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“Defending human rights in Russia is a lonely, exhausting, and often dangerous path. But some of us are still here—because someone has to be.”
Defending human rights inside the Russian Federation in 2025 means waking up every morning and choosing to continue despite the fear of a life-changing knock on the door. This year, Human Rights House Foundation interviewed a Russian human rights defender who continues to live and work inside Russia despite increasing repression and risks. We are not identifying the HRD and using the “their” pronoun to protect the person’s identity. This is their testimony, edited for clarity and coherence.
Anar Mammadli condemns his trial as “political show staged by repressive ruling regime in Azerbaijan.”
On 22 September 2025, Azerbaijani human rights defender and political prisoner Anar Mammadli delivered his defence statement at the Baku Court on Grave Crimes. In his address, Mammadli stated “I do not recognise this court, and I consider it a political show staged by the repressive ruling regime in Azerbaijan.” Mammadli denounced the charges against him as baseless and politically motivated, and called for the Court to terminate the case. This article was written by human rights lawyer Emin Abbasov.
There is still time to pressure Georgian authorities
“The Georgian Dream government is still sensitive to international pressure. It is still acting as though international legitimacy is important and responding to international monitoring and reporting. But this window will close and the international community will lose some of its leverage. This is the moment to apply maximal pressure,” writes HRHF’s Head of Advocacy Dave Elseroad in New Eastern Europe.
“Historically in Belarus, after waves of civic activity, repression typically follows… I knew repression would come after 2020; I just didn’t grasp the scale.” Interview with former political prisoner Andrei Chapiuk
2 October 2025 marks six months since former political prisoner Andrei Chapiuk was released from prison in Belarus, and since he left the country for his safety. This month also marks five years since he was imprisoned. In this interview with HRHF, Chapiuk discussed adjusting to life outside of prison and in a new country, as well as the human rights situation in Belarus and his colleagues still behind bars.
Prizes without freedom risk becoming trophies of hypocrisy
“This year’s Václav Havel Prize must signal the Council of Europe to turn praise of courage into action against autocrats, even within its own ranks,” argues Emin Abbasov (Independent Lawyers Network), Maria Dahle (Human Rights House Foundation), and Natallia Satsunkevich (Human Rights Centre Viasna) in International Politics and Society.
“Azerbaijan was heading to a new era, but ended up in a full-scale dictatorship”
Since 2023, Azerbaijan has been conducting its most comprehensive crackdown against civil society in its post-independence history. With the majority of human rights defenders, journalists, and lawyers in exile or behind bars, the few that remain are unable to operate in a civic space that defenders describe as transitioning from “shrinking” to “closing”. In 2025, Human Rights House Foundation discussed the situation with representatives of Azerbaijani civil society in exile, as well as those who remain despite severe and increasing risks.
Legal Win Strengthens Moldova’s Healthcare Union Movement
After four years of legal struggle, Moldova’s first independent medical workers’ union wins a landmark Supreme Court case as a result of sustained capacity building and advocacy support.
Civil society in Azerbaijan is decimated… The people who did the work are all now behind bars.
“There may soon be no one left in Azerbaijan to write these stories, to document these abuses, to bear witness,” argued Azerbaijani journalist Arzu Geybulla (Free Voice Collective), addressing the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. The statement was delivered following the Committee’s request that HRHF suggest experts to speak at a hearing on 26 June regarding the situation for human rights defenders and journalists in Azerbaijan.
“mama, all my friends are criminals”
On 21 May, HRHF, alongside PEN Belarus, published a poem by Tacniana Niadbaj, poet, writer & human rights defender. The publication of the poem marked the Day of Political Prisoners in Belarus.