Back Whitehouse Summit on Countering Violent Extremism

Washington D.C. , 

The Council of Europe encompasses 47 European states.

We uphold the European Convention on Human Rights…

…and we work with our members to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Two quick points.

First, when we talk about education, we have to think about the law.

Good laws teach good lessons.

And states wanting to educate young citizens about respect and tolerance must lead by example.

When that doesn’t happen, for example in Abu Ghraib after September 11th…

…it only becomes easier for terrorists to find new recruits.

We must therefore always respond to terror with laws and practices which uphold our values.

Right now there is a gap in international law.

In terms of foreign fighters, we currently criminalise the recruitment, training and funding of terrorists…

…but not the act of seeking out those things.

So the Council of Europe is preparing the first binding, international legal instrument on this – something the UN has asked us to do.

It will allow for a shared response, which respects the rule of law and human rights…

…and therefore sends the right message too.

Second point – democratic education.

We are also now defining the skills young people across Europe need…

… to live peacefully in diverse societies.

This makes some people skeptical.

How can we apply the same criteria to schools in Belfast as in Paris, or Belgrade, or Istanbul?

What about the deep cultural differences?

But this isn’t about teaching young people what to think.

It’s about teaching them how to think.

Can pupils summarise the different positions in a conflict?

Can they identify the common ground?

Do they know which rights are universal?

You cannot marry diversity and democracy without this kind of understanding.

And the real danger is that we are oversensitive to cultural difference.

The truth is that there is a level of critical thinking every democratic citizen should be capable of…

…no matter what else they believe.

It will be up to states to adapt this as they see fit.

But we are seeing a genuine appetite from our members for a more common approach.

And we must be absolutely confident about promoting our shared, democratic values to the next generation.

Often the best way to teach people to live with difference…

…is to remind them what makes us the same.