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On 28 February 2022, Human Rights House Foundation delivered a statement on Russia during the 134th session of the Human Rights Committee, the treaty body of the ICCPR, currently reviewing Russia.

Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) calls on the international community to take immediate and decisive steps at the United Nations in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces. These actions are the devastating continuation of gross human rights violations committed by Russia domestically and internationally and the international community must respond. Immediate and decisive action must be taken within United Nations human rights bodies.

Human Rights House Foundation joins several international civil society organisations voicing support for and expressing solidarity with the people of Ukraine who now find themselves at the frontlines of a large-scale European war.

Watch the full recording of “Belarus: Next steps toward accountability at the Human Rights Council”, a side event hosted ahead of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council. This event was organised by the Permanent Mission of Lithuania to UN Office at Geneva and Human Rights House Foundation.

HRHF calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities, respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and the strongest possible support for human rights and human rights defenders, in Ukraine by the international community.

On Sunday, 27 February 2022, Belarusian authorities will hold a national referendum on a new draft constitution. The proposed constitution, the third since Alexander Lukashenka became President in 1994, has drawn widespread criticism for providing the opportunity to tighten Lukashenka’s grip on power.

In a joint letter, Human Rights House Foundation and 12 international and Belarusian organisations urge Human Rights Council member and observer states to support the renewal of the OHCHR examination of the human rights situation in Belarus at its 49th session.

This month, February 2022, marks the 8th anniversary since Russian forces seized government buildings in Crimea and consequently occupied the Crimean peninsula. In the ensuing 8 years, Russian authorities have committed numerous human rights violations against human rights defenders, including journalists, and the broader population on the peninsula. On this 8th anniversary, the undersigned members of the network of Human Rights Houses call on the international community and Ukrainian authorities to address these violations and hold those responsible to account.

Volha Harbunova is a Belarusian woman human rights defender, psychologist, and former head of the non-governmental organisation Radislava, which offers support to women who face domestic and gender-based violence. Harbunova was arrested on 9 November 2021 on suspicion of organising all-women marches in 2020.