Council of Europe Council of Europe, international organization
founded in 1949 to promote greater unity within Europe and to
safeguard its political and cultural heritage by promoting human
rights and democracy. The council is headquartered in
Strasbourg, France. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union
and the end of dictatorial Communist rule in Eastern Europe,
most Eastern European nations joined the council, bringing the
membership total to 47. Only Belarus and Vatican City are not
members. The conventions and treaties signed under the auspices
of the Council of Europe deal with humanitarian, cultural,
economic, and social problems. In 1959 the council established a
European Court of Human Rights to protect the rights of
individuals in member nations against arbitrary government
action. The court has heard cases involving corporal punishment;
the protection of minorities, immigrants, suspects, prisoners,
and the mentally ill; and the infringement of rights of speech,
the press, religion, privacy, and se