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On 26 June 2023 Human Rights House Foundation delivered a statement at HRC53 on the challenges faced by human rights lawyers, particularly in Azerbaijan, as well as raising concerns about the use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) in Europe. HRHF also asked the Special Rapporteur for recommendations for judges and lawyers that have had to flee their countries including Belarus and Russia.

On 23 June 2023, Human Rights House Foundation delivered a statement at the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council highlighting the situation for freedom of expression in Azerbaijan, Croatia, Georgia, and Serbia.

Human Rights House Foundation and members of the Network of Human Rights Houses join their Georgian colleagues in a joint statement expressing solidarity with Georgian filmmaker Salome Jashi, her colleagues, and all the representatives of the art & cultural sector, as well as calling on the Georgian authorities to ensure a safe an enabling environment for artistic creativity in the country.

From 12-15 June 2023, 20 participants from the Network of Human Rights Houses gathered in Vilnius, Lithuania, for “From Idea to Impact”, a workshop organised by Human Rights House Foundation focused on designing and implementing impactful human rights projects. The workshop was co-funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union.

On 26 June 2023, Human Rights House Foundation will host “The role of civil society in promoting & protecting human rights”, a pre-event at the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting. The event is organised by Human Rights House Foundation, Austausch e.V. & Netherlands Helsinki Committee with the financial support of the European Union and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The event is sponsored by Civic Solidarity Platform and Human Rights Houses Belgrade and Tbilisi.

In October 2022, human rights defender Olena Vinsent, fled increasing danger in occupied Crimea with her mother, their three cats and their dog, driving through Russia to reach safety in Georgia. Today she lives and carries out human rights work in Batumi and is still getting used to feeling safe.

“We work with those who provide support to others and we call them ‘helpers’.” As a result of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country’s population has a greater need for support from human rights defenders, social workers, psychologists, psychotherapists, etc. Wika Solonitsyna (top photo), Programme Coordinator and Co-founder of AHALAR (member organisation of Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv), sheds light on how her organisation provides valuable assistance to helpers in Ukraine.

On May 18, the “Stories from occupied Crimea” photo exhibition opened in the capital cities of Ukraine, Belgium and Lithuania, marking the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Deportation of the Crimean Tatar People. The exhibition sheds light on the renewed repressions of Crimean Tatars since the 2014 occupation of the peninsula by Russia.

Today, marking the Day of the Political Prisoner in Belarus, HRHF and the undersigned organisations, led by Article19 reiterate condemnation of the Lukashenka regime’s ruthless crackdown on civil society and independent media. We continue to stand in solidarity with courageous Belarusians who persist in their fight for freedom. The international community will keep demanding the unconditional release of all political prisoners.