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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.

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.

With reference to upcoming Human Rights Council elections in October, Human Rights House Foundation delivered a statement at HRC54 on 29 September 2023, repeating condemnation of Russia’s application for Council membership, and underlining that no State which retaliates against civil society for engaging with the UN should be a Council member.

On 25 September 2023, Human Rights House Foundation highlighted the death of Belarusian artist Ales Pushkin behind bars, as well as the situation for the 1490+ political prisoners in the country.

On 3 October 2023, Human Rights House Foundation hosted “Protecting and expanding civic space in the OSCE region”, a side event at the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. The side event was co-sponsored by the Belarusian Human Rights House, as well as Human Rights Houses Banja Luka and Yerevan.

Human Rights House Foundation co-signs the Sunflower Declaration that was launched by Nobel Peace Prize laureates at the Nobel Peace Conference in Oslo on 31 August 2023. The Declaration calls for urgent action to protect human rights defenders at risk.

Human Rights House Foundation welcomes the news that Leanid Sudalenka, our colleague from Viasna Human Rights Centre, was released today after spending two and a half years behind bars. The case against him was unjust and he should not have been imprisoned in the first place. We repeat our call for the release of his Viasna colleagues and all political prisoners in Belarus.

At the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) continued to underline the alarming human rights trends prevailing in Eastern Europe. Alongside members of the Network of Human Rights Houses and other partners, HRHF once again urged the Council to adopt decisive measures in response to the pressing regional crisis, including on the issues of freedom of expression, assembly, and association, as well as pressure facing judges and lawyers.

14 July 2023 marks two years since human rights defender Ales Bialiatski was detained in Belarus alongside his Viasna colleagues Valiantsin Stefanovich and Uladzimir Labkovich. HRHF spoke to Bialiatski’s wife Natalia Pinchuk ahead of the day.