The region remained at the forefront of a global erosion of respect for universal human rights and international justice frameworks. Russia continued to lead this trend, pursuing its aggression against Ukraine and committing other crimes under international law there, including via indiscriminate attacks on civilians and targeting critical infrastructure. Civilians bore the brunt of suffering.
Against this backdrop, human rights became increasingly transactional. Belarus secured US sanctions relief through prisoner releases, and the pursuit of rare minerals and energy resources trumped concern over human lives in Ukraine and beyond. The first EU-Central Asia summit was held in the context of an ongoing failure across Central Asia to uphold international human rights commitments. Despite Azerbaijan’s paltry human rights record, the EU and other international actors deepened energy cooperation with the country as an alternative to Russian oil and gas.
Civil society faced unrelenting pressure. Growing numbers of activists, journalists and organizations were branded “terrorists”, “extremists”, “foreign agents” or “undesirable” and forced into exile or closure. A climate of fear and shrinking international support for human rights, marked by an unprecedented US foreign aid withdrawal, decimated civil society organizations and significantly reduced human rights reporting.
Other dramatic descents in respect for human rights included Kyrgyzstan’s attempt to reintroduce the death penalty despite constitutional and international prohibitions. Georgia plunged head-on into authoritarian practices, with systemic crackdowns on dissent.
Freedom of religion and belief, the rule of law and the rights of refugees and migrants were no exception to a general deterioration of human rights, as all saw a decline across the region. Torture and other ill-treatment remained endemic. Gender-based violence persisted. Fossil fuel production and consumption expanded, underscoring governments’ disregard for climate obligations.
The gap between many governments’ public commitments to uphold international law and their actions was stark; some outright refused to cooperate with the ICC. Several states continued to transfer arms to Israel. The vast majority of governments resorted to punishing solidarity with Palestinians through criminalization of dissent and unlawful force, rather than meeting their legal obligations to stop Israel’s genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip. Some states intensified their attacks on the international legal order, including on the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. At both the national and regional level, states led attempts to hollow out protections of the regional human rights treaties. Several states deliberately pursued measures to externalize their responsibilities to manage migration.
Although some states improved access to abortion, in others, barriers remained and abortion rights defenders faced persecution and criminalization. Discrimination and violence against LGBTI people intensified as a result of well-resourced campaigns by anti-rights and anti-gender actors and governments. Millions of people remained or fell into poverty; in some cases, governments introduced retrogressive measures likely to increase homelessness or impede access to health and other essential services. Thousands of people lost social security benefits through inherently discriminatory decision-making tools. Reports of hate crimes against racialized people, Roma and individuals perceived to be Muslim or Jewish increased. Disasters exacerbated by climate change wreaked havoc, particularly in southern European states. While some states were proactive in taking action to prevent climate change, others fell short of their obligations. Human rights defenders faced harassment and imprisonment.
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