A major event, a conference to be opened by the Minister of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is entitled “Living together: conference on combating hate speech in South-Eastern Europe” and it will address the issue of hate speech in the media in some of the Council of Europe member states where the problem is most worrying. Its aim will be to increase the awareness of this phenomenon and of relevant Council of Europe standards, as well as exchanging experience amongst various players and eventually contributing to the fight against hate speech.

Hate speech is an abuse of the right to freedom of expression and an attack on the foundations of democracy. The Council of Europe contributes to the elimination of racial discrimination and intolerance not only through the enforcement of the European Convention on Human Rights by the European Court of Human Rights but also through the recourse to non-binding instruments such as recommendations of the Committee of Ministers and of the Parliamentary Assembly.

 Agenda

  Background paper