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CASE members have written to the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council about the draft compromise proposal for the European anti-SLAPP Directive. The Swedish Presidency’s compromise proposal is self-defeating, runs contrary to the purpose of the anti-SLAPP Directive and undermines its spirit, and fails to meet the expectations of the European Parliament, the European Union’s most important democratic body.

Tomorrow, the Leninsky District Court in Minsk is expected to hand down its verdict in the case of Viasna leaders Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich and Uladzimir Labkovich. On the eve of the verdict, the signatory organisations reiterate their calls to release the human rights defenders and drop all charges against them.

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.

Human Rights House Foundation joins over 160 international civil society organisations in urging all States to support the resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders ahead of the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Human Rights House Foundation joins international and Belarusian CSOs in urging Human Rights Council member and observer states to establish an independent investigative mechanism to complement and follow-up on the work of the existing OHCHR examination.

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.

HRHF joins 40+ CSOs in urging Members of the European Parliament to support a strong Media Freedom Act in a joint letter sent to MEPs.

On 30 January 2023, members of the Human Rights and Democracy Network issued a joint letter urging the European Parliament to reconsider the recent decision to enforce a strict 5oo-word limit for all urgency resolutions. 

On 20 December 2022, The Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN) issued a joint letter to the European Parliament raising concerns over recent debates and proposals to freeze all activities of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Subcommittee (DROI) and to stop all urgency resolutions. HRDN members including HRHF urge that Parliament instead recommits to and doubles down on its efforts to speak up louder and stronger in the face of abuses, including those committed by any government who might have tried to exert undue influence on Parliament activities.