Editing Human rights (section)

=== Europe ===
[[File:European Court of Human Rights.jpg|thumb|right|European Court of Human Rights in [[Strasbourg]]]]

{{main|Human rights in Europe}}
{{see also|Human rights in the Soviet Union}}

The [[Council of Europe]], founded in 1949, is the oldest organisation working for European integration. It is an international organisation with legal personality recognised under public international law and has observer status with the United Nations. The seat of the Council of Europe is in [[Strasbourg]] in France. The Council of Europe is responsible for both the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] and the [[European Court of Human Rights]].<ref name=Council>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/T/E/Human_rights/|title=Council of Europe Human Rights|publisher=Council of Europe|access-date=4 January 2008|archive-date=20 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100720060441/http://www.coe.int/T/E/human_rights/|url-status=live}}</ref> These institutions bind the council's members to a code of human rights which, though strict, are more lenient than those of the United Nations charter on human rights. The council also promotes the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]] and the [[European Social Charter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/T/E/Human_Rights/Esc/|title=Social Charter|publisher=Council of Europe|access-date=4 January 2008|archive-date=29 July 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729103726/http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/default_en.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> Membership is open to all European states which seek [[European integration]], accept the principle of the [[rule of law]] and are able and willing to guarantee democracy, fundamental human rights and [[freedom]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/T/e/Com/about_coe/|title=The Council of Europe in Brief|access-date=4 January 2008|archive-date=24 November 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031124043105/http://www.coe.int/T/e/Com/about_coe/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Council of Europe is an organisation that is not part of the [[European Union]], but the latter is expected to accede to the European Convention and potentially the Council itself. The EU has its own human rights document; the [[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gouvernement.lu/salle_presse/actualite/2006/04/11conseil_europe/english_mod.pdf|title=Council of Europe – European Union: "A sole ambition for the European Continent"|author=Juncker, Jean-Claude|date=11 April 2006|publisher=Council of Europe|access-date=4 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501121011/http://www.gouvernement.lu/salle_presse/actualite/2006/04/11conseil_europe/english_mod.pdf|archive-date=1 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The European Convention on Human Rights defines and guarantees since 1950 human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe.<ref name="EUCourt">{{cite web|url=http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/The+Court/The+Court/History+of+the+Court/|title=Historical Background to the European Court of Human Rights|publisher=European Court of Human Rights|access-date=4 January 2008|archive-date=22 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222001646/http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/The+Court/The+Court/History+of+the+Court/|url-status=live}}</ref> All 47 member states of the Council of Europe have signed this convention and are therefore under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.<ref name="EUCourt" /> In order to prevent torture and inhuman or degrading treatment (Article 3 of the convention), the [[European Committee for the Prevention of Torture]] was established.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/about.htm|title=About the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture|publisher=European Committee for the Prevention of Torture|access-date=4 January 2008|archive-date=2 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102110836/http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/about.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>