Recommendation 2131 (2018)

Counter-narratives to terrorism

Author(s): Parliamentary Assembly

Origin - Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 1 June 2018 (see Doc. 14531, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Liam Byrne; and Doc. 14558, opinion of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, rapporteur: Mr Jordi Xuclà).

1. Referring to its Resolution 2221 (2018) on counter-narratives to terrorism, the Parliamentary Assembly welcomes the adoption by the Committee of Ministers of Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)6 on terrorists acting alone and the ongoing preparation of a Council of Europe counter-terrorism strategy for the period 2018-2022.

2. In this context, the Assembly calls on the Committee of Ministers to ask the Council of Europe Counter-Terrorism Committee (CDCT) to:

2.1. carry out an in-depth study on the actual experience of member States in developing positive alternative narratives to violent extremism and on their impact, and examining the radicalisation and de-radicalisation processes;

2.2. based on the aforementioned study, draft guidelines on devising narratives and messages countering terrorist propaganda, taking into account the need for such narratives to be based on factual information as underlined in Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)6;

2.3. consider initiating research into, and the formulation of, the “overlapping consensus” between the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) and Islamic values, and in particular to consider convening a seminar, either in Strasbourg or a member State, to share experience or best practice in this field, and to ensure that the Assembly is duly involved in this process;

2.4. consider proposals for renewal of campaigns to combat hate speech which reflect the conclusions of these studies.