The Council of Europe is an intergovernmental organisation, which today has 47 Member States. Switzerland has been a member since 1963. The main objectives of the Council of Europe are to protect human rights and democratic governance and to safeguard the rule of law. More specifically, the issues it addresses are migration from the point of view of defending human rights and preventing discrimination against minorities, as well as xenophobia, intolerance and human trafficking. SEM contributes to various activities, such as the visits of Council of Europe human rights organisations to Switzerland, participation in Council of Europe committees, e.g. on citizenship law, and the handling of parliamentary questions to the Council of Europe.
Last modification 23.04.2021