At the Frontlines of Human Rights: Nils Muižnieks on Belarus, Turkey & Europe

In this exclusive interview, the Arrested Lawyers Initiative speaks with Nils Muižnieks. Mr Muižnieks is the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, the former Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (2012–2018), and the former Amnesty International Regional Director for Europe (2020–2024).

We discuss the situation in Belarus, the Council of Europe's failure regarding Turkey, the challenges that UN human rights mechanisms face, and the dangers of disinformation and misinformation. We also talk about his new role as director of the Social Entrepreneurship Association of Latvia.

0:00 Introduction
0:40 Current Situation in Belarus
1:03 Nothing is Permanent: We have to be ready for the change
3:08 What specific mechanisms can be employed to help Belarusian civil society?
10:02 Problems Belarusian lawyers and human rights defenders face
11:35 Turkey: Thousands of lawyers have been prosecuted: is there any parallels?
12:39 The authoritarian toolbox is similar
13:30 Turkey's ignorance of ECHR rulings
14:00 What could Council of Europe do?
14:39 COE, Committee of Ministers and ECHR failed Turkey over many years
15:10 ECHR did not want to see broader pattern and trend in Turkey
15:55 COE Secretary General has never used the tool in its disposal
16:33 Global pushback on human rights
17:13 Ways to better communicate human rights
23:20 EU Disinformation Lab, Bellingcat, Center for Information Resilience, Amnesty Tech
24:45 The challenges that UN Human Rights Council and special mechanisms face
28:20 The Social Entrepreneurship Association of Latvia

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Our team member Coşkun Yorulmaz conducted the interview, and our director, Ali Yıldız, oversaw the logistics and technical facilitation.