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The founders of the Human Rights House Network believed change is possible.
They believed much could be achieved by collaborating locally and internationally. Today, the Network is a community of more than 100 independent organizations operating in 16 Human Rights Houses located in 13 countries.

95 lawyers from 24 countries call for the immediate and unconditional release of human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev. He has been in jail in Azerbaijan since 8 August 2014.

The 28th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council ended on Friday, 27 March 2015. It left civil society with mixed feelings; the Council did not address worrying human rights situations. However, they managed to establish new standards, in particular on the protection of privacy.

In a joint statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council, leading international human rights organisations call upon Azerbaijan “to put an end to the systematic punishment of leaders of civil society, and to immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders, journalists and activists held in custody.”

In March 2013, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on the protection of human rights defenders. It establishes principles and standards for States to create an enabling environment for human rights defenders. One year after its adoption, the Human Rights House Network calls upon States to implement this resolution.

In many parts of the Balkans, Caucasus and Eastern Europe human rights defenders face threats and violence, slander and intimidations, and are the targets of new laws restricting their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, and simply to work to defend human rights.

On Human Rights Day, 10 December, Human Rights House Network participates in launching the European campaign “Stand 4 Human Rights” with a short film called “What should the EU do for Human Rights?”.

Index on Censorship is partnering with the Editors Guild of India and the India International Centre for a debate on the subject, ‘Is freedom of expression under threat in the digital age?’

In the wake of Ian Cobain’s recent book Cruel Britannia exposing Britain’s role in the development and use of torture, English PEN brings writers and campaigners together to ask how and to what extent they challenge the official line that the UK does not ‘participate in, solicit, encourage or condone’ torture.