Editing Council of Europe (section)

== Criticism and controversies ==

Both Human Rights Watch and the European Stability Initiative have called on the Council of Europe to undertake concrete actions to show that it is willing and able to return to its "original mission to protect and ensure human rights",<ref name="ESI_HavelPrize">{{cite news|last1=European Stability Initiative|title=What the 2014 Havel Prize says about the Council of Europe – and what should happen now|url=http://www.esiweb.org/rumeliobserver/2014/09/29/what-the-2014-havel-prize-says-about-the-council-of-europe-and-what-should-happen-now/|access-date=29 September 2014|agency=ESI web|issue=29 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001072918/http://www.esiweb.org/rumeliobserver/2014/09/29/what-the-2014-havel-prize-says-about-the-council-of-europe-and-what-should-happen-now/|archive-date=1 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> despite launching political and economic activities that could generate redundancies with other international organizations (including the [[European Union]] and [[OCSE]]).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17741526 |title=What is the Council of Europe? |work=BBC News |date=5 February 2015 |access-date=24 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="euractiv1">{{cite web|last=Morgan |first=Sam |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/all/news/the-brief-council-of-europe-in-hunt-for-relevance/ |title=The Brief: Council of Europe in hunt for relevance |publisher=Euractiv.com |date=26 April 2017 |access-date=24 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe |magazine=[[The Economist]] |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2013/03/azerbaijan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006134510/https://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2013/03/azerbaijan |archive-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=unfit |access-date=26 October 2022 |date=23 March 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In October 2022, a new and different Pan-European meeting of 44 states was held, as the "inaugural summit of the [[European Political Community]]", a new forum largely organized by French President [[Emmanuel Macron]]. The Council of Europe, sidelined, reportedly was "perplexed" with this development, with a spokesperson stating "In the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, such a pan-European community already exists: it is the Council of Europe."<ref name=CookJanicekCorbet>{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-turkey-prague-middle-east-508b968f182e5da7cf721f9928f2a937 |title=Europe holds 44-leader summit, leaves Russia in the cold |author=Lorne Cook |author2=Karel Janicek |author3=Sylvie Corbet |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |date=6 October 2022 |access-date=6 October 2022}}</ref> A feature of the new forum is that [[Russia]] and [[Belarus]] are deliberately excluded,<ref name=CookJanicekCorbet/> which was not seen as explaining the need for a different entity, given that at the time, Russia was no longer a member of the Council of Europe and Belarus only participated partially, as a non-member.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

=== "Caviar diplomacy" scandal ===
{{See also|Azerbaijani laundromat}}
After Azerbaijan joined the CoE in 2001, both the Council and its Parliamentary Assembly were criticised for having a weak response to election rigging and [[Human rights in Azerbaijan|human rights violations in Azerbaijan]].<ref name=PACEGuard>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/apr/22/council-of-europe-members-suspected-of-corruption-inquiry-reveals |title=Council of Europe members suspected of corruption, inquiry reveals |work=The Guardian |date=22 April 2018 |access-date=24 September 2020}}</ref> The [[Human Rights Watch]] criticised the Council of Europe in 2014 for allowing Azerbaijan to assume the six-month rotating chairmanship of the council's Committee of Ministers, writing that the Azeri government's repression of human rights defenders, dissidents, and journalists "shows sheer contempt for its commitments to the Council of Europe".<ref name="HRW_Criticism">{{cite news|last1=Human Rights Watch|title=Azerbaijan: Government Repression Tarnishes Chairmanship Council of Europe's Leadership Should Take Action|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/09/29/azerbaijan-government-repression-tarnishes-chairmanship|access-date=29 September 2014|date=29 September 2014}}</ref> An internal inquiry was set up in 2017 amid allegations of bribery by Azerbaijan government officials and criticism of "[[caviar diplomacy]]" at the council.<ref name=Rankin>Jennifer Rankin, [https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/feb/01/council-of-europe-urged-investigate-azerbaijan-bribery-allegations Council of Europe urged to investigate Azerbaijan bribery allegations], ''The Guardian'', 1 February 2017.</ref><ref name=Valencia>{{cite magazine |author=Matthew Valencia |url=https://www.economist.com/1843/2016/08/31/caviar-diplomacy-in-azerbaijan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926025428/https://www.economist.com/1843/2016/08/31/caviar-diplomacy-in-azerbaijan |archive-date=26 September 2020 |url-status=unfit |title=Heaping on the Caviar Diplomacy |magazine=[[The Economist]] |date=19 June 2020 |access-date=24 September 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> A 219-page report was issued in 2018 after a ten-month investigation.<ref name=PACEGuard/> It concluded that several members of the Parliamentary Assembly broke CoE ethical rules and were "strongly suspected" of corruption; it strongly criticised former Parliamentary Assembly president [[Pedro Agramunt]] and suggested that he had engaged in "corruptive activities" before his resignation under pressure in 2017.<ref name=PACEGuard/> The inquiry also named Italian member [[Luca Volontè]] as a suspect in "activities of a corruptive nature".<ref name=PACEGuard/> Volontè was investigated by Italian police and accused by Italian prosecutors in 2017 of receiving over 2.39 million euros in bribes in exchange for working for Azerbaijan in the parliamentary assembly, and that in 2013 he played a key role in orchestrating the defeat of a highly critical report on the abuse of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.<ref name=Rankin/><ref name=Valencia/><ref>{{Cite news|language=it|first=Milena|last=Gabanelli|url=http://www.corriere.it/cronache/17_gennaio_30/consiglio-d-europa-caso-azerbaijan-regali-milioni-2cbc0b5e-e66b-11e6-84c1-08780d9999f1.shtml?refresh_ce-cp|title=Il Consiglio d'Europa e il caso Azerbaijan tra regali e milioni |trans-title=The Council of Europe and the Azerbaijan case between gifts and millions |work=Corriere della Sera|access-date=30 January 2017}}</ref> In 2021, Volontè was convicted of accepting bribes from Azerbaijani officials to water down critiques of the nation's human rights record, and he was sentenced by a court in [[Milan]] to four years in prison.<ref>Zdravko Ljubas, [https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13628-italian-court-sentences-former-council-of-europe-mp-for-bribery Italian Court Sentences Former Council of Europe MP for Bribery], [[Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project]] (14 January 2021).</ref>