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Viktoryia Fiodarava is a Belarusian human rights lawyer, Chairperson of “Legal Initiative,” and a cofounder of the International Committee for the Investigation of Torture in Belarus. She leads efforts to provide legal assistance to victims of repression, document human rights violations, and advocate for the protection of civil liberties. Fiodarava was selected to be portrayed in the fourth edition of the “Portraits of Strength” photo exhibition by the Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House.

Sara Rahimova is an Azerbaijani human rights defender and a board member of the Labour Desk Confederation of Trade Unions, working on women’s rights, workers’ rights, and environmental rights. Rahimova was selected to be portrayed in the fourth edition of the “Portraits of Strength” photography series by Human Rights House Azerbaijan.

Zhenya Mayilyan is a human rights defender from Armenia. She is the Chairperson of Real, World Real People NGO and the Chairperson of the Board of Human Rights House Yerevan. Since 2017, Mayilyan has worked on stronger human rights protection in her country, with a particular focus on the right to health.

We, the undersigned human rights organisations, condemn in strongest possible terms the Azerbaijani authorities’ detention of Anar Mammadli, a prominent human rights defender, leader of the country’s largest independent election watchdog and member of the Network of Human Rights Houses. We demand his immediate and unconditional release.

There are 1400+ political prisoners in Belarus, as of February 2023 and that number continues to rise. The “Letters from Lukashenka’s Prisoners” campaign aims to ensure the unjustly detained are not forgotten and that their voices are still heard from behind bars.

Alena Hnauk is a 65-year-old pensioner and activist from the village of Tkachi in the Pruzhany region of Belarus. She was first sentenced to two years of home confinement for participating in the so-called “dancing protest” on 13 September 2020 in Brest.

Human Rights House Yerevan is close to completing the renovation of its premises – the home of Armenia’s human rights defenders – and you can help by donating today.

Dzmitry Kubarau is UI/UX designer from Minsk. Known as ‘Dima’ to his friends, he likes tattoos, fashion, and chess. Dzmitry was accused of “calling people to actively participate in mass riots, organising them himself and participating in them” from 9 to 12 August 2020. He was detained on 11 August 2020 and taken to the KGB pre-trial detention centre. That same night, he signed a confession while in the hands of the KGB. At trial, Dzmitry pleaded not guilty and reported the torture that led to his ‘confession.’ On 24 March 2021 he was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony under part 1 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code (“Organisation of riots”).

Artsiom Mitsuk was part of a Telegram group chat which included a number of pseudonymous members. On 29 September, some of the members agreed to meet in person. Artsiom arrived late and saw a number of representatives of law enforcement agencies but as he was sure he had not broken any laws, he checked in with the group chat to find out what was happening. However, on the group chat, Artsiom noticed a representative of state authorities was sending messages to the other users. Soon after that Artsiom was arrested.