The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the legislative arm of the continent’s largest human rights organization, is steps away from lifting Russian sanctions, which were slapped on the Russian delegation after the country occupied Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and stirred up a war in Donbas. The most recent step towards this scenario was made on June 3, when PACE’s Rules and Regulations Committee approved changes to the Council of Europe’s (CoE) procedures which drastically cut back PACE’s capabilities for sanctioning violating delegations. Now, these changes need to be voted for in the Assembly session on June 24.
EuroMaidan Press talked to Svetlana Gannushkina, a prominent Russian human rights defender and Board member at Memorial to understand Memorial’s position. Although Ms. Gannushkina could not speak on behalf of Memorial, she explained her perspective on Russia’s international actions and the situation in PACE.
