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Transnational repression by China reaches New York

November 8, 2025

On 6 November 2025 Human Rights Watch issued a press release on how Chinese Police Harass Filmmakers, Families to Undermine Free Expression Abroad

9da2a6d2-e1fd-4b3d-a322-ba3c24f25b37 — *A still from Jiangnan Xu’s film “Friends from Jiangnan.” © Zhu Rikun*

Chinese authorities harassed several dozen Chinese film directors and producers, as well as their families in China, causing them to pull films from the inaugural IndieChina Film Festival in New York City. On November 6, 2025, the festival’s organizer, Zhu Riku, announced that the film festival, scheduled for November 8-15, had been “suspended.”

“The Chinese government reached around the globe to shut down a film festival in New York City,” said Yalkun Uluyol, China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This latest act of transnational repression demonstrates the Chinese government’s aim to control what the world sees and learns about China.”

Chiang Seeta, a Chinese artist and activist, reported that nearly all participating directors in China faced intimidation. Even directors abroad, including those who are not Chinese nationals, reported that their relatives and friends in China were receiving threatening calls from police, said Chiang.

On November 1, the organizers issued an announcement on social media saying they had received messages from some film directors and producers and their families about Chinese government harassment: “We are deeply concerned about the situation. … [I]f you are under pressure not to attend the festival … we fully understand and respect it.” By November 4, more than two-thirds of participating films had cancelled their screenings.

After the festival was suspended, Zhu issued a statement that the decision was not out of fear, but rather to “stop harassment of … directors, guests, former staff, and volunteers associated with the festival, including my friends and family.”

Independent film festivals in China have faced intensifying crackdowns over the past decade, Human Rights Watch said. The Chinese authorities have shut down all three major independent film festivals in China: Yunfest, founded in 2003; the China Independent Film Festival, founded in 2003; and Beijing Independent Film Festival, founded in 2006.

When the authorities shut down the last screening of the Beijing Independent Film Festival in 2014, they cut off electricity from the venue, confiscated documents from the organizer’s office, and forced the organizers to sign a paper promising not to hold the festival. Many festival organizers have tried without success to adapt, for instance by changing their format to screenings at multiple venues.

The 14th China Independent Film Festival was shuttered in 2018, the last time such a festival took place in China.

A court in January 2025 sentenced Chen Pinlin, known as Plato, to three-and-a-half years in prison for allegedly “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” after he made a documentary about the “white paper protests” during Covid-19 lockdowns. Transnational repression can be defined as government efforts to silence or deter dissent by committing human rights abuses against their own nationals living abroad, their families at home, or members of the country’s diaspora. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2025/10/17/un-report-highlights-chinas-targeting-of-human-rights-defenders-abroad/]

The Chinese government’s transnational repression of the arts has not been limited to film. Chinese officials interfered with an exhibition in Bangkok and censored artwork by Uyghur, Tibetan, and Hongkonger artists in August.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/11/07/china-authorities-shut-down-film-festival-in-new-york

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/agenda/briefing/2025-11-12/10/combating-transnational-repression-of-human-rights-defenders

https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/un-experts-warn-of-surge-in-transnational-repression-targeting-defenders-from-china-and-southeast-asia

Posted in films, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Chen Pinlin, China, film, film festival, freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch, IndieChina Film Festival, ISHR, movies, New York, Plato, politics, transnational represion, Yalkun Uluyol

COP30: Protecting human rights defenders is crucial for climate justice

November 7, 2025

Defending Environmental Human Rights Defenders: Legal Frameworks

On 5 November, 2025 Camilla Pollera, Human Rights and Climate Change Program Associate at the Center for International Environmental Law published a blog post about the upcoming COP30 and the role of human rights defenders:

There is no climate justice in a climate of fear. As governments prepare to meet in Belém, Brazil for, COP30, attention turns to a country where defending nature still comes at a high cost. Deep-rooted and intertwined impunity and violence against environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) — including Indigenous defenders, Afro-descendent communities, women, and defenders from LGBTQIA+ —persist in Brazil.

