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On 18 December 2020, Human Rights House Foundation issued a statement during the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ oral update on Ukraine. In the statement, HRHF highlighted the situation for political prisoners in Crimea as well as raising the question as to what Ukrainian authorities can do to assist and protect Belarusians who have fled Belarus to escape the on-going crisis there.

On 1 October 2020, Human Rights House Foundation delivered a statement at the Human Rights Council highlighting the situation of seven Crimean political prisoners including Server Mustafayev. The issue of attacks on journalists and bloggers across Ukraine was also raised.

Identifying burnout at work as “the scourge of the 21st century”, two member organisations of Human Rights House Tbilisi and Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv developed a programme for human rights defenders offering guidelines and best practices to prevent and recover from burnout.

From 1 – 12 August, Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv welcomed human rights defenders from across Ukraine, online and in-person, for its fourth annual human rights education festival. The festival was attended by representatives of the educational community – teachers, administrators, professors, students, judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and civil society activists.

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.

In a joint statement at the 43rd Session of the UN Human Rights Council, HRHF and two Human Rights Houses highlighted reports that at least 94 people are detained in Crimea for political or religious reasons, including prominent human rights defender Server Mustafayev. Complications for people in the Eastern Ukraine conflict zone as a result of Covid-19 action were also raised.

Nine Ukrainian CSOs including Human Rights House Crimea and all of its member organisations have jointly raised concerns on the treatment of persons in detention in Crimea during Covid-19 Crisis. They call on the Russian Federation as the peninsulas occupying power to take effective measures to combat Covid-19 in penitentiary systems. They also call on the international community to urge the Russian Federation to abide by its international human rights obligations, adhere to the recommendations of the WHO and the CPT, and to provide persons in detention with adequate care and medical assistance.

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.