The procedure for investigating alleged reprisals against human rights defenders as a consequence of their interaction with the Council of Europe was revised in 2019.

The procedure:

• Allows external direct reporting (e.g. by human rights defenders and non-governmental organisations) in addition to Council of Europe entities;
• Is triggered by information provided to the Secretary General’s Private Office focal point;
• Seeks to determine the accuracy of the allegation and define follow-up action, considering whether the reprisal, or risk of reprisal, meets a minimum level of severity, upon which it will warrant consideration. The assessment of this minimum level will depend on the circumstances of the case; there should be a reasonable degree of causality between the interaction or the intention to interact and the alleged reprisal; a submission that is too vague or general, contains misleading information, makes use of offensive language, is based on inaccurate facts or spurious allegations, or is in any other way unsubstantiated, will not be considered;
• Continues to include the assessment and the proposals for follow-up action being submitted to the Secretary General;
• Results in a report on the types of cases which will be presented annually to the Committee of Ministers (or more regularly, if circumstances require).

When the original procedure was published in December 2018, it was made clear that human rights defenders should never face retribution for their principled stance. The changes now made to this procedure are designed to ensure that this is the case. They have been made in light of experience of the current procedure and extensive internal and external consultation.

The procedure takes into account the existing mandates within the Organisation. The action undertaken does not interfere with the European Court of Human Rights’ procedures or the activities of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Commissioner for Human Rights.