He said in a press briefing on Monday that the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly value the rule of law, human rights and democracy. Israel, in its capacity as an observer in PACE, was committed to these values, but, with this raid in open waters, it violated the core values of this body, Çavuşoğlu underlined.
On Monday the bureau of the assembly, made up of the president, 20 vice presidents, the chairpersons of the political groups and the chairpersons of the general PACE committee, agreed to an emergency session on the Middle East upon a request made by the political affairs committee. The emergency session will most likely be held on Thursday. PACE is expected to appoint a rapporteur to write a report on the Israeli raid on civilian aid ships carrying humanitarian goods to Gaza in open waters, which resulted in the deaths of nine activists.
The PACE subcommittee was established in 2005 as a tripartite parliamentary forum allowing deputies from the Israeli Knesset, the Palestinian Legislative Council and PACE to sit together on equal footing with a right to speak and make proposals for the agenda. “This raid came as a shock to me. Both the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the current holder of the chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, and I issued statements condemning this attack in international waters,” Çavuşoğlu added.
Israel maintains observer status in PACE and is required to meet the conditions set out in the resolution adopted by the Committee of Ministers in 1993. The resolution says, “Any state willing to accept the principles of democracy, the rule of law and of the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and wishing to cooperate with the Council of Europe may be granted by the Committee of Ministers, after consulting the Parliamentary Assembly, observer status with the organization.” Çavuşoğlu believes Israel violated these values by attacking civilian aid ships carrying aid to suffering Gazans.
As an observer, the Israeli delegation may sit in the assembly, but does not have the right to vote. Delegates can only speak with the authorization of the president of the assembly. PACE cannot put Israel under a monitoring program as it is not a full member and cannot refer it to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for review. But it can authorize a comprehensive report to be submitted to the assembly.
Depending on the wording of the resolution to be adopted by the General Assembly, PACE can also limit high-level visits to Israel similar to the ones imposed on Belarus after it failed to abolish the death penalty and carried out two executions in March.