COP30 decisions must recognize the efforts of those protecting the planet, in Brazil and beyond, and ensure that they can do so safely, freely, and without fear.

Around the world, EHRDs are on the frontlines of the climate crisis — protecting land, water, communities, and their rights, often at great personal risk. Faced with an escalating climate crisis and the inaction of governments, a growing number of people are stepping up to defend their rights, the rights of future generations and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, exercising their fundamental freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association, guaranteed under international human rights law.

…The violence and repression faced by defenders are intensified by intersecting forms of marginalization, especially affecting women defending the environment, who often suffer gender-based violence that rarely appears in the data, including sexual violence, harassment, and rejection within their families and communities. They are targeted not only as defenders of rights and natural resources but also as women, in all their diversity, challenging discriminatory societal norms, a combination that makes their work particularly dangerous and invisible. …The persistent violence and lack of effective guarantees for human rights protection are a stark reminder of what is at stake as COP30 comes to Belém.

The Advisory Opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the climate emergency and human rights made it clear: States must take proactive steps to ensure the effective protection of environmental defenders — including for those such as Indigenous and women EHRDs who are most at risk of retaliation. The Court recognized EHRDs are “allies of democracy”, whose work takes on even greater importance amid the urgency and complexity of the climate emergency. It reaffirmed the right to defend human rights as an autonomous right and declared that States have a special duty of protection toward those who exercise it, and recognized the double layer of risk faced by women environmental defenders, requiring an even higher duty of care. The Court also formulated very concrete recommendations on what this means at the national level.

The Escazú Agreement and the Aarhus Convention both enshrine explicit provisions on the protection of EHRDs, setting legal and institutional frameworks to operationalize these duties. Recent work under these instruments has provided concrete guidance for States and businesses to uphold their obligations, safeguard civic space, and ensure defenders are protected and not penalized. The recent Action Plan under Escazú and the ad hoc rapid response mechanism under Aarhus are just a few examples marking concrete advances in protecting those facing threats.

At COP30, Parties can no longer ignore their human rights obligations. They have a duty to ensure that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—the central forum for global cooperation on climate action—and its outcomes align with legal standards. Rightsholders have been obstructed from participating and silenced the climate talks, a process that is deciding on their future. Restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, lack of transparency in the host country agreements, persistent visa barriers and financial burdens, continue to limit access. In recent COPs, civic space has continued to shrink, with obstruction often led by the very States hosting the negotiations.

Brazil has a chance to do things differently, by making civic space at COP30 and the protection of environmental defenders a true priority. This includes guaranteeing safe conditions for the meaningful participation before, during, and after COP30 and beyond. And it also means taking steps domestically, starting with the urgent ratification of the Escazú Agreement. Brazil has a key role to play in building upon its legacy of international environmental leadership and steering negotiations at the COP towards rights-based outcomes.

COP30 indeed offers a crucial moment to enhance the protection of defenders through critical decisions expected in Belém: the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP) and the Gender Action Plan (GAP).

As highlighted by the recent report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, a just transition should be grounded in the protection of those who defend rights and call out false climate solutions, from Indigenous Peoples and land defenders opposing harmful mining projects to workers’ advocates demanding fair and equitable transitions. All decisions, measures, and mechanisms designed to enable a just transition from the fossil fuel economy must protect a safe and enabling civic space, and ensure the meaningful participation of EHRDs.

There is no climate justice without human rights and without protecting those on the frontlines. EHRDs step in to protect what governments have neglected, and their courage exposes States’ failure to meet their climate and human rights obligations. Despite the risk, around the world, defenders continue to organize, resist, and demand climate justice, leading the way forward. In their resistance lies the chance of a just and sustainable future.

Since 1989, CIEL has used the power of law to protect the environment, promote human rights, and ensure a just and sustainable society.

With offices in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, CIEL’s team of attorneys, policy experts, and support staff works to provide legal counsel and advocacy, policy research, and capacity building across our four program areas: Climate & Energy, Environmental Health, Fossil Economy, and People, Land & Resources.

