Human Rights Survival Guide

One moment you stand up for your people's right to democracy and freedom, the next you are sentenced to 15 days of detention. Unimaginable? Not in Belarus. This is the story of a woman who lived through that experience twice, and wrote a survival guide to Belarusian prison. In this third episode, you'll hear advice on how to stay relatively sane during detention. The third episode covers 15 days of detention: psychological hygiene, organisation of everyday life, rituals and pastimes, and liberation. If you want to learn more about the Belarusian struggle for freedom, you might find Aliaksei Paluyan's 2021 documentary 'Courage' and Krzysztof Lukaszewicz's 2013 drama 'Viva Belarus' interesting. Find out how you can support and express solidarity: Write a letter to a political prisoner: https://spring96.org/en/news/101367DissidentBY: https://dissidentby.com/en, a non-profit initiative supporting political prisoners.BY_help: https://www.belarus97.pro/eng, a civic campaign supporting dissidents and their families.Politvyazynka: https://m.facebook.com/100085144390317/ https://instagram.com/politvyazynka?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=, an activist's project highlighting female political prisoners. Learn more about the Akrestsina pre-trial detention centre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okrestina To not miss out on the other survival guide chapters, subscribe to our podcast and automatically get the next episodes in your feed.

One moment you’re standing up for freedom and democracy, the next you’re sentenced to 15 days’ detention. Unimaginable? Not in Belarus. This is the story of a woman who lived through that experience twice and transformed it into a guide to surviving Belarusian prison. This is the second episode of the mini-series, covering arrest and trial. If you want to learn more about Belarus’ struggle for freedom, you may enjoy Aliaksei Paluyan's 2021 documentary 'Courage' and Krzysztof Lukaszewicz's 2013 drama 'Viva Belarus'. Also, read the today's statement by international and Belarusian rights groups calling to end the ill-treatment of Maria Kalesnikava and all the other political prisoners: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/12/belarus-stop-ill-treatment-opposition-politician Want to support the cause and express your solidarity? Here are some ways you can do that: Write a letter to a political prisoner: https://spring96.org/en/news/101367 DissidentBY: https://dissidentby.com/en, a non-profit initiative supporting political prisoners. BY_help: https://www.belarus97.pro/eng, a civic campaign supporting dissidents and their families. Politvyazynka: https://m.facebook.com/100085144390317/ and https://www.instagram.com/politvyazynka/, an activist project highlighting female political prisoners. Learn more about the Akrestsina pre-trial detention centre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okrestina Belarusians singing ‘Peremen’ by Kino, which became the anthem of the democratic opposition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMdrQvQRFzM To avoid missing out on the remaining survival guide chapters, subscribe to our podcast and automatically have new episodes appear in your feed.

One moment you’re standing up for freedom and democracy, the next you’re sentenced to 15 days’ detention. Unimaginable? Not in Belarus. This is the story of a woman who lived through that experience twice and used that experience to write a guide to surviving Belarusian prison. In this first episode, you'll hear how to prepare for detention because, sadly, in Belarus, ordinary citizens can become political prisoners at any given moment. If you want to learn more about Belarus’ struggle for freedom, you may enjoy Aliaksei Paluyan's 2021 documentary 'Courage' and Krzysztof Lukaszewicz's 2013 drama 'Viva Belarus'. Here are some ways you can support the cause and express your solidarity: Write a letter to a political prisoner: https://spring96.org/en/news/101367 DissidentBY: https://dissidentby.com/en, a non-profit initiative supporting political prisoners. BY_help: https://www.belarus97.pro/eng, a civic campaign supporting dissidents and their families. Politvyazynka: https://m.facebook.com/100085144390317/ and https://www.instagram.com/politvyazynka/, an activist project highlighting female political prisoners. Learn more about the Akrestsina pre-trial detention centre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okrestina To avoid missing out on the remaining survival guide chapters, subscribe to our podcast and automatically have new episodes appear in your feed.

