The Council of Europe (CoE) is a regional intergovernmental organisation gathering 46 member states across the whole European region.
In March 2021 at the 1400th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers (the highest political decision-making body of the organisation) adopted Recommendation CM/Rec(2021)2 to its member States on measures against the trade in goods used for the death penalty, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Recommendation was drafted by the CoE’s Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), in cooperation with national Rapporteurs and civil society representatives, including Omega Research Foundation.
The Recommendation draws on a feasibility study of a legal instrument concerning the trade in goods used for torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the death penalty, published by the CDDH in February 2020. The feasibility study was drafted by an Omega researcher and the CDDH Secretariat.
The final Recommendation identifies two categories of goods of concern: those that are inherently abusive as well as those goods that “can be misused for the death penalty, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. The Recommendation calls on governments of CoE member States to review national legislation regarding the trade in these two categories of goods to ensure that the trade in inherently abusive goods is prohibited, and controlling the trade in law enforcement “goods and equipment that can have a legitimate function when used in a manner consistent with international and regional human rights standards and other relevant standards on the use of force, but which may be misused by law enforcement and other officials to inflict torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
In 2025, the Committee of Ministers took a number of important decisions with a view to strengthen the control of goods used for torture or other ill-treatment. Importantly, they explicitly expressed their support for a global Torture-Free Trade Treaty and encouraged the CoE’s 46 member states to coordinate their action to this end at the United Nations. Other decisions include:
- revising and updating the lists of inherently abusive goods and equipment and law enforcement goods that may be misused to inflict torture, in line with the European Union’s 2025 updated lists that are part of the EU’s (legally-binding) Regulation and the 2023 UN Special Rapporteur on torture’s lists of controlled and prohibited goods;
- and drafting best-practice guidance specifically for public officials and private actors who participate in law enforcement equipment trade fairs.
These decisions draw from a report reviewing the CoE Committee of Ministers’ own recommendation (which at the Council of Europe represents the highest level of non-binding standards) on measures against the trade in torture and death penalty goods.
More details on the Recommendation are available in the Explanatory Memorandum.
