Council of Europe news
Statement by Dominique Hasler, President of the Committee of Ministers and Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe
How the Istanbul Convention is saving lives
As we approach the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, sobering statistics remind us of the urgent need to stop this violence, and a landmark treaty is proving increasingly successful to do just that: the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating...
Azerbaijani students tackled digital media literacy and disinformation
In Azerbaijan, the Council of Europe has organised a three-day training programme to show journalist students how they can use the standards of the Organisation to improve the quality of journalism by analysing the accuracy of what they see and read online on television and in newspapers every...
Mission to Azerbaijan on the execution of the European Court's judgments
On 4 and 5 September, the Director of Human Rights and the Department for the Execution of Judgments carried out a mission to Baku. Fruitful exchanges were held with the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prosecutor General’s...
Statement by Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić
European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day
On the occasion of the European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, made the following statement: “Today, we commemorate European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day and pay tribute to the 3,000 Roma – mainly women and children – who were...
Nagorno-Karabakh: PACE President urges dialogue and fact-finding mission to Azerbaijan
Tiny Kox, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), issued the following statement today: "Given the further deterioration of the humanitarian and human rights situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, I recall the Assembly’s request of 20 June, to the Committee of...
Azerbaijan: concerns about the disproportionate use of force by police during environmental protests and restrictions to the work of human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists
In a letter addressed to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, Vilayat Eyvazov, published today, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, raises concerns about the recent dispersal of environmental protests and the arrests of participants in the Soyudlu...
Azerbaijan: Council of Europe’s commission against racism and intolerance notes progress, but says inflammatory rhetoric and hate speech should be tackled
Over the past seven years, Azerbaijan has developed good practices in education and migrant integration, but more needs to be done in the fields of legislation and tackling hate speech, says the Council of Europe anti-racism body ECRI in its report published today (see also the Azeri version of...
PACE monitors, ending visit: issues of serious concern persist in Azerbaijan despite some steps taken to meet Council of Europe commitments
The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, ending a five-day visit to the country (3-7 June 2023), have taken note of a number of steps by the authorities to meet their obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe,...
Council of Europe anti-trafficking body urges Azerbaijan to better identify victims of human trafficking and improve their access to compensation and other remedies
In a new report the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings assesses developments since the publication of GRETA’s second evaluation report on Azerbaijan in November 2018 as regards the implementation of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action...
Heads of State and Government agree to strengthen Council of Europe, ensure accountability for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and support victims
At the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, Heads of State and Government of the organisation’s 46 member states have decided to establish a Register of damage caused by the Russian Federation’s aggression as a first step towards an international compensation mechanism. The leaders...
Secretary General calls for action against democratic backsliding in annual report
Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has called on member states to mark the fourth Summit of Heads of State and Government in Reykjavik (16-17 May) with a commitment to reverse democratic backsliding in Europe. In her annual report, published today – Council of Europe Day – the Secretary...
Press Freedom Day: Secretary General urges European states to protect journalism and enhance safety of journalists
In a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, Council of Europe´s Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić urged European governments to make the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists and other media actors a political priority: “As journalists and other media actors...
Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe – bringing human rights from the conference table to your kitchen table
The Council of Europe works for you. We want to give visibility to the role, standards and work of the Council of Europe in its member states, to show how Council of Europe membership has helped achieve particular results or changes. Our aim, through a variety of events and actions, is to...
Implementing ECHR judgments: Latest decisions from the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has published the case-by-case decisions taken during the Committee’s meeting from 7 to 9 March to supervise the implementation of judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights. The Committee of Ministers adopted 36 decisions...
Equal rights for women and girls: the role of men and boys
Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs and President of the Committee of Ministers Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, President of the Parliamentary Assembly Tiny Kox and Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić have made the following statement: “Today, on International Women’s Day, we...
Secretary General and EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement launch two major co-operation programmes
Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić and European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi have today launched two major co-operation programmes between the European Union and the Council of Europe. The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”...
Azerbaijan's authorities should release activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev and give him full access to medical care
The arrest and ongoing detention of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, a prominent civil society activist in Azerbaijan, provides yet another illustration of the government’s intolerance towards independent civic activism in the country. Like many other activists, human rights defenders and journalists, Mr...
PACE monitors call on Azerbaijan authorities to immediately release Bakhtiyar Hajiyev
The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, Ian Liddell-Grainger (United Kingdom, EC/DA) and Lise Christoffersen (Norway, SOC), have expressed profound concern over the continuing detention of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, a well-known...
President of the Committee of Ministers calls for reopening of the Lachin corridor
Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and President of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, has made the following statement: “I am concerned about the increasingly precarious humanitarian situation of people living in Nagorno-Karabakh as a...
Human Rights Day: Council of Europe leaders call for collective action to end impunity for crimes committed against Ukraine
Ahead of Human Rights Day (10 December), the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, and the Committee of Ministers Chair, Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir, Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs, have issued a joint statement calling for a collective response to...