The 1969 ’Greek Case’ in the Council of Europe: A Game Changer for Human Rights?

In 1969 Greece withdrew from the Council of Europe (CoE), following pressure exercised by various European countries, organisations, social movements and individuals in response to the brutal conduct of the military junta that had taken power by force on 21 April 1967. This volume brings together an international cast of noted historians, oral historians, political scientists, and legal scholars to investigate the perceptions, policies and roles of the key actors involved. These figures range from international organizations, states, and social movements to NGOs and individuals, critically demonstrating the extent of the legacy and long-term impact of the ’Greek Case’ on international human rights.

The 1969 ’Greek Case’ in the Council of Europe reveals how the pressure applied by the Council of Europe proved to be crucial for the international condemnation of the Colonels’ regime, setting a precedent in international human rights cases for the significance of the collection of evidence on the use of torture.

Konstantinos (Kostis) Kornetis is Assistant Professor of Contemporary History at Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. He is the author of Children of the Dictatorship (2013, winner of the Edmund Keeley Book Award) and co-editor of Rethinking Democratization in Spain, Greece and Portugal (2019).

Víctor Fernández Soriano is Post-Doctoral Researcher in Contemporary History at the University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg. He is the author of Le fusil et l’olivier: les droit de l’Homme en Europe face aux dictatures méditerranéennes (2015).

Kristine Kjaersgaard is Associate Professor in Contemporary History at University of Southern Denmark, Denmark. She has written books and articles on Denmark in international organisations.

Nicolas Manitakis is Associate Professor in History at the University of Athens, Greece. He has co-edited a volume on the history of postwar Greek student migration to France.

Alexandros Nafpliotis holds a PhD in International History from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, and has been a Research Associate at the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy and the National Hellenic Research Foundation, as well as Maastricht University and the University of Luxembourg. He is the author of Britain and the Greek Colonels (2012).

Anna Papaeti is a musicologist and researcher who has held a Marie Curie Fellowship at the University of Goettingen, Germany.