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“We cannot rely on Trump’s United States to attempt to civilise human conflict. Now we must rely on American civil society and the EU” writes Human Rights House Foundation’s Chairperson Bernt Hagtvet in a recent op-ed for the Norwegian publication VG.

Aleksandra Skochilenko is a Russian anti-war musician, artist and campaigner. Skochilenko came to prominence during protests following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Skochilenko was detained in April 2022 for distributing anti-war messages in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg. She was held as a political prisoner by the Russian authorities until her release on 1 August 2024 as part of an international prisoner exchange. She now lives in exile.

Unprecedented peaceful protests in Georgia are being met with unprecedented levels of violence and brutality according to Georgian human rights defender and psychologist Lela Tsiskarishvili. In this interview with Human Rights House Foundation, Tsiskarishvili outlines the use of torture and ill-treatment against peaceful protesters in the context of the current situation in Georgia as well as reflecting on her work rehabilitating survivors and the resilience of those she helps. Estimated reading time: 4 minutes.

Irene Kinunda Afriyie is a Norwegian author and columnist. Through her work, Afriyie tackles issues including human rights, racism, and immigrant integration in Norwegian society. Afriyie arrived in Norway as a refugee and aims to highlight the challenges and opportunities in the country of her origin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as other African countries. She is notably critical of traditional aid models and advocates for transitioning from the era of aid to the era of taxation.

Hennadii Vypynashko is a Ukrainian human rights defender who coordinated the Protection Program of the Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv for over 2.5 years, supporting civil society representatives affected by Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine. In this interview, he shares stories about supported human rights defenders and journalists, his motivation, and key takeaways from his experience.

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.

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.