State of human rights and democracy in Europe

Protecting human rights and promoting democracy are the Council of Europe's two main tasks. But to what extent do the 47 member states live up to their commitments in these two crucial areas? The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe tried to answer this questioning an unprecedented political debate during its April 2007 session. This first debate was attended by parliamentarians from throughout Europe, the main partners in the global human rights community - the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch - and the managers of the main Council of Europe monitoring mechanisms. The texts contained in this publication show that despite undoubted progress, Europe is still afflicted by serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, extra-judicial executions, torture and secret detentions, as well as shortcomings in democratic processes.