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In recent months, Serbia has witnessed an alarming crackdown on its civic space. This has unfolded through a wave of arrests, smear campaigns, and repressive tactics aimed at silencing dissent and undermining democratic principles. These actions, exacerbated by growing Russian and Chinese influence, reveal a systematic effort of Serbia’s authorities to suppress civil society and stifle public dissent.

Human Rights House Foundation joins a joint-statement from INGOs led by Human Rights Watch urging EU leaders to press the Azerbaijani Authorities to end its renewed and intensified crackdown on critical voices and independent civil society.

From October 7-11, 2024, 15 human rights defenders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine gathered for a week of advocacy as a part of the Network of Human Rights Houses’ 30th anniversary celebrations. Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) and Network partners aimed to deepen engagement with Norwegian policymakers and raise awareness of critical human rights challenges across the region, emphasising the need for increased political and financial support from Norway for civil society.

In September 2024, Human Rights House Yerevan and Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) hosted a two-day workshop in Armenia to equip civil society representatives with tools to combat Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). The workshop gathered 17 participants, including eco-activists, environmental organisations, and human rights defenders, to discuss SLAPPs, examine their threats to democracy and free speech, and explore strategies for legal resistance. The event was facilitated by Mari Kapanadze from Georgian Democracy Initiative, Charlie Holt from Greenpeace International and the CASE Coalition, and Nora Wehofsits from HRHF.

At the 57th UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) worked alongside civil society partners to highlight the situation for human rights in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Balkans.

Yuliia Kishenko is a Ukrainian human rights defender and volunteer.
She became part of the human rights movement over 10 years ago through her activism, when she joined “East SOS” – a volunteer movement that grew into a charitable fund supporting victims of war. In recent years Kishenko has focused on human rights in education, national advocacy and supporting civil society in war.

Valentyna Potapova is a human rights defender from Ukraine. She is the head of national advocacy direction at Centre of Civil Education “Almenda”, a member organisation of Human Rights House Crimea, which had to relocate from Crimea to Kyiv following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Since then, Potapova’s work is focused on protecting the right to education of children remaining under occupation.

Dragoslava Barzut is a writer and human rights defender from Serbia. She is a Public Policy Program Manager at Civic Initiatives, a member organisation of Human Rights House Belgrade. Barzut’s work centres on combating hate speech and hate crimes, addressing the shrinking civic space, and advocating for the rights of LGBTQI people.

Liubov Vinogradova (1952 – 2024), a Russian human rights defender and medical psychologist, passed away in May 2024. Vinogradova was the Executive Director of the Independent Psychiatric Association of Russia (IPA) from 1989 until her passing, working to expose and end the practice of punitive psychiatry in Russia.