Events
25 April 2025
Book Presentation “Council of Europe and Russia – Lessons Learnt?”
CURE organised an online presentation of the book “Russia, the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights. A Troubled Membership and Its Legacy” recently published by Bristol University Press.
The authors of the book – Ed Bates, Associate Professor at the Leicester Law School of the University of Leicester; Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou, Professor in Human Rights Law, Associate Dean for Internationalisation at the University of Liverpool; Andrew Forde, Assistant Professor at the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University, Commissioner on the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission – discussed various topics such as Russia´s accession to the Council of Europe in 1996 and the timing of Russia´s expulsion. The replay of the discussion is available here.
7 February 2025
Webinar “Amplifying the Voice for Rights in Europe: How to Strengthen the Work of the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights?”
The online workshop was attended by some 30 participants, including civil society representatives, academics and Council of Europe staff members. They had an opportunity to discuss such mandate-related topics as urgent and chronic crisis situations, work in conflict-affected areas, interaction with civil society and human rights defenders, cooperation with other CoE bodies. Follow-up steps by the Commissioner were mentioned as crucial. The need for a better connection between the Commissioner and specifically the Committee of Ministers was highlighted; the member states have to jointly take up situations where initiatives, requests or recommendations by the Commissioner are systematically dismissed. The recording of the workshop is available here.
27 May 2024
Q&A Online Session with the Candidates for the Post of the Council of Europe’s Secretary General
The Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe and CURE had the honour of holding an online session with all three candidates for the post of the CoE’s Secretary General: Alain Berset, Didier Reynders and Indrek Saar. The event was primarily meant for civil society. However, over 100 registrations also included participants from academia and public institutions, as well as current and former CoE officials and staff members. The summary of the exchange and the responses of the candidates to the prior questions posed by the organisers are available at the CURE website.
23 April 2024
Exchange of Views between the Committee of Ministers and Russian Civil Society, Strasbourg
The Committee of Ministers’ Rapporteur Group on Democracy (GR-DEM) held an “informal exchange of views” with representatives of Russian civil society. Konstantin Baranov, CURE campaign team member, and Elena Shakhova, Chairperson of the NGO “Citizens’ Watch” (St. Petersburg), took part in the event as invited speakers. This exchange of views was initiated by the Rapporteur Group’s chair, Ambassador Svetlana Geleva (North Macedonia), in response to an appeal calling for the resumption of cooperation with the Council of Europe.
The speakers emphasised that the political commitments made by member states on continuing and enhancing engagement with independent Russian civil society, both inside the country and in exile, should be as soon as possible translated into an institutional and programmatic framework , similar to the one already created by the CoE for Belarusian civil society. In this framework, examples of proposed areas and specific formats of cooperation are included, as well as details on the potential risks – something many member states are concerned about. Concluding the discussion, Ambassador Geleva promised that the topic of engagement with Russian civil society will remain on the agenda of the Rapporteur Group, with the plan to eventually approve a “roadmap” for this cooperation.
17 January 2024
Q&A Online Session with the Commissioner for Human Rights Candidates
CURE – in cooperation with the Conference of INGOs – invited all three final candidates for the post of the CoE’s Commissioner for Human Rights to join a Q&A online session with civil society.
All in all, over 200 participants representing NGOs and initiatives, academia and public institutions joined this unprecedented event where Meglena Kuneva, Manfred Nowak and Michael O’Flaherty could interact with each other in real time and react to critical questions by the audience. The video recording and the summary of the event were shared with all the political groups of the PACE prior to the vote on 23-24 January. In the second round, PACE members elected Michael O’Flaherty, Director at FRA – European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights for the past eight years, as the new Commissioner.
25 October 2023
Webinar “Towards the Council of Europe’s Elections 2024”
CURE gathered civil society actors to talk about particularities of both processes and about how to get the candidates for both offices who would suit us best. Geneviève Mayer, formerly Head of the Department of Execution of Judgements (DEJ) of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and Deputy Secretary to the CoE´s Committee of Ministers, focused on procedures for elections of the SG and the Commissioner. Boriss Cilevičs, PACE Member (1999-2023) and member of the CURE Advisory Council, shared his experiences of elections at the Parliamentary Assembly. Florian Irminger, Founder & President at Progress & Change Action Lab and member of the CURE Steering Committee, revealed how NGOs and civil society actors try to get through their candidates at the UN level. Finally, Konstantin Baranov, a CURE team member, presented the profiles of candidates for the post of the Commissioner for Human Rights. The record of the webinar is available here.
