Tag: freedom of speech

On 12-13 July our representative Maksym Sytnikov participated at the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM). SHDM is a platform for the OSCE Participating States and civil society to discuss progress made by the former in implementing OSCE commitments. The latest meeting was devoted to Digital Technologies and Human Rights. During the first session Maksym […]

A debate during the European Parliament’s plenary session on February 11, 2021, led to the adoption of an urgent resolution concerning the human rights situation in Kazakhstan. The MEPs voted in favour of one of the strongest appeals ever issued by the EP, firmly condemning the current situation in the country. The resolution is a […]

The Open Dialogue Foundation, acting as a representative of the public, is anxiously observing the court proceedings brought by the Polish public broadcaster, TVP, against Professor Wojciech Sadurski. In our opinion, this trial is of fundamental importance. After all, freedom of expression is at stake. We do not hide the fact that we also see […]

On 12 November 2020, the FightBack legal self-help chat-bot was presented in Kyiv, which was designed to provide free assistance to victims of law enforcement agencies’ inaction and to collect information about the cases of inaction. The chat-bot was created as a result of a series of interviews with activists who were victims of violent attacks in different regions of Ukraine after 2014.

On 9 November 2020, during the Second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM), our advocacy officer, Katarzyna Szczypska, urged the OSCE bodies to pressure the Polish authorities to stop using blasphemy laws to police speech.

In authoritarian Kazakhstan, civil society representatives are subjected to arbitrary detention, criminal prosecution, imprisonment and torture for public and human rights activities, participation in peaceful protests and criticism of the authorities through social networks.

On June 22-23th, our Maksym Sytnikov addressed the issue of violations of freedom of expression and media in Kazakhstan, calling the OSCE bodies to respond to cases of censorship. The intervention took place during the second Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM).

The Open Dialogue Foundation provided inputs to the first annual Rule of Law Report, the European Commission’s latest oversight mechanism and a part of its wider rule of law toolbox. Together with experts and practitioners from Poland – judges Dariusz Mazur and Agnieszka Niklas-Bibik, as well as former public media employee, Piotr Owczarski – we submitted our feedback on the worrisome developments in the Polish justice system and media sector in 2019 and the first half of 2020. The European Commission’s initiative will result in the “Rule of Law Report”, expected to be published in September 2020.

As the government of Kazakhstan prepares to receive US$800,000 of additional assistance from the U.S. to cope with the COVID-19 crisis, President Tokayev continues to repress fundamental freedoms unabated.

As the COVID-19 outbreak started to spread in the Republic of Moldova, the Parliament declared the state of emergency on March 17, 2020. Yet, the provided rules, sanctions and restrictions are often unclear and limited.

This report examines the cases of 39 individuals who are currently subject to politically motivated criminal prosecution in Kazakhstan. Among them, 21 are political prisoners who remain in prisons or pre-trial detention facilities.

Between Monday 16 and Friday 27 September 2019, representatives of the Open Dialogue Foundation Xheni Dani, Joanna Cuper and Maksym Sytnikov participated in the annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting held in Warsaw. Our representatives delivered several statements in which they raised is

The Open Dialogue Foundation has managed to gather the names of 136 police officers, investigators, security officers, prosecutors and judges who participated in politically motivated prosecutions of peaceful protesters.

A representative of the Open Dialogue Foundation Maksym Sytnikov participated in the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting held in Vienna on 15-16.07.2019.

Arbitrary application of anti-terrorism laws and criminalization of using an i-message application (Bylock).