The award ceremony for the 2024 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize – which honours outstanding human rights defenders worldwide – will be a highlight of the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), to be held in Strasbourg from 30 September to 4 October 2024. An overall winner will be selected from among three shortlisted candidates. The winner of the 2022 Prize Vladimir Kara-Murza, recently released from detention in Russia, will also make a statement during the ceremony.
Other highlights include debates on the detention and conviction of Julian Assange and their chilling effects on human rights; on propaganda and freedom of information in Europe; and on the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor - Ukraine once again faces the threat of genocide. There will be a joint debate on a shared European approach to address migrant smuggling and on clarifying the fate of missing migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
There have also been requests for urgent debates on "The deteriorating situation of human rights, rule of law and democracy in Azerbaijan", on "Missing persons due to the Russian Federation's war of aggression against Ukraine: prisoners of war and civilians in captivity" and on "The emergency healthcare and humanitarian situation of women and children in Gaza".
The Foreign Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Timcho Mucunski and new Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset will address the Assembly. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, President of the Committee of Ministers, will present the traditional communication from that body and answer questions from members.
The Assembly will also debate the situation in Iran and the protection of Iranian human rights defenders in Council of Europe member states; preventing and combating violence and discrimination against lesbian, bisexual and queer women in Europe; and protecting the human rights and improving the lives of sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation.
There will also be debates on the Council of Europe Development Bank’s work to implement the Reykjavik Declaration, with a statement by the Bank's Governor Carlo Monticelli; on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Bosnia and Herzegovina; on the risks and opportunities of the metaverse; and on guaranteeing the human right to food.
The Assembly is due to adopt its final agenda on the first day of the session.
Politics
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On October 8, Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold separate bilateral meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan before the start of the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS, Yuri Ushakov, an assistant to the Russian president, as reported by the media. According to him, a trilateral meeting has not been scheduled at this time.
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From September 30 to October 6, a total of 73 anti-tank mines, 159 anti-personnel mines, and 415 pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) were reported by the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA). According to the agency, an area of 2,945.1 hectares was cleared of mines during the previous week.
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The West is attempting to sow chaos in the South Caucasus, and the countries in the region need to combat these efforts, stated Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, on Monday. "We see a strong desire among the countries of the collective West, the NATO bloc, to fish in troubled waters," she said.
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Senior military officials from more than 70 countries have gathered in Baku for the 17th Seminar on the International Rules Governing Military Operations (SWIRMO).
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