Tag: Council of Europe

We are deeply concerned that the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2024 promotes the so-called Chat Control law (officially known as “Regulation… to prevent and combat child sexual abuse”), which targets EU citizens’ and residents’ private, encrypted communications in an unprecedented manner. This proposal is going to be discussed by the EU […]

The Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) welcomes the opportunity to participate in this consultation of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) concerning “Technical Standards specifying certain requirements of Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA)”. We believe our comments will help to shape the regulation of the use of crypto-assets in line with fundamental rights not only in the EU, as well as the new AML/CFT Regulation, and will be reflected in the relevant report and recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation Europe (OSCE PA), as well as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations regarding non-profit organisations.

1. Building True Change Coalition and Its Mission The Building True Change Coalition (BTC Coalition) is a global network of freedom fighters united by the mission of harnessing the power of Bitcoin to protect fundamental rights and promote financial inclusion. Its members include human rights defenders, political activists, Bitcoin entreprenuers and industry experts. The coalition […]

In light of the ongoing discussion on better integration of the work of civil society in the works of national parliaments and international parliamentary assemblies, the Open Dialogue Foundation has been a vocal proponent and advocate for more transparent, organised and fair regulation, benefitting civil society. We believe that the expertise, input and advocacy work […]

Thanks to the latest resolution of the Council of Europe, the Open Dialogue Foundation’s Lyudmyla Kozlovska hopes that she will be able to effectively appeal the ban on entering Poland and learn the reasons for her expulsion by the Polish authorities. “The Council of Europe stands up for foreigners prosecuted for political reasons,” said Kozlovska […]

On 28 January 2021, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on judges in Poland and the Republic of Moldova. The resolution, resulting from ODF’s advocacy efforts back in 2018, urges the countries’ authorities to uphold the rule of law and ensure judicial independence. Prior to passing the resolution the Assembly voted on a series of amendments. Three out of five of the amendments that ODF’s team has helped to draw up and advocated for, further detailing the Polish government’s rule of law breaches, were accepted by an overwhelming majority.

In the present document, the Open Dialogue Foundation, the Italian Federation for Human Rights, the Arrested Lawyers Initiative, the Human Rights Defenders e.V. and the Kharkiv Institute for Social Research attempt to fill the gaps in the PACE report and propose recommendations with respect to improving cooperation among the member states of the Council of Europe in the sphere of extradition.

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is “slightly” skirting the truth. This refers to the high-profile case of how PiS supported Russia’s reinstatement in the CoE and then protested against it. Senator A. Pociej, who knows the background to the case, reveals what it looked like in practice.

In international law, there is an unconditional ban on the extradition of persons to countries where they may find themselves at risk of torture and ill-treatment. Extradition requests issued on the basis of politically motivated prosecutions are also illegal.

The sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will not be lifted. On October 9, a draft resolution that aimed to create conditions conducive to Russia’s return to this institution was rejected.

OPEN LETTER. We, the undersigned, are strongly concerned about the possible demise of the Council of Europe, which can take place very soon.

ODF, in partnership with PACE Members P. De Sutter and F. Schwabe is pleased to invite you to attend the event “Government against the rule of law, civil society and independent media in Poland” on Tuesday, January 23, from 13.00 to 14.00, at the premises of the Council of Europe, Room 11 – Palais.

Success of Ukrainian NGOs. Once again, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has prevented the Russian delegation from returning to its ranks. This decision was appealed for by 40 Ukrainian NGOs and the Open Dialogue Foundation.

On 12 October, 2017 the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy adopted a report by Axel Fischer (Germany, EPP/CD) “The relations of the Council of Europe with Kazakhstan”

Strategic cooperation between the Council of Europe and Kazakhstan in the field of criminal and constitutional justice, human rights and democratic citizenship has so far been an essential monitoring tool in bringing Kazakhstani institutions in line with European standards.