On 5 November 2025 Amnesty international endorsed this kind of view under the title “What is COP and why is this year’s meeting in Brazil so important?”

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/media-centre/ahead-of-cop-resources-for-reporting-on-the-just-energy-transition/

https://pbicanada.org/2025/11/09/can-cop30-stop-climate-change-aggressions-against-land-and-environmental-defenders-who-resist-destructive-megaprojects/

https://globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/new-global-initiative-aims-to-place-environmental-defenders-at-the-heart-of-climate-decisions/

https://www.oas.org/en/IACHR/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2025/230.asp

COP30: Why Protecting Defenders Is Central to Climate Justice

Posted in Amnesty international, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Aarhus Convention, Brasil, Camilla Pollera, Center for International Environmental Law, civil society activists, climate change, COP30, environmental defenders, Escazú Agreement, Gender Action Plan (GAP), Global Witness, Human Rights Defenders, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Leaders Action Network for Environmental Activists and Defenders (LEAD)

Nominations for the 2026 Front Line Defenders Award now open

November 6, 2025

The Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk [see also https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/2E90A0F4-6DFE-497B-8C08-56F4E831B47D] was established in 2005. You can now submit your nomination for the 2026 Front Line Defenders Award online. Simply answer the questions by clicking the link below and when you have answered all of the questions, input the four digit security code and click on the submit button.

The Front Line Defenders Award is intended for HRDs for whom visibility can contribute to their security and who have not already had a lot of international recognition for their human rights work.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS: 23rd January 2026

Selection Criteria:

the nature of human rights defender’s work
the impact of human rights defender’s work in advancing the rights of others
the level of risk or negative consequences associated with human rights defender’s work
the continued commitment to advancing human rights, despite high level risks
the potential impact of receiving the Award on the human rights defender and their work

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/secure/nomination.php?l=en

https://www2.fundsforngos.org/individuals/front-line-defenders-award-for-human-rights-defenders-at-risk-2026/

Posted in awards, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: call for nominations, defenders at risk, digest of human rights awards and laureates, front line award, Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, history, human rights award, news, philosophy, politics, writing

Visa Policies in Europe’s Schengen Area Fail Human Rights Defenders

November 4, 2025

HRDs demonstrating outside the Palais de Chaillot, Paris, World Human Rights Defenders Summit, October 2018 — (*Olivier Papegnie / Collectif Huma)*

On 29 October, 2025 Amnesty International came with a report: “Closing the door – How Europe’s Schengen area visa policies fail human rights defenders“. International travel is crucial for human rights defenders (HRDs), and the Schengen area is a key destination, offering many opportunities for human rights advocacy, networking, learning, and for temporary respite for those facing threats and burnout. The importance of mobility for HRDs has been recognized by EU institutions and Schengen states. However, gaps remain between commitments and practice.

HRDs who are nationals of the 104 visa-restricted countries and who are in their vast majority racialized as Black, Asian and/or Muslim, continue to encounter huge barriers in obtaining a visa.

The report brings together real-life cases showing the impact of these obstacles on racialized HRDs, including many examples of visa denials because HRDs were not believed for the purpose of their travel. These experiences occur within a broader context of systemic racism, a legacy of colonial practices that shape visa policies and practices to this day. The report calls on authorities to ensure the full implementation of existing flexible arrangements for HRDs applying for visas, to develop a new visa procedure specifically designed to facilitate the process for HRDs, and to eliminate and prevent racial discrimination in the context of visa policies and processes.

Download the report

https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/closing-the-door-how-visa-policies-in-europes-schengen-area-fail-human-rights-defenders/

Posted in AI, Amnesty international, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, Discrimination, emergency visas, Europe, Human Rights Defenders, Schengen, visa denial

Report on how governments work behind the scenes to defund the UN’s human rights work

November 3, 2025

In a first-of-its-kind investigation into the closed-door negotiations of the UN’s budget in New York, ISHR uncovers how a small group of States – led by China and Russia – have coordinated efforts to block and slash funding for the UN’s human rights work through political manoeuvring and influence. At a moment of sweeping UN reform and financial crisis, these efforts – compounded by the US failure to pay their UN membership fees and outstanding debts – pose an existential threat to the UN’s human rights system.