How do international financial institutions (IFIs) conduct due diligence on projects they finance? In this episode we will try to answer this question together with Xavier Sol - Director of Counter Balance, and Manana Kochladze - Chairwoman of Georgian NGO "Green Alternative" and Regional Coordinator for the Caucasus at CEE Bankwatch. In particular, we will look at the human rights role in IFIs' due diligence process and discuss the identification, monitoring, and assessment of projects' risks and impacts. We will look specifically at the European Investment Bank (EIB) - "the lending arm of the EU". On 1 February, the EIB will hold its annual seminar between civil society and the EIB’s Board of Directors, with a thematic discussion on “strengthening the EIB’s sustainability framework.” 

This is the second episode in our series on the situation of Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. This time we focus on legal aspects and international mechanisms surrounding the issue. Our guest is Fernand de Varennes - Extraordinary Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Pretoria (South Africa), Adjunct Professor at the National University of Ireland-Galway (Ireland), and Cheng Yu Tung Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong (China). Since August 2017 Fernand de Varennes has been serving as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues. The first episode of the series is devoted to the history of Uyghurs, China’s minority policy and relations with its Central Asian neighbors. It is available here.

The word “Uyghur” has gained popularity in human rights recently, and so has the fight for its people’s liberation from what is considered to be the biggest crime against humanity of our century. Numbers vary, but it is estimated that over one million people have been sent to internment camps in the Xinjiang since 2017. In today’s episode we will be focusing on the history of Uyghurs, China’s minority policy and relations with its Central Asian neighbors. Our distinguished guest is Dr. Dru C. Gladney, Professor and Chair of Anthropology at Pomona College, California. This is the first episode in our series on the situation of Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. 

На этот раз тема эпизода – ювенальная юстиция в Казахстане. В гостях подкаста Гульжахан Абдулаева – детский врач, реаниматолог, анестезиолог в Научном центре педиатрии и хирургии, а также член национального превентивного механизма по городу Алматы и Алматинской области, и Эльвира Ватлина – директор Детского Фонда Казахстана, вице-президент международной ассоциации детских фондов и член национальной коалиции против пыток. Мы говорим о системе ювенальной юстиции с юридической, медицинской и правозащитной точки зрения, а также делимся рекомендациями для правительства Казахстана и международного сообщества.  Сегодняшний эпизод – это вторая часть выпуска о ювенальной юстиции. Первую часть (на английском) можно прослушать здесь: https://anchor.fm/human-rights-survival-guide/episodes/Working-towards-the-future-legal-protection-of-minors-across-societies-and-jurisdictions-e157ofn

The next two episodes of our podcast are devoted to juvenile justice. In this episode we focus on the international dimension of juvenile justice and main challenges surrounding the topic. Our guest is Frances Sheahan - a lawyer and a child rights expert with more that 17 years experience working on children’s rights law, policy and programming. Together we will discuss the main the international legal standards within the juvenile justice and identify the key steps that can ensure a transition towards child-friendly justice systems around the world.

Сегодня по всему миру отмечается Международный день в поддержку жертв пыток. В этом эпизоде подкаста мы беседуем с Гулчехрой Холматовой - Директором Общественной организации "Мир права" и Руководителем группы правовой помощи Коалиции гражданского общества против пыток и безнаказанности в Таджикистане, о ситуации в Таджикистане в контексте противодействия пыткам и жестокому обращению, о работе с семьями жертв пыток и о том, как помочь себе и своим близким пережить столкновение с пытками и помочь восстановить справедливость.

In this episode we reflect on legal aspects of the European Court judgment in the case of Georgia v. Russia II. Our distinguished guests are Philip Leach, a Professor of Human Rights Law at Middlesex University, a solicitor, and Director of the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC); and Vanessa Kogan, a Director of Stichting Justice Initiative - an organisation dedicated to the legal protection of victims of human rights violations connected to armed conflict and counter-terrorism operations, torture and gender-based violence in the post-Soviet region. The judgment in the cases of Georgia v Russia (II) that has steered controversy, has been delivered by the European Court on 21 January of this year. It concerns human rights violations committed in 2008 in the context of an armed conflict between Georgia and Russia, which resulted in at least 400 civilian deaths, large scale destruction of civilian property and displacement of over 20.000 ethnic Georgians from South Ossetia. Systemic human rights violations continued long after the cessation of hostilities. The most controversial aspect of it concerns the Court's refusal to extend Convention protection to events that occurred during the active phase of hostilities, from 8 to 12 August.

