Smear campaigns are an attempt by powerful figures to undermine someone's credibility and reputation - with the goal of distracting public attention from something they are trying to keep quiet. Recovering from a smear campaign is tough, but possible.

Civicus Monitor

Civicus Monitor

As previously reported on the CIVICUS Monitor, on 22nd October 2020, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled that abortion due to foetal abnormality is unconstitutional.

Poland is now the first European country to be found guilty by the Court of Human Rights for cooperating with the CIA in the torture of terror suspects.

"Human of the Year," an annual prize given out by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee in recognition of human rights work in Bulgaria, has been awarded to volunteers and donors who supported aid efforts during the 2014 floods.

The "Welcome" initiative gathers individuals and NGOs with the aim to support refugees on the ground, but also to put political pressure on Croatian and EU institutions to change restrictive migration policies.

Almost everything you have been told about drugs is false. The Italian Coalition for Civil Rights and Freedoms launches its very first campaign, aiming to debunk all the false myths on which prohibitionist policies are founded.

Many Romanians are unaware that the national ombudsperson can protect their constitutional rights, but a new project by local NGOs aims to inform citizens and encourage them to seek help when needed.

Ignoring the recent European Court of Human Rights judgment in Vasiliauskas v. Lithuania, the Supreme Court of Lithuania upholds a genocide conviction in a case with roots stretching back to the 1950s.