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At the first of the OSCE’s key human rights forums of the year, HRHF worked with civil society partners from the Network of Human Rights Houses and beyond to continue to raise the issue of reprisals and threats against human rights defenders across the OSCE region, as well as highlighting the situations in Georgia and Serbia via side events co-organised with partners.

After a year marked by large-scale student and civic protests, the authorities in Serbia began introducing more intensive legislative changes aimed at restricting freedoms and further undermining separation of powers and democratic law-making. On 17 March 2026, these issues and more were discussed at an SHDMI side event organised by YUCOM, Human Rights House Belgrade, and Human Rights House Foundation.

Following a year of large-scale student and civic protests, accompanied by reports of excessive use of force against demonstrators the freedoms of assembly and expression have been under increasing attack in Serbia. On 11 March 2026, these issues and more were discussed at a HRC61 side event organised by the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights with the support of Human Rights House Foundation.

In November 2025, Serbia marked one year since the Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse, and the subsequent student protests sparked by it. Today, despite growing international attention, concerns over the country’s human rights situation are deepening, and civil society warns about escalating repression as the government responds to dissent. Human Rights House Foundation spoke with Jovana Spremo, Advocacy Director at the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM), about this situation and more.

At the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) continued its work to amplify the voices of civil society partners from the Network of Human Rights Houses. HRHF addressed issues ranging from reprisals against human rights defenders to crackdowns on civic space, while pushing for accountability for serious human rights violations.

In September 2025, eighteen human rights defenders from ten countries visited Strasbourg as part of the Advocacy Training Programme, organised by Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) and co-funded by the Council of Europe (CoE) and the governments of Norway and Switzerland.
The study visit took place one week before the Autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), giving participants timely insights and practical experience in engaging with CoE stakeholders and amplifying civil society’s voice at the heart of Europe’s system for protecting and promoting human rights.

From 9 to 13 June, human rights defenders and civil society actors from across the Network of Human Rights Houses and beyond gathered in Oslo for the 2025 Network meeting. Amidst increasing global challenges faced by civil society, participants came together not only to share but also to build new strategies and forge solidarity.

At the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation condemned state-backed disinformation, legal harassment, and physical attacks targeting journalists and election observers in countries like Belarus, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Serbia. Citing the imprisonment of Anar Mammadli and widespread abuse of “national security” laws, HRHF called for clear benchmarks to hold states accountable during election cycles.

Human Rights House Foundation invites all Human Rights Houses, their member organisations as well as organisations and actors from outside of the network to apply for funding in collaboration to advance human rights priorities in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Serbia, and Ukraine.