Human rights are the main focus of the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which opened in Strasbourg today with the proclamation of the winner of the 2024 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, Corina Machado, an iconic woman in Venezuela. Tomorrow, Mr Assange will be in Strasbourg for a parliamentary hearing, which will be followed by a plenary debate on 2 October on Mr Assange’s detention and conviction and their effects on human rights. The hearing is organised by the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, whose draft resolution, that will be put to the vote, spoke of “disproportionately severe charges” brought against Mr Assange by the US authorities. On the Assembly’s agenda is also a debate on propaganda and freedom of information in Europe and on the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, at a time when “Ukraine once again faces the threat of genocide”. The issue of migrant smuggling is also back on the agenda, to “clarify the fate of missing migrants, refugees and asylum seekers”. Last but not least, the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East will also be discussed. This will be the first time that the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, will address the Assembly.