The Conference of INGOs has chosen the theme of migration for its October session, taking place in Strasbourg from 28 to 31 October 2019. More...

Finland has a long tradition of support for minority languages and cultures, through a well-developed legal framework that is generous towards persons belonging to minorities and affords extensive linguistic rights. However, as in other European countries, levels of intolerance and nationalism have risen in the past years. This has begun to put pressure on persons belonging to both traditional and “new” minorities as well as Swedish-speaking Finns. These are among the findings in the Council of Europe report on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) in Finland. More...

“The situation of migrants, including asylum seekers, in the Greek Aegean islands has dramatically worsened over the past 12 months. Urgent measures are needed to address the desperate conditions in which thousands of human beings are living,” said today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, at the end of a five-day visit to Greece during which she visited reception facilities in Lesvos, Samos, and Corinth. More...

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) is organising a conference in Strasbourg on 4 November to mark its 30th anniversary and to discuss the implementation of detention safeguards in the first hours of police custody, a time when the risk of ill-treatment is higher. The conference is co-organised by the Association for the Prevention of Torture. More...

Romani is the language of 10-12 million Roma living in Europe. If left unprotected, the language and the unique cultural heritage it represents are endangered and the Roma will be deprived of a key component of their identity. Measures to create more opportunities for young Roma to learn their mother tongue at school are therefore necessary. More...

The Council of Europe Raoul Wallenberg Prize has been awarded every two years since 2014 in recognition of extraordinary humanitarian achievements by a single individual, a group of individuals or an organisation. The prize, which was established by the Committee of Ministers in 2012, derives from an initiative of the Swedish Government with the support of Hungary, both of which still support it financially. More...