North Korea receives significant international attention for the nuclear threat it poses to international security, for its uniquely closed nature, and for the severity and scale of human rights violations perpetrated by the regime. North Korean defectors have fled their home country to escape political prison, torture and/or starvation, and their stories have painted a picture of severe, widespread human rights abuses.

Last week, NDI-Eurasia Deputy Director Katherine Fox, alongside IRI-Eurasia Director Stephen Nix and the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Minsk, Sanaka Samarasinha, briefed the Helsinki Commission on political developments in Belarus. The panel was entitled “Engaging Belarus on Human Rights and Democracy.”

Women in Kyrgyzstan face stark barriers to full political participation. Despite holding 23 seats in parliament, women reside in few leadership positions in parties. For example, Kyrgyzstan law requires that women make up every third name on a party candidate list. However, party leaders often pressure women to give up their seats after they are elected. This exclusion means that some issues, such as domestic violence, are not given the attention that their severity warrants.

On July 16, more than seven million Venezuelans participated in a generally peaceful referendum on President Maduro’s proposal to convene a Constituent Assembly with extraordinary powers to abolish existing institutions and write a new constitution.