Council of Europe (CoE) is an international organisation based in Strasbourg. CoE encompasses 47 European countries and was created in 1949 to promote democracy and protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe.

Originally, CoE’s work mainly focused on human rights, rule of law, governmental accountability and other governance issues. These topics have, gradually, moved in the direction of democratic security governance since they are all, inherently, related to security and accountability. Additionally, changes occurring in the international context of the 1990s have encouraged this thematic shift towards security sector issues.

What does CoE do for Security Sector Reform?

CoE’s work on security governance covers various matters such as capacity-building, investigation and judicial procedures, and advisory and training tasks. Through EU membership preparation programmes the CoE strengthens the capacity of aspiring states in terms of accountability, human rights and the rule of law. CoE carries out investigations of issues such as secret detentions. It also plays a policy advisory role and organises training activities for security sector personnel. An important area of CoE’s work involves setting the standards for the security sector. Additionally, CoE ensures the accountability of its member states in their security sector practices and plays an important judicial role when it comes to human rights abuses.

Key CoE documents on SSR:

• Resolution on oversight of the intelligence sector. 1999
• Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the European Code of Police Ethics 2001
• Council of Europe: Committee of Ministers, Guidelines on human rights and the fight against terrorism, 11 July 2002.
• Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly, ‘Democratic oversight of the security sector in member states’, Recommendation 1713 2005.
• Council of Europe: Committee of Ministers, Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on human rights of members of the armed forces, 24 February 2010.

What does CoE do for Security Sector Reform in Ukraine?

According to a recent mapping study on international support to SSR in Ukraine undertaken by the Folke Bernadotte Academy, entitled ‘International Support to security Sector Reform in Ukraine, a Mapping of SSR Projects’, CoE is currently involved in several multilateral support projects in Ukraine. These revolve around the following thematic areas:

• Judiciary Reform
• Gender
• Democracy and Human Rights
• Cyber security and ICT

For more information on CoE’s activities and presence in Ukraine please refer to the Council of Europe Office in Kiev web portal.

For a complete overview of CoE’s projects and strategy in Ukraine please see the CoE Action Plan for Ukraine 2015-2017.

Sources:

Council of Europe

Måns Hanssen (Folke Bernadotte Academy 2016), International Support to Security Sector Reform in Ukraine. A Mapping Study of SSR Projects.