Rethinking human rights in Eurasia
In her 34 years at Human Rights Watch, Rachel Denber (’86) traveled throughout Eurasia, documenting rights abuses and making the group’s research public, a step sometimes dubbed “naming and shaming.”
But in increasingly authoritarian Eurasian states such as Russia, Belarus, and Azerbaijan, the advocacy strategy of naming and shaming has no impact. And some governments in the region that formerly gave audience to advocates and Western governments demanding change now close their doors to human-rights-related discussions.
“I think the challenge that we’re facing now is that many governments cannot be shamed. They’re proud of their transgressions,” Denber said in an interview with Harriman Magazine.
Denber retired from Human Rights Watch last summer. In October, the Harriman Institute recognized her for years of advocacy in Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia Division with a panel discussion: “When the Door Closes: Rethinking Human Rights Impact in Eurasia.” Denber, along with other human rights defenders, discussed how—in the face of growing authoritarianism—practitioners can reenvision the meaning of impact in human rights work.
Going forward, said panel participant Nate Schenkkan (MARS-REERS ’11), former senior director of research at Freedom House, human rights defenders must find ways to have an impact without the traditional backing of the United States and other Western governments. In the past, Western pressure on human rights abusers was one element that could help bring change. Now that U.S. foreign aid has been cut dramatically under President Trump, “there’s no ready strategy to grab onto” that can replace it, said Schenkkan.
But even with external support eroding, grassroots protests in repressive countries continue.
“There are still people willing to go out on the street and take these risks,” said panelist Tatyana Margolin, a founder of Stroika, a non-governmental organization that connects people across the world working to resist authoritarian regimes. And, though it may be impossible to overturn abusive laws, supporting those persecuted by them can create impact, Margolin said. “A lot of success these days [comes from] people not feeling alone,” she said. “Because what authoritarians do is they make everyone feel very isolated.”
To combat the sense of isolation, said Denber, human rights work needs to sharpen its focus on supporting persecuted individuals, such as political prisoners and their families, “so that people who are behind bars have a better shot at getting medical care… food packages… letters that might sustain their resilience.”
Finding legal aid for those under attack is also crucial.
Lawyers “are on the front line, and they deserve all the support that donors and others can possibly give them,” said Denber. “We don’t know how long this tyrannical moment is going to endure. It could be generations. But we want to give them the best shot to survive this.”
A renewed focus on individual victims shouldn’t mean an end to the painstaking work of documenting and exposing patterns of human rights abuses, said Denber.
“We need to push for a Russia, an Azerbaijan, a Turkmenistan that will uphold its legal obligation,” she told the magazine. “We need to always show how perverse these regimes are.”◆
Featured photo: iStock.com/RapidEye
