Marija Ristic

We are currently seeing human rights research being questioned and attacked around the world.

This is why we’d like to take you behind the scenes of how we come to our conclusions.

Hungary's government is being accused of handing more than €1,000,000,000 in unlawful subsidies as advertising revenue to pro-Orbán newspapers, television stations and online platforms in 2015-2023, two media outlets claim in a state aid complaint lodged with the European Commission.

Trump administration unwinds efforts to investigate Russian war crimes The Trump administration has backed away from several initiatives intended to hold Moscow accountable for war crimes in Ukraine, including an intelligence coordinator office.

The Trump admin dismantled key efforts to hold Russia accountable for war crimes in Ukraine—pulling out of an EU-led group, downsizing DOJ’s war crimes team, ending asset seizures, and leaving a legally mandated coordinator post vacant.

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Hungary: Fundamental Law Changes Attack Rule of Law, Rights The amendments to Hungary’s Fundamental Law represent yet another escalation in the Orbán government’s ongoing efforts to dismantle rights, undermine the rule of law, and diminish democracy in Hungary...

The Hungarian government has amended the country's constitution (again) to suit its narrow political purposes, this time to justify attacks on LGBT people and threaten its critics with the power to suspend Hungarian citizenship for dual nationals. EU action is needed.
www.hrw.org/news/2025/04...

Billboards and Bullets: An Israeli Spin Doctor at the Service of Serbia Israeli PR guru Srulik Einhorn worked to burnish the image of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and – BIRN/Haaretz can reveal – facilitate the flow of Serbian arms to Israel’s war in Gaza. Now wanted...

Israeli PR guru Srulik Einhorn worked to burnish the image of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and facilitate the flow of Serbian arms to Israel. Now wanted for questioning in Israel, he has set up shop in Belgrade.

balkaninsight.com/2025/04/16/b...

Delicious.

Does it taste the same as supa sa knedlama?

Gaza medics killing: Israeli army fired as close as 12m, audio suggests The analysis shows Israeli troops fired 100 shots during the attack which killed 15 people.

It sometimes seems telling lies is easier than ever — partly true. But: Exposing lies is also possible in previously unthinkable ways. A remarkable BBC Verify report on the paramedic killings and cover-ups that followed

Some thoughts on the student protests in Serbia ⬇️

Sudan: Rapid Support Forces’ horrific and widespread use of sexual violence leaves lives in tatters The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has inflicted widespread sexual violence on women and girls throughout Sudan’s two-year civil war to humiliate, assert control and displace communities across the countr...

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has inflicted widespread sexual violence on women and girls throughout Sudan’s war. The RSF’s atrocities, including rape, gang-rape and sexual slavery, amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, @amnesty.org new report.

www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

This is an excellent thread of even better investigation into the human rights record of Frontex leadership 👇

New compelling database by SHARE Lab with more than 3000 testimonies and other visual evidence documenting the effects of the use of sound cannon during Belgrade protests last month.

zvuk.labs.rs

Video Shows Aid Workers Killed in Gaza Under Gunfire Barrage, With Ambulance Lights On (Gift Article) The U.N. has said Israel killed the workers. The video appears to contradict Israel’s version of the incident, which described the vehicles as “advancing suspiciously” without headlights or emergency ...

Video obtained by my colleague Farnaz Fassihi shows how the IDF deliberately attacked, over several minutes, a convoy of ambulances and other emergency vehicles in #Gaza. #Israel wrongly claimed that the vehicles drove without emergency signals and headlights. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/w...

Israel’s latest vision for Gaza has a name: Concentration camp Unable to immediately expel Gazans en masse, Israel seems intent on forcing them into a confined zone — and letting starvation and desperation do the rest.

“Israel is preparing to forcibly displace the entire population of Gaza into an enclosed and possibly fenced-off area. Anyone caught outside its boundaries would be killed, and buildings throughout the rest of the enclave would likely be razed to the ground.“

www.972mag.com/israel-gaza-...

Israel killed 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers one by one, says UN Workers on a mission to help colleagues were buried in mass grave in southern Gaza, says humanitarian office

Anyone who thinks Israeli forces have been upholding the principle of distinction—differentiating between civilians, medics, journalists, humanitarian workers, and combatants in Gaza—should read this story.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

They „would like to see “millions of AI pilots”, so the US and its allies are ready for the future of war.“

Vučić: Stigli stručnjaci ruske službe da utvrde da li je bilo zvučnog topa predsednik države aleksandar vučić izjavio je da su sinoć došli stručnjaci iz federalne službe bezbednosti rusije i od jutros rade, ostaće nekoliko

Sometimes I think Serbia can’t surprise me, but here we go.

Apparently Russian FSB is in Belgrade this week to determine if sonic weapon was used against peaceful protesters on March 15.

beta.rs/content/2222...

Inside Russia’s shadow war in the Baltics A series of suspected sabotage incidents has exposed the vulnerability of Europe’s undersea infrastructure

Inside Russia's shadow war in the Baltic Sea - a series of suspected sabotage incidents has exposed the vulnerability of Europe’s undersea infrastructure
ig.ft.com/baltic-sea/

Cellebrite zero-day exploit used to target phone of Serbian student activist - Amnesty International Security Lab Amnesty International’s Security Lab uncovers sophisticated Cellebrite zero-day exploit, impacting billions of Android devices.

New day, new spyware in Serbia. @amnesty.org uncovers a new case of misuse of a Cellebrite product to break into the phone of a youth activist in Serbia. And more evidence that the government continues their campaign of surveillance of civil society.

securitylab.amnesty.org/latest/2025/...

Passionate about business and human rights? Join Amnesty International and collaborate with partners and communities at the forefront of the energy transition, addressing its impact on human rights.

#EnergyTransition #JustEnergyTransition #DRC #DRCongo
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/41...

Inside the Taliban's surveillance network monitoring millions The Taliban say 90,000 CCTV cameras in Kabul will reduce crime but there are fears for human rights.

Guess who loves a good old “smart city” with cameras and face recognition at every corner?

Inside the Taliban's surveillance network monitoring millions

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Our film is going to the Oscars. But in Masafer Yatta, we’re still being erased As the world watches ‘No Other Land,’ Israeli settlers are raiding our villages while soldiers arrest us, abuse us, and demolish our homes.

In addition to Shib al-Butum, nine other communities in Masafer Yatta are at imminent risk of forced displacement. The stories of these communities are also told - in the masterful way by Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham - in the documentary “No Other Land“.

www.972mag.com/no-other-lan...

Settlers continue to enjoy near-total impunity for the violence. Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, found that around 94% of police investigations into settler violence across the West Bank between 2005 and 2024 concluded with no indictment.

Israel/OPT: Masafer Yatta community in occupied West Bank under imminent threat of forcible transfer The Palestinian community of Shi’b Al-Butum in Masafer Yatta is at imminent risk of forcible transfer due to increasing state-backed settler attacks, as well as home demolitions, restrictions on acces...

My latest @amnesty.org research documents a rise in Israeli settler violence targeting Palestinian shepherds in grazing areas surrounding Shi’b Al-Butum. They face an imminent threat of forced displacement.
www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

And most importantly, Lavrov forgive them.

Serbia: Cellebrite halts product use in Serbia following Amnesty surveillance report Cellebrite has stopped the use of its digital forensic equipment in Serbia following Amnesty International's surveillance report.

NEW: Cellebrite halts product use in Serbia, reinforcing @amnesty.org findings that Serbian police and intelligence routinely misused Cellebrite’s digital forensic equipment outside legally sanctioned processes to target civil society and independent media.

www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

German election live: Conservatives projected to win and far-right AfD in second Friedrich Merz claims victory for CDU/CSU alliance as incumbent chancellor Scholz concedes defeat; Alternative für Deutschland almost doubles vote share to 20%

German elections saw the highest turnout since reunification in 1990s - 84% of voters cast a ballot.

And half of them voted for conservative and far-right parties. Scary times ahead.

www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Netherlands to return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria The Netherlands has agreed to return more than 100 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, the latest European country to return cultural artefacts to Africa, the Dutch embassy in Abuja said on Wednesday.

The Netherlands is set to return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria - the largest repatriation of the looted antiquities to date.

UK still holds around 900 artefacts - stolen during the British attack on Benin City in 1897.

www.reuters.com/world/africa...

Regardless of War Crimes Claims, Serbia’s Arms Sales to Israel Soar Between 2023 and 2024, the value of Serbian arms sales to Israel soared from 1.4 million euros to 42.3 million, unaffected by widespread allegations of Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

Between 2023 and 2024, the value of Serbian arms sales to Israel increased 30 times - from 1.4 million euros to 42.3 million.

The „collaboration“ goes both ways - Serbia sells 155mm and shells, and imports drones and surveillance softwares.

balkaninsight.com/2025/01/28/r...

Berlin crowds, I am doing a workshop at this year’s Transmediale on how to use open source tools to document police violence. We will be using case studies from Germany, Iran, USA, Sri Lanka et al. No prior knowledge of OSINT needed.

Registration here 👇

transmediale.de/en/2025/even...