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New and renewed mandates on Belarus and Ukraine adopted – Our work at HRC55
Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) advocated alongside partners during the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on human rights issues including calling for the renewal of key mechanisms and mandates.
Regional Network of Human Rights Houses launched in the Balkans
On 19 March 2024, a new Regional Network of Human Rights Houses was launched by Human Rights Houses Banja Luka, Belgrade, Zagreb and the Sarajevo Open Centre. The group also launched their first Regional Report on the situation of human rights defenders in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.
HRHF Annual Report 2023
The human rights situation across the regions where Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) works was further influenced by military conflict and crackdown against independent civil society. Despite this, we continued to work closely with the Network of Human Rights Houses to protect and advance human rights. Read our 2023 Annual Report.
A Human Rights Tour of the OSCE Region
On 18 March 2024, in Vienna, Human Rights House Foundation and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee co-hosted a civil society Human Dimension event where OSCE State delegations could hear directly from human rights defenders from seven countries, including representatives from several Human Rights Houses in the region.
Reunited: Human Rights Houses Network Meeting 2023
After several years of unprecedented global events, the Network of Human Rights Houses convened in Warsaw from 20-24 November for the first in-person Network meeting since 2019. Colleagues from 28 CSOs from 12 countries reconnected to discuss successes, common challenges, and emerging human rights trends. Together, the Network welcomed its newest member, Human Rights House Banja Luka.
Shelling and disguises: a human rights defender’s life under Russian occupation
Oksana Tropina is a human rights defender from Kherson. She remained in the city during the Russian occupation from February to November 2022. In this interview, she discusses life and human rights under occupation as well as evacuation.
Holding Russia accountable for violations at home and abroad and other priorities at HRC54
Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) was active throughout the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) advocating on key issues including calling for the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia, as well as the issue of reprisals for civil society engaging with the UN, and the human rights situations in Belarus, Georgia, Serbia and Ukraine.
Building the capacity of the next generation of Council of Europe changemakers
14 human rights defenders refined their advocacy skills and deepened their knowledge of Council of Europe (CoE) advocacy throughout 2023 as part of the Human Rights House Foundation’s Advocacy Capacity Building Programme, co-funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union.
When I communicate with [political prisoners] and their relatives, I tell them that [legal action] will not significantly affect their immediate situation, but it must be done.
On 24 February 2022, human rights lawyer Serghiy Zayets and his family became internally displaced persons (IDPs) for the second time as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion. They fled Irpin for Western Ukraine, where they still live today. Originally from Crimea, Zayets and his family fled the peninsula in 2014 following the Russian occupation. In this interview with HRHF, Zayets gives insight into his fight for the human rights of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russian custody and the volatile nature of living and working in a war zone.