According to the agenda of the session, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will address the delegates in a videoconference format as a representative of the country chairing the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
The agenda also includes speeches by the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, the President of Moldova Maia Sandu and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric.
During the spring session, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic will present the report on her activities for 2020.
The Assembly will also hold the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize Award Ceremony.
Among the topical issues on the agenda of the session will be an urgent debate on the arrest in January 2021 of Russian opposition politician Oleksiy Navalny, as well as on the functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey. This debates involves the adoption of resolutions.
Subject to inclusion in the agenda, the PACE plans to discuss the following issues: "Covid passports or certificates: protection of fundamental rights and legal implications" and "Armenian prisoners of war and other captives".
The main agenda of the spring session includes debates and the adoption of resolutions:
- on the Assembly's vision of the Council of Europe's strategic priorities;
- human rights violations and the need for electoral reform in Belarus;
- taxation in the digital economy;
- discrimination against people with chronic diseases;
- protection of human rights among national minorities;
- European policy on diasporas.
On Monday, representatives of the Permanent Delegation to the PACE met with Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic.
According to Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE Mariia Mezentseva, the following issues were raised during the meeting:
- the state of human rights in the occupied Crimea and the Separate districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions;
- real cases of disappearances and illegal arrests, in particular of Oleh Shevandin and Vladyslav Yesypenko;
- protection of the rights of the Crimean Tatars, and also cancellation of the decision of the Russian Federation on recognition of Mejlis as the terrorist organization.
Dunya Mijatovic expressed concern and concern about the rights of Crimeans, in particular cases of compulsory certification, which violates the general principles and norms of international humanitarian law, as well as the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 20.03.2020 on the ban on foreigners owning land in the Crimea - which directly violates Protocol I to the ECHR on the right to property.
Representatives of the Ukrainian delegation agreed to work on preparing for the Commissioner's visit to the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, which, according to Mariia Mezentseva, will be a strong signal to the entire human rights community.
According to Mariia Mezentseva, the Commissioner for Human Rights called on Ukraine to ratify the Istanbul Convention.
By agreement, Ukrainian deputies will continue to inform the Commissioner about the human rights situation in the occupied territories.
According to MP Oleksiy Honcharenko, the Ukrainian delegation is physically present at the meeting in Strasbourg in its entirety, while the Russian delegation is taking part in the PACE session remotely.