Once a year the committees of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) meet outside their official headquarters in Paris and Strasbourg. Since January 2022, National Council member Damien Cottier (FDP.The Liberals, NE) has been chairperson of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, which will meet in Switzerland on 5 and 6 September.
Nearly 60 members of parliament from more than 30 Council of Europe member states will consider reports on the impact of COVID-19 measures on civil society, as well as the issue of secret state surveillance using spyware such as Pegasus. They will also address the possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Russia’s military attack on Ukraine. The full programme of the meeting is available online.
The meeting will be opened by the president of the Council of States, Thomas Hefti. The committee will also meet with the President of the National Council, Irene Kälin (The Greens, AG). Also on the agenda is a discussion with Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter on Switzerland and the European Court of Human Rights.
After a day and a half at the Federal Palace in Bern, the parliamentarians will travel to Neuchâtel. They will be welcomed there by the vice-president of the State Council of Neuchâtel, Alain Ribaux (FDP.The Liberals, NE), who was an investigator at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1994 and 1995.
Invitation to the media
Journalists are invited to participate in the Committee’s activities in Neuchâtel on 6 September from 2.15 to 5.30pm. Anyone who is interested in attending should register by 2 September via email to information@parl.admin.ch.