Alarmed by the reports coming from Kirkuk, the Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, Mr Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, IT) made the following statement:
"Just weeks after Kurds voted overwhelmingly for an independent Kurdistan, Kirkuk has become a territory disputed between the government in Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The Iraqi army has advanced towards Kirkuk, thousands of Kurds have already fled the city and there are even reports of terrible crimes being committed against the population of Kirkuk and the neighbouring villages..."
The finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize have been announced. The laureate will be selected on 26 October by the President and the political group leaders.
Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, and the Swedish- Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak have been named as this year's finalists for Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought following a vote by the foreign affairs and development committees on 10 October.
On the exchange of views between the EP's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and Interethnic relations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Pier Antonio Panzeri (Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights) and Dariusz Rosati (Chair of the EP's Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Association Committee) stated: "We discussed a wide range of issues affecting the human rights situation and challenges in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. We expressed our firm condemnation of the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol and the occupation of some regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, in breach of international law and of Russia's commitments and obligations under its membership of international organizations..."
The next meeting of the Subcommittee on Human Rights will take place on Wednesday 22 November from 9.00 - 12.30 and 14.30 - 18.30 and on Thursday 23 November from 9.00 - 12.30 in meeting room ASP A3E2
The finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize have been announced. The laureate will be selected on 26 October by the President and the political group leaders.
Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, and the Swedish- Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak have been named as this year's finalists for Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought following a vote by the foreign affairs and development committees on 10 October.
On the occasion of the World and European Day against the Death Penalty, on 10 October, Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, IT), Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights stated:
"I would like to reaffirm our strong, united and collective stance against the Death Penalty in all cases and under all circumstances. Capital punishment is not a deterrent against crime and renders miscarriages of justice irreversible..."