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2020 was a year of unprecedented challenges in the wake of COVID-19. In our annual report, discover how Human Rights House Foundation and the network of Human Rights Houses adapted to meet these new challenges and continue our work together to advance human rights at home and abroad.

Human Rights House Foundation joins over 200 civil society organisations in a joint letter sent to the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, ahead of the EU General Affairs Council on April 20, expressing deep concerns over the deteriorating situation in Poland.

Human Rights House Foundation joins five organisations lead by International Commission of Jurists Norway in an appeal for the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs to freeze all transfer of Norway Grants under the EEA agreement to the Ministry of Justice in Poland and entities dependent on the Ministry.

Human Rights House Foundation is among 60 organisations jointly calling for the EU to take action against SLAPPs – the gag lawsuits silencing journalists, activists and human rights defenders across Europe. The coalition of organisations today endorses the Model EU Anti-SLAPP Directive ahead of the European Commission’s launch of its European Democracy Action Plan (EDAP).

More and more journalists and civil society organisations are being sued by powerful businessmen and politicians. We call on the EU to ensure those with a watchdog role are protected from gag lawsuits. This scrutiny is the lifeblood of healthy democracies, writes a group of 99 organisations including Human Rights House Foundation.

Discover in our 2019/20 annual report how Human Rights House Foundation protected and advanced the rights of human rights defenders, strengthened independent civil society, and supported a strong, active network of Human Rights Houses.

The network of Human Rights Houses is concerned by recent actions on the part of state authorities across western and eastern Europe, the western Balkans, and the Caucasus in response to the escalating COVID-19 crisis. These actions, taken to combat the rising number of infections and deaths associated with COVID-19, raise questions about states’ commitments to civic freedoms and human rights.

On Friday 17 January 2020, the “Portraits of Strength” jury unanimously chose Georgian photographer Salome Sagaradze’s photograph of Baia Pataraia of Human Rights House Tbilisi as the competition’s winner.

Geneva & Warsaw, February 2, 2020: The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights – Warsaw (HFHR) and Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) look forward to the swift and effective implementation of the monitoring procedure launched by the PACE on 28 January 2020.