The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, will take part in the World Forum for Democracy on 5 November 2025 to discuss how democracies can rekindle citizen engagement. As democracies face disengagement and the erosion of core freedoms, the discussion will explore whether tools such as deliberative forums, citizens’ assemblies, and other forms of public participation can break down barriers, rebuild trust, and help revive democratic life, especially in an era where new technologies present both risks and opportunities for more direct, inclusive and informed participation.

At the end of the session, at 17:30, the Commissioner will participate in the opening of the exhibition of the tapestry El Holocausto, which represents a mural completed in 1945 by Mexican artist Manuel Rodríguez Lozano as an artistic response to the horrors of the Holocaust. The tapestry was commissioned and funded by Bill Shipsey, founder and executive director of Art for Human Rights and it was woven in 2019 by the renowned French atelier Pinton in Felletin.

First unveiled at the Maison de l’UNESCO in Paris on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, it has since been exhibited in Mexico City, Dublin, Geneva, and now Strasbourg. It serves as an ongoing reminder of past atrocities and a call to confront today’s denial and impunity. 

The presentation of the tapestry at the Council of Europe is supported by the Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty. Consistent with his mandate to promote human rights education, he is engaging artistic expression to reach wider audiences, especially young people, and to affirm humanity, solidarity, and resilience.

In line with his mandate to promote education in and awareness of human rights across member states, the Commissioner uses artistic expression to engage with a wide audience and especially with young people.

This tapestry aims to be a nomadic mural that educates contemporary and future audiences about the consequences of hatred and intolerance, and embodies a universal commitment to remembrance and human dignity.

An Artistic Manifesto for Human Dignity

Created by Mexican artist Manuel Rodríguez Lozano between 1944 and the end of the Second World War, El Holocausto is one of the earliest artistic protests against the Holocaust to be produced outside Europe while the Nazi regime was still denying the genocide of Europe’s Jews and Roma. 

In 2019, Bill Shipsey, founder of Art for Human Rights, commissioned this tapestry based on the mural, which was woven at the Ateliers Pinton in Felletin, France.