…The UN’s historically underfunded human rights work now faces an existential threat due to budget cuts under the UN80 Initiative and the UN’s liquidity crisis, fuelled by the failure of the United States, China and other countries to pay their contributions in full and on time. Drawing from dozens of interviews and combing through official documents and internal budget negotiation documents from 2019 to 2024, ISHR’s report ‘Budget Battles at the UN: How States Try to Defund Human Rights’ finds that China and Russia have led a sustained effort to build influence, disrupt proceedings, and politicise technical discussions at the UN General Assembly’s Fifth Committee (5C), where States negotiate the UN’s budget, and its little-known yet influential advisory body, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). Over the past decade, Chinese influence within these bodies has expanded sharply, the report shows. Beijing has invested heavily in building its representation at the 5C, the ACABQ and other related bodies to push heavy budget cuts to human rights. Russia has frequently played the role of outspoken spoiler in negotiations, enabling China to deploy its influence more quietly but effectively behind closed doors.

Russian and Chinese diplomats have weaponised UN budget negotiations to serve their own interests and shield allies from scrutiny, at the expense of human rights. Budget negotiations should be solely guided by the goal of adequately funding the UN’s work, not serving as a political tool to weaken accountability and rights protection.‘ – Madeleine Sinclair, Director of ISHR’s New York office..

A deepening cash crisis The report finds that years of underfunding and attacks on the UN’s human rights budget are now being compounded by a severe liquidity crisis triggered by US and Chinese late or non-payment of dues, while the United Nations undergo urgent reform. Since taking office in January 2025, the Trump Administration has launched repeated assaults on UN bodies, often on grounds of an alleged ‘anti-Israel bias’, abruptly blocking the payment of overdue contributions from 2024 dues and all of the US contributions for 2025, while cutting nearly all voluntary funding to the UN. As the US, the largest contributor, withholds this vast portion of the UN budget, Beijing’s increasingly late payments risk depriving the UN of over 40% of its operational cash flow for 2025. Meanwhile, China’s paying in full but extremely late has a similar result to not paying contributions in full, as a little-known State-imposed UN rule perversely returns unspent cash – that could not be used as it came so late – to Member States in the form of credits to future dues. In 2024, China paid its contributions on 27 December, four days before the year’s end. The broader US withdrawal from multilateralism also enables China and Russia to further grow their influence in shaping a more State-centric UN, at the expense of civil society and the universality of human rights.

….

UN80 reform risks deepening the damage US cuts also forced the UN into an unprecedented race for reform through the UN80 Initiative, an internal reform drive to make the organisation more efficient and effective, yet so far focused primarily on austerity and cost-cutting. Initial cuts proposed by the Secretary-General in September slash the human rights budget by 15%, a higher percentage than cuts proposed for the UN’s development and peace and security work. Further cuts are expected once the ACABQ reviews the Secretary-General’s proposals, and States table additional reform proposals under UN80 in the coming months.

‘China and Russia have long exploited UN processes in order to spin a web of influence against human rights progress, and now the Trump administration is moving in that same direction. But this is not irreversible. The UN80 Initiative must be more than a hunt for ‘efficiency’: it should be a collective effort towards meaningful, human rights-driven reform. For this, States, and particularly Global South countries who have a clear stake in having strong, responsive UN human rights bodies, can still take back the space and ensure funding for a UN that advances human rights protection on the ground for all.’ – ISHR Executive Director Phil Lynch

Funding for the UN’s human rights work is on the brink of collapse at a time when it is most needed to address global crises…

https://crm.ishr.ch/civicrm/mailing/view?reset=1&id=1740&cid=8618&cs=0ef59bb8d55e2f3f2c4be6093061514d_1761075328_168

Download the report

What do the UN80 reforms mean for the human rights pillar, and what role should the Human Rights Council play in building a UN that is ‘better equipped to serve the people whose lives depend on it’?

