Tag: Council of Europe

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.

The Legal Affairs Committee of the PACE has adopted a resolution urging to end the abuse of INTERPOL’s Red Notices by authoritarian states! The documents includes practically all of our (and other civil society actors) recommendations and refers directly to our latest report on the matter.

Between 23 and 24 February, 2017, a representative of the Open Dialogue Foundation was present at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Winter Meeting 2017 in Vienna. The aim of the visit was to discuss the current human rights and political situation in the post-Soviet region.

Between 14 and 16 February, 2017, a delegation of the Open Dialogue Foundation was present at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The aim of the visit was to discuss the current human rights, political and economic situation in Kazakhstan.

The result of our intense current work at Council of Europe in Strasburg: “Written declaration Moldova: political oppression against civil society and key witnesses” signed by 23 members of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe!