Human Rights Comment
Not a target – the need to reinforce the safety of journalists covering conflicts
There are many areas around the world, particularly in conflict or post-conflict zones, where it is dangerous, even life-threatening, to practice journalism. The war in Ukraine provides yet another tragic illustration of the vulnerability of journalists in conflict situations. While it is...
Human Rights Comment
Addressing the invisibility of women and girls with disabilities
Often, women with disabilities are invisible and marginalised in society, including among those promoting the rights of persons with disabilities, and those promoting gender equality and the advancement of women. The exclusion of women with disabilities from decision-making spaces has for a long...
Human Rights Comment
No space for violence against women and girls in the digital world
The advancement of technology has enabled us to connect, share important information, speak up and raise awareness on human rights violations. But it has also provided additional fertile grounds for gender-based violence against women and girls to an alarming extent, and with little...
Human Rights Comment
Pride vs. indignity: political manipulation of homophobia and transphobia in Europe
World Pride is being celebrated on our continent this week, but a surge in intolerance towards LGBTI people in Europe is nothing to be proud about. In more and more European countries, politicians and public officials are shamelessly targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex...
Human Rights Comment
Boosting child and youth participation - from voice to choice
Amid the ongoing pandemic and its disastrous effects on multiple aspects of human rights protection across the globe, there is consensus in one area: children and young people have been particularly hard hit. While – thus far at least – they have largely been spared from the direct health effects...
Human Rights Comment
Let us make Europe a safe place for environmental human rights defenders
In 2017 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a group of dedicated grassroots environmental activists staged a 500-day-long protest against the construction of new hydropower dams on the Kruščica river. The fight led by local women, who later came to be known as the Brave Women of Kruščica, met with many...
Human Rights Comment
Journalists covering public assemblies need to be protected
Journalism is a dangerous profession. Images of injured journalists on the fringes of protests have unfortunately become commonplace in Europe, and beyond. Cameramen, journalists, photographers and other media workers have been assaulted while they were just doing their job: reporting on public...
Human Rights Comment
Reform of mental health services: an urgent need and a human rights imperative
Already in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) was warning that substantial investment in mental health services was necessary to avert a mental health crisis. The evidence for the devastating impact of the pandemic on mental health is now overwhelming....
Human Rights Comments
Corruption undermines human rights and the rule of law
In recent years, in many European countries, including Romania, Malta, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria, the Slovak Republic and Ukraine, people have taken to the streets in protests against systemic corruption, demanding respect for the rule of law, accountability of corrupt politicians and a...
Human Rights Comment
Access to official documents is crucial – let’s make it a reality
People have the right to know what those in power are doing. This was the basis on which the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents was adopted more than ten years ago in Tromsø, Norway. This Convention is the first binding international legal instrument to recognise a...
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