CIVICUS Monitor update on Lithuania - October 2019

In Lithuania, it is still acceptable to think that a wife has a duty to obey her husband. According to an equal opportunities expert, the public has a distorted view on gender roles, which increases the risk of violence.

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the largest human rights organization in the country, is under attack from a far-right party in the ruling coalition.

The attempt to dissolve Bulgaria’s largest human rights organization is the latest attack against civil society – and European values – by an EU government.

The draft bill will introduce Article 167¹ to the Criminal Code, providing that systematically stalking people by attempting to contact them directly, through others, in writing or via electronic communications devices, is a misdemeanour.

A recent report based on personal experiences, denounces how racial profiling is a common police practice in Spain and proposes measures to tackle it.

The Hungarian state violated a journalist's rights by not letting him enter the territory of any of the country's refugee camps, affirmed the European Court of Human Rights. The journalist, Illés Szurovecz, was represented by HCLU in Strasbourg.

Czech EU Commissioner Věra Jourová expressed concerns about how some politicians verbally attack journalists. During the three-hour hearing before the committee, she said that the role of journalists is to make life uncomfortable for politicians.

Belgian police are suing three associations over an exhibition protesting police repression, in which Brussels police officers were showed in photographs.

The proposed Czech Vice-President of the European Commission, Vera Jourova in charge of the rule of law portfolio, will have to prepare for questions related to Prime Minister Andrej Babis during a grilling in the European Parliament.