The objective of this article is to evaluate the extent to which we can regard individuals in the territories of de facto regimes in the Council of Europe region (Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transdniestria, and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) as enjoying the protection of the European Convention on Human Rights. The work considers the utility of recognizing ‘de facto regimes’ as subjects of international law, before examining the relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and wider international law on the human rights obligations of such political entities. It then draws on the idea of the acquired human rights doctrine to recognize, in certain circumstances, that the ECHR can be opposable to such regimes and concludes by reflecting on the implications of the analysis for understanding human rights in world society.