Posted in human rights, Human Rights Council, ISHR, OHCHR, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: budget, China, defunding, funding, ISHR, news, politics, UN, United Nations, USA, voluntary contributions

Day of the Dead 2025: PEN International, Amnesty International, ARTICLE 19, and PEN Centres honour journalists killed in Mexico

November 3, 2025

Every journalist who dares to speak the truth faces danger, yet their courage lights the path for all of us. Remembering those killed is not enough; we must demand justice, protection, and a world where truth can be spoken without fear”. Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President

31 October 2025: On the Day of the Dead, we the undersigned, honour the journalists in Mexico who have been killed for their work. This act of remembrance is also an urgent appeal: violence against the press has reached alarming levels in the region. In Mexico, practicing journalism carries deadly risks. The Mexican State must acknowledge this reality and take immediate action.

PEN International and Article 19’s Mexico and Central America office have documented the killing of at least ten journalists over the past twelve months in Mexico. Seven of these cases are believed to be directly linked to their work, while the motives behind the remaining three killings are still under investigation. The past year, UNESCO, PEN, CPJ, RSF also recorded the murder of journalists in Brazil (1), Colombia (3), Ecuador (2), Honduras (1), Guatemala (1), Haiti (2), and Peru (2), positioning Mexico once again as the country with the highest number of journalists murdered in the continent. The murders of journalists are closely linked to their reporting on matters of high public interest, including corruption, organised crime, drug trafficking, human rights violations, environmental concerns, and abuses of power.

The brutality of the attacks, combined with entrenched impunity, has created a perpetual cycle of violence that undermines not only the right to freedom of expression but also the public’s right to be informed.

Despite its international obligations, the Mexican State continues to fail to ensure the protection of journalists and a safe environment for journalism, and to deliver effective justice for victims and their families.

This reflects a reality that cannot be ignored: Mexico faces not only a crisis of violence, but also a crisis of structural impunity that enables attacks to continue without consequence. Such impunity creates a chilling effect of self-censorship, restraint, and fear among journalists.

Emblematic cases

We remember the journalists Kristian Uriel Martínez Zavala and Calletano de Jesús Guerrero, killed in Mexico in 2025. …

Mexico’s ongoing crisis is no accident. It is the result of entrenched impunity and a state either unable or unwilling to protect those who bring truth to light.

We urge the Mexican State to:

Take concrete steps to guarantee that journalists in Mexico can exercise their right to freedom of expression without fear of reprisals.
Review and strengthen the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, ensuring that effective measures are deployed swiftly.
Undertake thorough, impartial, and independent investigations into the killings of and attacks on journalists, and deliver effective justice for victims and their families.

Signed:

PEN International

Amnesty International

ARTICLE 19

https://www.pen-international.org/news/day-of-the-dead-2025-pen-international-amnesty-international-article-19-and-pen-centres-honour-journalists-killed-in-mexico

Posted in Amnesty international, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Amnesty International, Article 19, Calletano de Jesús Guerrero, history, impunity, journalists, killings, Kristian Uriel Martínez Zavala, Mexico, PEN, politics

Update on ISHR anti-reprisals campaign 2025

October 31, 2025

On 25 September 2025, 11 States raised individual cases of intimidation and reprisal in 15 different countries and territories at the Human Rights Council‘s 60th session. The cases of Kadar Abdi Ibrahim (Djibouti) and Loujain Al-Hathloul (Saudi Arabia) were cited by States. Cases from ISHR’s 2022 and 2024 campaigns were also among the cases mentioned, as well as the case of Basma Mostafa (Egypt) facing transnational repression.

On 16 October 2025, at the Third Committee of the General Assembly‘s 80th session, specific cases and situations of intimidation and reprisal were raised again by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg during this dialogue with the Assistant Secretary-General. They raised the cases of Human Rights Center Viasna (Belarus), Chow Hang Tung (Hong Kong) and Pham Doan Trang (Viet Nam).

