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On 29 April 2020, representatives of several Human Rights Houses discussed the human rights challenges posed by the impact of Covid-19 with Clément Voule, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of association and assembly as he took part in an HRHF-organised online consultation. The consultation aimed to identify solutions to these challenges, and to ensure that human rights are upheld during and after the crisis.

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.

Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) remains very concerned with a number of recent actions taken by the Azerbaijani authorities in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Discover 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.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, has announced much-needed reforms to the human rights body’s “reprisal mechanism” – launched in May 2017 to ensure “human rights defenders… never face retribution for their principled stance.”

HRHF raises hate speech and smear campaigns against women human rights defenders in Armenia, in its statement to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC41) on 26 June 2019. This follows the UN special rapporteur on freedom of association and assembly presenting his report on his November 2018 visit to Armenia.

The Venice Commission expresses that “States must create an enabling environment in which associations can effectively operate and access funding, including foreign funding.” This comes in its review of standards applying to funding of NGOs within Council of Europe member states, published in March 2019.

Armenian authorities should condemn hate speech, smear campaigns, and threats against human rights defenders, express support for defenders, and create an enabling environment, writes Human Rights House Foundation in a letter raising threats against defenders in Armenia.

Some 45 human rights organisations of the Civic Solidarity Platform warn of the Russian authorities’ crackdown on human rights activists and other individuals in occupied Crimea.