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On 21 July 2023, prominent human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka was released following two and a half years behind bars in Belarus. In this interview with Human Rights House Foundation, marking six months since his release, Sudalenka shares his experiences from unjust imprisonment to forced exile and discusses the dependence of Lukashenka’s regime on continuous repressions against Belarusian civil society.

Oleksandr Larin is a pensioner from Mariupol, Ukraine. In this interview, originally published in Ukrainian by Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv, Larin discusses fleeing his home following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as volunteering to help provide humanitarian aid to people whose homes were damaged/destroyed.

On 19 December 2023, HRHF delivered a statement at the UN Human Rights Council highlighting the situation for those unjustly detained or imprisoned in Crimea.

Human Rights House Foundation is alarmed by the latest wave of crackdowns against what remains of independent media and dissenting voices in Azerbaijan. Over the course of the last 25 days, at least 11 journalists and human rights defenders have been detained on dubious and seemingly ungrounded charges, in retaliation for the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression. The latest events are a deeply worrying attack on the Azerbaijani media sector and dissenting voices, particularly as they come in advance of recently announced and early Presidential elections on 7 February 2024. We call on the Azerbaijani authorities to drop the criminal cases against recently jailed individuals and release them immediately.

24 лютого 2022 року адвокат прав людини Сергій Заєць та його сім’я стали внутрішньо переміщеними особами (ВПО) вдруге в результаті повномасштабного російського вторгнення. Вони евакуювалися з Ірпеня на захід України, де живуть досі. Проживаючи в Криму до 2014 року, Сергію та його сім’ї довелося переїхати з півострова після російської окупації. У цьому інтерв’ю для Фонду Домів прав людини, Сергій розповів про свою боротьбу за права людини українських політичних в’язнів, що знаходяться у російському ув’язненні, вибудові стратегічних справ та особливості життя та роботи під час війни.

Ahead of International Human Rights Day 2023, HRHF has spoken to several human rights defenders from around the Network of Human Rights Houses to ask them about the state of human rights in their countries and why they find it important to continue their work.

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.

In December 2023, the UN General Assembly will vote for the eighth resolution on the situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Human Rights House Crimea (HRH Crimea) member organisations have submitted recommendations to the resolution. This year, their emphasis is on new trends emerging amid the full-scale Russian aggression. In this interview originally published by HRH Crimea, Olha Skrypnyk, head of the Crimean Human Rights Group and co-coordinator of the Expert Network of the Crimean Platform, gives insight into these proposals and highlights the significance of this resolution and international advocacy efforts.

In an open letter, Human Rights House Foundation joins Amnesty International and 97 other civil society organisations in expressing serious concern at the EU and several European states‘ decision to suspend or review their funding to Palestinian and Israeli civil society organisations.

In 2023, Human Rights House Foundation launched an update to the Rights of Defenders booklet. The update coincides with the 25th anniversary of the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the updated booklet expands on the original 16 standards that we first published in 2018.

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.

74 civil society organisations including Human Rights House Foundation have written to the European Commission, the European Parliament’s rapporteur, the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council and the Ministers of Justice of all EU Member States to reiterate their concerns regarding the trilogue process of the anti-SLAPP Directive. Members of the CASE coalition urge the European institutions to negotiate the strongest possible Anti-SLAPP Directive that effectively protects public watchdogs.