The Council of Europe (CE) Parliamentary Assembly "expressed...

The Council of Europe (CE) Parliamentary Assembly "expressed its profound concern that Belarus continued to fall seriously short of Council of Europe standards as regards pluralist democracy, the rule of law and human rights". The assembly discussed a report on the situation in Belarus by Wolfgang Behrendt, rapporteur of its Political Affairs Committee, and decided that "there can be no change" regarding the Belarusian parliament's special guest status, which was suspended following the November 1996 referendum in Belarus. The assembly stressed that the Council should be more involved in efforts to resolve the crisis in Belarus and lend its support to the democratic forces in the country. It asked the Committee of Ministers to "set up programmes to strengthen human rights and fundamental freedoms, civil society and the independent media in Belarus, and to make arrangements for a Council of Europe representative to be present in Minsk". The assembly noted that Belarus remained the only country in Europe to enforce the death penalty and urged the Belarusian authorities to "declare an immediate moratorium on executions".