In the third episode of our accountability series Richard J Rodgers, International Lawyer and Partner at Global Diligence LLP and Noa Roque, Legal Officer at IPHR discuss the relationships between human rights and environment through the lens of environmental justice, climate justice and climate litigation.  They explore how can the law be used to enhance the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, how effective current instruments are in practice and what role does civil society play in environmental and climate justice. Please check out previous two episodes in the accountability series:  Universal jurisdiction: myths and realities https://anchor.fm/human-rights-survival-guide/episodes/Universal-jurisdiction-myths-and-realities-enltn3 Targeted sanctions: Everything you wanted to know about GMA but were afraid to ask https://anchor.fm/human-rights-survival-guide/episodes/Targeted-sanctions-Everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-GMA-but-were-afraid-to-ask-eltlb3   

What is universal jurisdiction (UJ) and why it is increasingly discussed in human rights circles and among international stakeholders recently?  What is hidden behind the overhyped UJ concept, how did it emerge, what's the scope of it and how could it evolve in the years to come? In the second episode of our "accountability series"  Alexandre Prezanti, International Lawyer and Partner at Global Diligence LLP and Simon Papuashvili, Programme Director at IPHR discuss these questions and spice them up with examples, which will motivate you to learn more and who knows, maybe even litigate a UJ case.  

Who was Sergey Magnitsky and why are sanctions named after him? How are Magnitsky sanctions different from other sanctions? What role do civil society play vis-à-vis sanctions? In this podcast episode we answer these and other equally informative and compelling questions together with Melissa Hooper - Director of Foreign Policy and Accountability at the NGO Human Rights First and international expert in the field of sanctions. This is the first podcast in our "accountability series", which will also include discussions on concepts of universal jurisdiction and climate justice.

In this episode we will explore the topic of healthcare. Thanks to infamous Covid-19 crisis, shortcomings in healthcare systems around the world are more visible than ever. Yet, in some countries, the poor state of the healthcare system is part of a much deeper and long-standing problem. And people in Tajikistan know it firsthand. One of the poorest countries in Asia, with the 9.5 million population and only $ 55 per capita investment in the healthcare sector – is in our focus today. Our guest is Sebastien Peyrouse, Research Professor at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Central Asia Program at George Washington University.

In this episode we are going to focus on the situation with human rights in the United States and possible implications recent events may have for the human rights community worldwide. We will also explore some parallels and linkages between what is currently going on in the US and violations that we observe in the Former Soviet Union region. Our guest is Kate Watters, Executive Director at Crude Accountability, an environmental and human rights nonprofit organization based in the United States.

Тема настоящего выпуска - расширение понятия пропаганды терроризма в российской риторике и правоприменительной практике.  Вместе с Александром Верховским, Директором Информационно-Аналитического Центра СОВА в Москве, будем разбираться:  1. Все ли в порядке с определением терроризма в российском законодательстве?  2. Как с этим связано резонансное дело Светланы Прокопьевой? 3. Как нынче применяется статья УК о пропаганде/оправдании терроризма? 4. Чего следует ожидать в будущем?

As IPHR continues to follow the events happening in Belarus, we spoke to Volga Siakhovich, legal expert for the Belarusian Association of Journalists. This time special focus has been put on the role of women in opposition and persecutions of journalists and bloggers during the protests. 

IPHR continues to cover the events happening in Belarus. In this interview we spoke with Belarusian journalist Yan Avseyushkin. 

In this episode we are covering the events happening in Belarus. The Presidential elections on the 9 August were marred by mass falsification. Alexander Lukashenko’s proclaimed victory was met by unprecedented peaceful public protest across the country. The law enforcement responded by detaining and ill-treating hundreds of protesters. As the escalation continues, we asked experts in Brussels and on the ground to comment on the situation. Our first guest is Yevgeniya Andreyiuk, Expert at the Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe Helsinki Final Act, and the 30th anniversary of the Charter of Paris for a New Europe. Instead of celebrating these anniversaries and recapturing a common purpose in challenging times, the OSCE is in serious trouble. The 57 member states failed to reach a consensus on extending the mandates of four of the OSCE’s top officials. Since then the OSCE has been de facto leaderless. We speak with Walter Kemp, an editor of Security and Human Rights Monitor and Senior Adviser to the Cooperative Security Initiative, to find out the potential impact of the current crisis on human rights and the future of the OSCE.