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“There may soon be no one left in Azerbaijan to write these stories, to document these abuses, to bear witness,” argued Azerbaijani journalist Arzu Geybulla (Free Voice Collective), addressing the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. The statement was delivered following the Committee’s request that HRHF suggest experts to speak at a hearing on 26 June regarding the situation for human rights defenders and journalists in Azerbaijan.

Four years after the detention of Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovic and Uladzimir Labkovich, over 40 international human rights organisations urge the Belarusian authorities to uphold the rule of law and to immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders arbitrarily detained in Belarus.

At the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation condemned Russia’s systematic human rights abuses in occupied Crimea, citing documentation from Human Rights House Crimea member organisations including repression of journalists, lawyers, and civic freedoms; forced conscription and indoctrination of children; and property confiscation. HRHF reiterated calls for the release of political prisoners held by the Russian Federation.

At the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council, HRHF and Human Rights House Banja Luka echoed UPR recommendations to Bosnia and Herzegovina to guarantee a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders, align all legislation on free association, expression and assembly with international standards, and to resource and strengthen national human-rights institutions.

At the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council, HRHF called on the Belarusian authorities to end incommunicado detentions and ill treatement, reinstate banned NGOs, repeal repressive laws and to engage with the Council’s Belarus mechanisms.

From 9 to 13 June, human rights defenders and civil society actors from across the Network of Human Rights Houses and beyond gathered in Oslo for the 2025 Network meeting. Amidst increasing global challenges faced by civil society, participants came together not only to share but also to build new strategies and forge solidarity.

At the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation condemned state-backed disinformation, legal harassment, and physical attacks targeting journalists and election observers in countries like Belarus, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Serbia. Citing the imprisonment of Anar Mammadli and widespread abuse of “national security” laws, HRHF called for clear benchmarks to hold states accountable during election cycles.

We members of the Network of Human Rights Houses stand in solidarity with our imprisoned colleagues in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, as well as all political prisoners in the region.

On 2 June 2025 at SHDMIII, HRHF highlighted the systematic steps taken by authorities in Georgia to close civic space, criminalise legitimate human rights work, and to silence civil society and opposition voices. HRHF also highlighted the deteriorating situation in neighbouring Azerbaijan citing the cases of Anar Mammadli and Ulviyya Ali as examples of hundreds of political prisoners in the country.