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On 16 May 2022, Human Rights House Foundation and several Ukrainian and international partners hosted “Moscow Mechanism report on Ukraine: Next steps for the OSCE,” a pre-event for OSCE delegations and stakeholders ahead of the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting.

Human Rights House Foundation, alongside the undersigned human rights organisations, welcomes the resolution and recommendation on “Safeguarding and promoting genuine democracy in Europe”, passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Thursday.

The consequences of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine is the focus of the ongoing plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg this week. Ahead of the urgent procedure debate on “Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine: ensuring accountability for serious violations of international humanitarian law” on Thursday, 28 April 2022, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) urges PACE to call for additional support to human rights defenders in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus and to support the establishment of international accountability mechanisms for serious violations of human rights committed as part of Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

Today, the Minsk City Court will begin hearings in the trial against Viasna member Marfa Rabkova and volunteer Andrey Chapiuk. Both are being prosecuted on politically motivated charges and face up to 20 years and eight years of imprisonment respectively. The proceedings are taking place as Viasna’s 26th anniversary approaches, in an overwhelmingly repressive context in Belarus. The signatory organisations reiterate their utmost support for Viasna, and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all its members as well as all arbitrarily imprisoned human rights defenders in the country.

The renewed invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022 must be considered within the broader regional human rights crisis which encompasses Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine and addressed accordingly by the international community.

At the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation called on the Council to press the Russian authorities on the ongoing human rights crackdown, as well as to appoint a dedicated Special Rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in the country. These calls were delivered in a joint statement alongside Amnesty International, CIVICUS, Human Rights Watch, and FIDH.

On 17 March 2022, Human Rights House Foundation delivered a statement at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council calling for the Council to renew the mandate of the OHCHR examination of Belarus.

On 4 March 2022, Human Rights House Foundation urged Human Rights Council action in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine during an urgent debate at HRC49.

In a letter addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, 580+ members of Russian civil society voice their opposition to the invasion of Ukraine and urge an immediate end to the war.