Additionally, 70 States joined the cross-regional statement on reprisals led by Ireland and Uruguay, delivered at the General Discussion on the promotion and protection of human rights (item 71) at the General Assembly’s Third Committee.

Travel bans, what does this mean in practice?

A travel ban may be less visible than a prison cell, but its impact is deeply damaging. It restricts defenders from attending UN meetings, carrying out their work, reuniting with family or seeking international protection. As reprisals evolve, what started as detention can turn into surveillance, harassment, or restrictions on movement. [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2025/09/15/tomorrow-16-9-25-in-geneva-packed-with-courage-stories-of-human-rights-defenders-banned-from-travelling/]

This is what happened to Loujain and Mohamed, prominent human rights defenders from Saudi Arabia and Egypt respectively.

Meanwhile, Anexa, an Indigenous human rights defender, is unable to return to her home country of Nicaragua, and Kadar from Djibouti had his passport confiscated since 2018, preventing him from leaving the country and doing his work.

IThrough this campaign, we share their stories. These are not just cases of reprisals — they are real lives disrupted, silenced, and confined. But they are also stories of resilience and perseverance for social change.

Loujain Al-Hathloul

Loujain is an iconic figure in Saudi Arabia’s women’s rights movement. She has actively campaigned for women’s rights in the country and against the driving ban imposed on women. She has also publicly and consistently called for the dismantlement of the male guardianship system.

Mohamed El-Baqer is a human rights lawyer from Egypt. He is the director of the Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms, founded in 2014. It is a non-governmental, independent legal and human rights organisation with a focus on four Programmes: 1) Criminal Justice 2) Student Rights and Academic Freedoms; 3) Refugees; 4) and Minorities. All these Programmes are implemented through legal support and strategic litigation, research, monitoring and documentation, advocacy activities and capacity-building. [https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/a845697d-4b51-4e7f-b7d0-219c1e18ecd3]

Anexa Alfred Cunningham is a Miskitu Indigenous leader, woman human rights defender, lawyer and expert on Indigenous Peoples’ rights from Nicaragua. She defends the ancestral land and natural resources of Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. She has also worked with Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities to investigate the many abuses they suffer and denounce them to the United Nations. These Peoples face attacks by armed groups who seek to take away their ancestral territory with the State’s approval.

Kadar Abdi Ibrahim is a human rights defender and journalist from Djibouti. He has drawn inspiration from historic figures in the human rights movement in the hopes of building a solid and lasting democracy in his country. From 2015, Kadar was the co-director and chief editor of L’Aurore, Djibouti’s only privately-owned media outlet. In 2016, the newspaper was banned following the publication of a story on one of the victims of the Buldhuqo massacre, crackdown by Djibouti security forces on a religious celebration and a meeting of the opposition on 21 December 2015 that left at least 27 people dead. Kadar is also the president of the political party Movement for Democracy and Freedom (MoDEL) since December 2021. Over the years, Kadar has been arrested several times by the police in an attempt to silence him.

#EndReprisals

Join our campaign by writing a letter to State representatives so they publicly raise the cases of Kadar, Anexa, Loujain and Mohamed at the General Assembly’s Third Committee in New York.

ISHR’s #EndReprisals database

In order to assist stakeholders with research, analysis and action on cases of reprisals and intimidation, ISHR launched an online database compiling cases or situations of intimidation and reprisals documented by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General between 2010 and 2024.

https://ishr.ch/campaigns/endreprisals2025

Posted in Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | Leave a Comment »
Tags: *EndReprisals, Basma Mostafa, Djibouti, Egypt, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, Kadar Abdi Ibrahim, Loujain al-Hathloul, reprisals, Saudi Arabia, travel bans

Save the date: 2025 Martin Ennals Award Ceremony on 26 November in Geneva

October 23, 2025

SAVE THE DATE for the 31st Martin Ennals Award Ceremony:
26 November 2025 at 18:30 CET. (Doors open at 18:00 CET).

