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At the first stop on an official trip to Serbia, Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg visited Human Rights House Belgrade with her Serbian counterpart Ana Brnabic. At the House, the politicians had the opportunity to engage in dialogue with members of Serbian civil society.

Human Rights House Foundation delivered the following statement on Serbia to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC38) before it adopted Serbia’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report.

Time and again in 2017 we saw how resilient, creative, and adaptable human rights defenders can be in the face of repression.

Resisting Ill Democracies in Croatia, Hungary, and Poland: Join us for the presentation of a case study showing common trends and how illiberal governments put human rights and the rule of law at risk.

From emerging democracies in transition, illiberal governments have rapidly transformed Hungary and Poland into ill democracies, have attempted to do so in Croatia, and are slowly and carefully entertaining an illiberal platform in Serbia, according to the new case study Resisting Ill Democracies in Europe.

Discover how we, the Human Rights Houses and Human Rights House Foundation, protected, empowered, and supported human rights defenders and advanced human rights in 2016.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has raised concerns and issued recommendations to the Serbian authorities. These relate to discrimination, torture and ill-treatment, refugees and asylum seekers, administration of justice, and freedom of expression.

“There is a shrinking space for the debate about human rights and fundamental freedoms in Serbian society. Also, there is less and less public scrutiny of the Government that has a negative effect on the human rights situation in Serbia.”

Each Human Rights House presented and discussed their work, and then the focus expanded to joint activities, specifically the Network campaign to protect and support human rights defenders in Azerbaijan. Discussions then turned to opportunities for partnership with donors, and how donors and civil society can address State restrictions on foreign funding.