On 20 July, 2018, in Pavlodar, three police officers detained the well-known human rights activist Elena Semenova at her home. She managed to write an SMS to her colleagues saying: “I’m being taken to the Department of Internal Affairs. They came for me” .
On 12 July 2018, eight MEPs signed an open letter addressed to President Nazarbayev decrying the human rights situation in Kazakhstan. MEPs J. Stetina, P. Austrevicius, T. Kelam, W. Klinz, A. Gomes, H. Hautala, V. Mazuronis and J. Nart denounced the reduction of the space for civil liberties.
On the occasion of the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a delegation of civil society activists from Poland and the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) held a series of bilateral meetings with PACE Members and Permanent Representations to the Organisation.
On the occasion of the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a delegation of civil society activists from Poland and the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) held a series of bilateral meetings with PACE Members and Permanent Representations to the Organisation.
During the summer session of PACE, twenty-two members signed a written declaration, deploring the use of torture in detention facilities and the lack of investigation related to this systemic practice in Kazakhstan, as well as the severe violations of the right to peaceful assembly.
“Just as in 1980 there could not be freedom without solidarity, today there can not be freedom without the rule of law!” – former President Lech Wałęsa appeals to the European Commission regarding the reform of the Supreme Court in Poland, which will come into force on 3 July 2018.
On 24 May 2018, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of PACE adopted two draft resolutions expressing its concern over new legislations and restrictions on NGOs’ activities in member States of the CoE and calling for the need to strengthen the important role of human rights defenders.
On March 21, MEP Tomáš Zdechovský submitted a written question to the EU VP/HR on the arbitrary detention and use of torture taking place in Kazakhstan. This comes after an appeal submitted to president Nazarbayev by seven MEPs who expressed their concern about the current situation of human rights.
On April 9, 2018, MEPs – Jaromír Štětina, Julie Ward, Tomáš Zdechovský – addressed the Ministry of Justice and General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Moldova with regard to the attacks currently being organised against independent lawyers, pro-reform activists, and judges in the country.
On March 13, 2018, MEPs submitted a written question to the EU VP/HR, Ms Federica Mogherini, on the harassment and persecution of lawyers taking place in Azerbaijan. In their address, P. Auštrevičius, J. Ward and T. Zdechovský made reference to individual cases of persecuted lawyers.
Between 1 and 2 March, 2018, a delegation of defenders from the Open Dialogue Foundation met in Geneva on the occasion of the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Persecution of lawyers: selected cases from Moldova, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan
The Open Dialogue Foundation is glad to invite you to an event on the topic of the persecution and protection of lawyers, which will be held on Tuesday 20 February 2018, from 15:30 to 17:00, room: A5G305; at the premises of the European Parliament – Brussels.
During the last PACE Winter session, on 26 January 2018, twenty-nine members signed a motion for resolution to call for the strengthening of efforts aimed at promoting and protecting the rule of law and the respect of civil liberties in Poland, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.
On the occasion of the winter session of the PACE, the Open Dialogue Foundation organised a 4-day mission to Strasbourg. The Polish delegation was headed by Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the ODF, Anna Prus from The Poland-wide Women’s Strike and Robert Hojda – creator of the Przystań “OKO”.
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