I will certainly be there as Chair of the Jury of he MEA but [SPOILERS ALERT] it will be the last time I attend in this function. After more than 10 years, it is time someone else takes over.
The Ceremony, as usual, is co-hosted by the City of Geneva, and will take place at the Salle communale de Plainpalais in Geneva. Happy to see that the participation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is expected.

Please note that entry to the venue is on a first first-come, first-served basis.

The event will also be livestreamed on the MEA’s media platforms.

19:30 Cocktail offered by the City of Geneva

2025 Edition

Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | Leave a Comment »
Tags: announcement, award, ceremony, Geneva, Hans Thoolen, Human Rights Defenders, live streaming, Martin Ennals Award, MEA 2025, save the date

Journalists from Belarus and Georgia winners of European Sakharov Prize 2025

October 23, 2025

Two journalists, one imprisoned in Belarus and the other in Georgia, have won the European Union’s top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced on Wednesday 22 October 2025.

Andrzej Poczobut is a correspondent for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. He was convicted of “harming Belarus’ national security” and sentenced to eight years, which he is serving in the Novopolotsk penal colony.

Mzia Amaghlobeli, a prominent journalist who founded two of Georgia’s independent media outlets, was in August convicted of slapping a police chief during an anti-government protest. She was sentenced to two years in prison in a case that was condemned by rights groups as an attempt to curb media freedom.

“Both are journalists currently in prison on trumped up charges simply for doing their work and for speaking out against injustice. Their courage has made them symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy,” Metsola said at the parliament in Strasbourg, France.

For more on the annual EU award, named after Soviet dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/BDE3E41A-8706-42F1-A6C5-ECBBC4CDB449

The winner is chosen by senior EU lawmakers from among candidates nominated by the European Parliament’s various political groups. [see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2025/10/02/2025-nominees-for-the-european-sakharov-prize/]

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/journalists-imprisoned-belarus-georgia-win-eus-top-human-126748980

https://spring96.org/en/news/118943

https://www.rferl.org/a/sakharov-prize-2025-andrzej-poczobut-mzia-amaglobeli-/33566711.html

https://euneighbourseast.eu/news/latest-news/2025-sakharov-prize-parliament-honours-andrzej-poczobut-and-mzia-amaglobeli/

Posted in awards, EU, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Andrzej Poczobut, Belarus, digest of human rights awards and laureates, European Parliament, featured, Georgia, imprisonment, journalists, Mzia Amaghlobeli, news, Poland, Roberta Metsola, Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, True Heroes Films

Stronger protection needed for human rights defenders in exile (ODIHR)

October 22, 2025

Panelists discussing the need for stronger protection for human rights defenders in exile. Warsaw, 16 October 2025 (OSCE/Piotr Dziubak) Photo details

As civil society space shrinks and attacks against activists increase in many places, a growing number of human rights defenders are being forced into exile as they seek a safe environment to continue their work freely and securely. This was the focus of an event organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Araminta, and the World Organisation Against Torture at the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference on 16 October 2025.

“Human rights defenders face inherent risks in their work, and relocating does not address all their needs. Adopting robust safeguarding mechanisms is essential to ensure minimum standards for mobility and a safe environment for defenders in exile,“ said Jennifer Gaspar, Araminta Managing Director.

While defenders in exile play a crucial role in promoting human rights, they face serious challenges, from urgent personal and legal issues to long-term barriers such as legal insecurity, restricted mobility and limited opportunities to continue their work. Participants discussed the need to establish minimum standards to protect human rights defenders in exile in the OSCE region, as well as EU legislation to ensure stronger legal and practical safeguards for them, participants discussed.

The discussion drew on both institutional perspectives and the lived experiences of exiled defenders, highlighting the need for coordinated action and policy tools to address these gaps. Participants emphasized that ensuring human rights defenders can continue their work in safety is vital to protect human rights and promote democratic values across the OSCE region and beyond.

https://www.osce.org/odihr/599757

Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | Leave a Comment »
Tags: araminta, exile, Human Rights Defenders, ODIHR, OSCE, transnational represion

Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards