New project to support free speech and the victims of political persecution

EIN is delighted to announce its role in a new project aiming to ensure robust compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

EIN will work as a junior partner in the project, which is led by one of our member organisations, the Netherlands Helsinki Committee. The NHC’s Human Rights Defence Programme works to safeguard human rights by developing the capacity of civil society to communicate effectively; by building their resilience to actively engage in advocacy on human rights; and by supporting human rights defenders.

Starting in July 2020, the new project will focus specifically on compliance with ECtHR judgements in relation to freedom of speech and freedom from political prosecution in Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Human rights defenders and NGOs, journalists and other media outlets play an important part in ensuring fundamental freedoms are upheld and that the general public is informed about government decisions. Protecting their freedom of expression and freedom from political persecution is the cornerstone of democracy. In calling on states to uphold their obligations to implement Court rulings – whether by overturning or commuting convictions or sentences; providing reparations to victims of human rights violations; or changing laws to ensure such violations don’t recur – the project will ultimately contribute to the provision of genuine protection of the freedom of expression and the freedom from political persecution for the whole of society.

We are grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands for its financial support of this project.