2 June 2023
Webinar “This Is Only the Beginning: Council of Europe and Civil Society after Reykjavík”
Exactly one week after the discussion on the Reykjavík Summit results by the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Rīga, CURE – Campaign to Uphold Rights in Europe and the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe, as conveners and organisers of the CSS in The Hague, organised online dialogues and discussions. This meeting focused on the final outcome document of the Reykjavík Summit and explored future steps to ensure the Council of Europe remains a strong and effective organisation.
25 April 2023
Side-Event “The Need for a Strong Action in Reykjavík: The Outcomes of the Civil Society Summit in The Hague”, Strasbourg
At the side-event, the conveners of the Civil Society Summit presented a summary of The Hague Declaration elaborated by the Summit, along with two additional statements: a statement on the situation in Turkey and another on the role of the Council of Europe in ensuring accountability for international crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.
This side-event marked a logical step on the road to the Reykjavik Summit, where strong and concrete action from heads of state and government is needed to preserve the values the Council of Europe is built upon. The voice of the civil society as one of the CoE pillars should be prominently heard in this process, while PACE members, as representatives of the societies in their countries, have an important role to play.
28 February – 1 March 2023
Council of Europe Civil Society Summit, The Hague
The Civil Society Summit was convened and organised by CURE and the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe, and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the German Federal Foreign Office and the European Union. People active in 38 European networks on human rights, democracy and civic participation were present. The event included two panel discussions, several plenary sessions and 12 thematic working groups, focusing on particular areas of concern.
The Summit participants elaborated three outcome documents – The Hague Civil Society Declaration on Council of Europe Reform, a statement on the situation in Turkey and a statement on the role of the Council of Europe in ensuring accountability for international crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. The outcome documents contain problem analysis and specific recommendations to the CoE and its member states. The outcome documents were presented and handed over to the Council of Europe leadership at the concluding session of the Summit. See the full agenda of the event here.
11 October 2022
Side-Event “Future of the Council of Europe after Russia’s Invasion in Ukraine: Civil Society Perspectives after Turin”, Strasbourg
The side-event introduced the CURE Campaign and its proposals, while also providing space to discuss initial reactions to the High-Level Reflection Group’s report. Following welcome remarks by Boriss Cilevičs (PACE member and sponsor of the event), Karinna Moskalenko (CURE Steering Committee) gave an opening introduction. Harry Hummel (CURE Campaign Team) then presented CURE’s perspective on the reflection process. Ioana Iliescu (EIN) focused on proposals to enhance the implementation of ECtHR judgments, and Tatiana Glushkova (Memorial) contributed insights from her perspective as a Russian human rights defender.
19 May 2022
Civil Society Event, Turin
CURE organised first-ever parallel event to the Council of Europe’s annual Ministerial Meeting held in Turin, at which civil society and academic experts (most of them member of CURE’s Advisory Council) met. The “Discussion Paper on the Future of the Council of Europe” produced by CURE, laid the foundation for rich discussions on topics such as the speed and effectiveness of the ECHR system, improving responses to the root causes of backsliding on human rights and democracy, and formalising human rights commitments of non-state actors. The topics and outcomes of the discussions are summarised in the Report from Turin event “Civil society reflection on the future of the Council of Europe”.
26 January 2022
CURE Launch, Strasbourg
A coalition of 14 civil society organisations started a new international initiative, the Campaign to Uphold Rights in Europe (CURE). The campaign was launched in Strasbourg, the seat of the Council of Europe, the inter-governmental organisation specifically dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights, rule of law and democracy and uniting 47 member states from across the European continent.
The overall goal of the CURE is to make the Council of Europe strong and effective in fulfilling its statutory role of protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, upholding the rule of law and genuine democracy. The campaign’s founding Manifesto raises the alarm over the increasing challenge to this role. Complete list of the CURE Members and members of the Steering Committee of the Campaign is available at the CURE website.