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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The agreement reached at the COP29 climate summit has been hailed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as a critical step in global efforts to combat climate change. Speaking after the conclusion of high-stakes negotiations, Guterres emphasized that the agreement is pivotal for maintaining the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, a threshold considered crucial to preventing the worst impacts of climate change.
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On 23 November at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, eco-activists from different countries held a protest action against the failure of countries to agree on climate finance.
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On the eve of the closing of the COP29 climate conference in Baku, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has drawn attention to the criminal cases of journalists detained in Azerbaijan.
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Negotiations at the 29th session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Baku have been extended until November 24, a source in the UNFCCC Secretariat told the Turan news agency. According to the source, participants aim to finalize and sign the concluding documents by that date.
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