In addition to regular agenda items including updates on the HRHN’s activities, group discussions, feedback sessions and adoption of the network’s joint statements and plan of action, the meeting includes the opening of an exhibition of the work of a Belarusian photo journalist, and the screening of two documentaries; one on Azerbaijan, the other on tactics and technology in human rights work.

Despite the fact that East and Horn of Africa, one of  HRHN’s prioritised regions of engagement, is not represented at the meeting, since Lithuanian authorities were unable to issue visas, this will be the best attended annual meeting of the HRHN ever. 17 countries will be represented, and with more than 50 delegates present, the meeting had to be moved from the Belarusian Human Rights House in exile, situated in the city centre of Vilnius, to the conference hotel, slightly on the outskirts of town.

Still, key events will be hosted at the Belarusian Human Rights House, including the press conference this afternoon at 15:00 hrs, addressing the human rights situation in Belarus. Since its opening a few years back, this house has provided Belarusian human rights defenders with a home away from home, a safe haven where they can not only meet and discuss freely, but also stay and thus get away from the threats, persecutian and harassment that they often suffer in Belarus.

On Friday, the annual meeting is followed by an international conference focusing on Belarus and the Baltic states and the relationships between them, all from a human rights perspective. More than 200 people will attend. Among the speakers, leading Belarusian human rights defenders and human rights researchers from all three Baltic states are joined by representatives of international human rights NGOs,  the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and the UN. Representatives of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and also the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in Lithuania add further value to the conference programme.

The key themes of the conference are human rights defenders’ need for protection, the human rights situation in Belarus and the Baltic states, freedom of expression in Belarus and the Baltic states, and how human rights defenders and organisations can best raise awareness about their key issues of concern. Throughout, there will be a focus on how the momentum that this gathering creates can best be followed up. Quite possibly, that will include taking advantage of the findings of the Venice Commission, whose First Vice-President, Professor Jan Erik Helgesen of the University of Oslo, will give the closing remarks.