The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is one of the two statutory organs of the Council of Europe. It is made up of 324 parliamentarians from the national parliaments of the Council of Europe's 46 member states, and generally meets four times a year for a week-long plenary session in Strasbourg.
 

The Parliamentary Assembly has set up nine general committees that prepare the reports and follow the state of human rights, democracy and rule of law in the member states in their area of focus.

The Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination has been a key partner of the campaign and addresses a wide range of topics also covered by the campaign, including anti-Gypsyism, homo-, bi-, and transphobia, racial discrimination and gender equality. The PACE’s General Rapporteur on combating against racism and intolerance, Ms Gabriela Heinrich, is also the coordinator of the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance.

The Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media has been a close partner in the work of the Youth Sector of the Council of Europe and supporter of the work on human rights education and media literacy, particularly through its Sub-committee on Education, Youth and Sport.

The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons has been involved in the youth sector's work with young refugees and its work on the rights of migrants and their integration forms the basis of the work of the campaign against hate speech targeting refugees and asylum seekers.

Members of the Parliamentary Assembly set up the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance in 2015 and support the No Hate Speech Movement campaign since its inception in 2013. The Assembly has also spoken out for the adoption of 22 July as a European Day for the Victims of Hate Crime.

The Assembly held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, and can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an intergovernmental treaty.

For more information, we invite you to check the Assembly website, its Twitter account and the Twitter account of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination.

The No Hate Parliamentary Alliance

The No Hate Parliamentary Alliance is an alliance of parliamentarians of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly who commit to taking an open, firm and proactive stance against all forms of racism, hatred and intolerance, on whatever grounds.

 The alliance was set up by the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination as a follow-up to the Assembly Resolution 1967 (2014) on a strategy to prevent racism and intolerance in Europe. The Alliance is coordinated by the General Rapporteur on combating racism and intolerance.

The No Hate Parliamentary Alliance organises a national meeting hosted by the national parliament of a member state twice a year, in addition to a regional meeting.  Alliance members can be invited to attend campaign events at national level. The list of members of the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance is available online. The members can be contacted directly, via the secretariat of the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance or via the campaign secretariat.

The Charter of commitments for membership in the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance can be found online. For additional online information please visit the website of the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance.
 

Parliamentarians should set the example in the fight against racism and hate speech. We must speak out, take actions at the legislative level and support civil society in the fight against hate speech, assistance to victims and awareness-raising activities. History has demonstrated that hate can rapidly lead to violence .

Gabriela Heinrich (Germany, SOC), General Rapporteur on combating racism and intolerance, and Coordinator of the Alliance