Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis said that Georgia was on the edge of full-scale war, which would have devastating consequences for the people in the region.

Since 2005 “Golden Apricot” Film Festival has been functioning under the aegis of the European Cultural Parliament. The Council of Europe, in cooperation with Ministry of Culture of Armenia, has initiated “The film as a means for intercultural dialog” conference within the “Golden Apricot” 5-th International Film Festival July 13-20.

The Commission is proposing a draft Joint Declaration to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, to be adopted together with the Council of Europe, regarding the establishment of a European Day against the Death Penalty, on 10 October of each year.

A Council of Europe report accuses the CIA of running secret prisons in Poland and Romania for "high-value" terrorist suspects, with the full cooperation of government leaders.

Montenegro has become the newest member of the Council of Europe, the continent's top rights and democracy watchdog. Montenegrin Foreign Minister Milan Rocen signed the documents today during an accession ceremony at the council's headquarters in Strasbourg, France.

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russia is responsible for the death of a Chechen man. The Strasbourg-based court said Russian responsibility for the death of Shamil Said-Khasanovich Akhmadov had been established "beyond all reasonable doubt," and ordered Russia to pay 62,285 euros in damages to his family.

In a new resolution, the Council of Europe paints a grim picture of the situation facing Russia's 160-plus national minorities. The current resolution , adopted May 2 by the council's executive arm, the Committee of Ministers, says the country has not done enough to implement existing federal legislation on minority protection.

The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly has passed a resolution criticizing Ukraine's leadership for failing to pass substantive political reforms in the years since the 2004 Orange Revolution, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported.

Monitors from the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly have reiterated calls for Russia to abolish the death penalty. Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Luc Van den Brande and Theodoros Pangalos said the Council of Europe insisted Russia remove the death penalty from its books, a commitment it undertook when it joined the body in 1996.

Council of Europe and European Commission help South-Eastern Europe and Turkey combat cybercrime.

As part of the Council of Europe's campaign "Stop domestic violence against Women", the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities - in co-operation with the City of Strasbourg, Marc Bloch University, the ITI-RI University and the Portuguese student association CHAMA - is organising an awareness-raising week in Strasbourg's universities from 19 to 23 March 2007.

Council of Europe, which is the human rights wachdog of Europe, urges Iraqi government to stop the executions in Iraq, over the hanging of former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan on Tuesday.