUSINESS
of the second part of the 2001 Ordinary Session
(23 - 27 April 2001)(...)
Wednesday 25 April 2001
8.30 a.m.
Political groups
10 a.m.
1. Election of judges to the European Court of Human
Rights (possibly 2nd round)
2 Situation in Kosovo
a. Situation in Kosovo and the neighbouring regions
(Doc. 9020) http://stars.coe.fr/doc/doc01/EDOC9020.htm
Rapporteur of the Political Affairs Committee: Mrs Tarja
Kautto (Finland, SOC)
b. Human rights and the rule of law in Kosovo
(Doc. 9057) http://stars.coe.fr/doc/doc01/EDOC9057.htm
Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and
Human Rights: Mr Cevdet Akçali (Turkey, EDG)
c. Humanitarian situation of returnees to Kosovo
(Doc. 9007 rev.) http://stars.coe.fr/doc/doc01/EDOC9007.htm
Rapporteur of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Demography: Mr John Connor (Ireland, EPP/CD)
d. Cultural situation in Kosovo
(Doc. 9053) http://stars.coe.fr/doc/doc01/EDOC9053.htm
Rapporteur of the Committee on Culture, Science and
Education: Mrs Elena Poptodorova (Bulgaria, SOC)
Joint debate and votes
1 p.m.
End of the sitting
Parliamentary Assembly debates the situation in Kosovo
Strasbourg, 25.04.2001 - The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly today pledged its support for efforts towards a political settlement for Kosovo and neighbouring regions and condemned recent violent acts in the region.
Politics, human rights, the rule of law, culture and the humanitarian situation for returning refugees were the focus of a joint debate on the region in the Assembly.
Tarja Kautto (Finland, Soc), speaking on behalf of the Political Affairs Committee, said violent actions by Albanian extremists in Kosovo, southern Serbian and " the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" must be strongly condemned. She called on the authorities to continue efforts to end the violence in a manner consistent with the rule of law. She said close cooperation was vital between the authorities of the region and the international community - particularly in view of the possible future legislative elections in Kosovo.
After discussing a report tabled by John Connor (Ireland, EPP) for the Committee on Migrations, Refugees and Demography on the situation of returnees to Kosovo, the Assembly asked the Committee of Ministers to request member states to abstain from any hasty action which might result an uncontrolled mass arrival of returnees in Kosovo and to provide full access to asylum procedures to asylum-seekers from the region. The Assembly called on member states to recognise that it was currently unacceptable to offer asylum applicants from Kosovo a relocation to Serbia or Montenegro and that forced repatriation of people at risk would very likely breach the 1951 Geneva Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Assembly asked member states not to forcibly return to Kosovo or expel people with special protection needs or belonging to vulnerable population groups or minorities. It said that it was not possible to repatriate minorities or incite them to go home. The Assembly urged the international and local organisations and bodies present in Kosovo to continue to cooperate, to look at conditions conducive to the safe, voluntary return of minorities as an absolute priority and to set the stage for a constructive, inter-ethnic dialogue open to all sides.
The Assembly said the Committee of Ministers should increase its political and financial support for the Council of Europe office in Pristina and give that office a mandate to monitor the process of return of all refugees to Kosovo, in close cooperation with other international and local organisations. It agreed to set up a working party composed of representatives of its relevant committees, which should build on existing initiatives towards inter-ethnic dialogue in Kosovo and establish a programme and a timetable of seminars to be held on Council of Europe premises. ./..
Cevdet Akçali (Turkey, EDG), for the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, noted that human rights continued to be widely flouted in Kosovo. He also expressed concern about the weaknesses of the legal system put in place by the UN. As the Council of Europe was at present the international organisation best placed to promote the protection of human rights and participate in the drafting of legislation, the Assembly recommended stepping up the organisation's presence in the field.
The Assembly called on the Committee of Ministers to support all of the Council of Europe's assistance programmes in Kosovo and also recommended giving more resources to the ICTY so that it could implement the necessary investigations and indictments. It said an autonomous assembly, able to make laws acceptable to everyone, should be set up rapidly.
Backing a report by Elena Poptodorova (Bulgaria, SOC) for the Committee on Culture, Science and Education, on the cultural situation in Kosovo, the Assembly called on the Committee of Ministers to assist the process of drafting a legal framework for provisional self-government in Kosovo in its fields of competence, support the ongoing project to train 26,000 teachers, complete the revision of curricula and textbooks and encourage the reform of higher education. Lastly, it recommended promoting a policy of equity in the schooling of all Kosovo children with a view to bridging the gap between ethnic groups, encouraging the development of local education initiatives designed to counteract segregationist thinking and promoting the use of non-formal education as a way of overcoming division and discrimination.
The full text of the recommendations is available
on the following web-site: http://stars.coe.fr/
Council of Europe – Parliamentary AssembleSource: http://stars.coe.fr/SessionAgenda/ECALSES2_01.htm#Wednesday 25 April 2001
DRAFT ORDER OF BUSINESS
of the second part of the 2001 Ordinary Session
(23 - 27 April 2001)(...)
Wednesday 25 April 2001
8.30 a.m.
Political groups
10 a.m.
1. Election of judges to the European Court of Human
Rights (possibly 2nd round)
2 Situation in Kosovo
a. Situation in Kosovo and the neighbouring regions
(Doc. 9020) http://stars.coe.fr/doc/doc01/EDOC9020.htm
Rapporteur of the Political Affairs Committee: Mrs Tarja
Kautto (Finland, SOC)
b. Human rights and the rule of law in Kosovo
(Doc. 9057) http://stars.coe.fr/doc/doc01/EDOC9057.htm
Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and
Human Rights: Mr Cevdet Akçali (Turkey, EDG)
c. Humanitarian situation of returnees to Kosovo
(Doc. 9007 rev.) http://stars.coe.fr/doc/doc01/EDOC9007.htm
Rapporteur of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Demography: Mr John Connor (Ireland, EPP/CD)
d. Cultural situation in Kosovo
(Doc. 9053) http://stars.coe.fr/doc/doc01/EDOC9053.htm
Rapporteur of the Committee on Culture, Science and
Education: Mrs Elena Poptodorova (Bulgaria, SOC)
Joint debate and votes
1 p.m.
End of the sitting
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