EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA REGIONAL OVERVIEW The space for civil society continued to shrink across Europe and Central Asia region. In Eastern Europe and in Central Asia, a discourse hostile to human rights remained prevalent. Human rights defenders, activists, the media and political opposition were frequently targeted by authorities. Across the region, the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of opinion and expression came under attack. Public protests were met with a range of restrictive measures and excessive use of force by police. Governments continued to implement a range of counter-terrorism measures disproportionately restricting people’s rights in the name of security. Millions of people faced an erosion of their economic, social and cultural rights, which led to diminished social protection, increased inequality and systemic discrimination. States repeatedly failed to meet their protection responsibilities towards refugees and migrants. Women and girls continued to experience systemic human rights violations and abuses, including torture and other ill-treatment, and faced widespread gender-based violence. Discrimination and stigmatization of minorities remained common with groups facing harassment and violence. Some prisoners of conscience were released. In 2017, for the first time in Amnesty International’s almost 60 years of existence, both the chair and director of an Amnesty International section became prisoners of conscience themselves. In June, Taner Kılıç, Chair of Amnesty International Turkey, was arrested. In July, 10 other human rights defenders, known as the “Istanbul 10”, including Idil Eser, Director of Amnesty International Turkey, were detained while attending a routine workshop in Istanbul. The Istanbul 10 and Taner Kılıç were later put on trial for terrorism-related offences, their arrests falling into a broader pattern of repression against civil society following the failed coup attempt of July 2016. By the end of the year, the Istanbul 10 had been released pending trial, but Taner Kılıç remained in detention. Although the prosecutor failed to provide any incriminating evidence against them, they remained at serious risk, facing an ongoing trial on absurd charges carrying up to 15 years’ imprisonment. The crackdown on dissenting voices in Turkey was part of a broader trend of shrinking space for civil society across Europe and Central Asia. Human rights defenders faced huge challenges, and the rights to freedom of association and assembly in particular came under attack. In the east, a discourse hostile to human rights remained prevalent, frequently leading to the repression of human rights defenders, political opposition, protest movements, anti-corruption campaigners and sexual minorities. This hostile discourse also inched westward and found its first legislative expression in Hungary with the adoption of a law effectively stigmatizing NGOs that received foreign funding. Violent attacks caused deaths and injuries, including in Barcelona, Brussels, London, Manchester, Paris, Stockholm, St Petersburg and multiple locations across Turkey. In response, governments continued to implement a range of counter-terrorism measures disproportionately restricting people’s rights in the name of security. Millions of people faced an erosion of their economic, social and cultural rights. This led to diminished social protection, exacerbated inequality and systemic discrimination in many countries. Those most affected by higher levels of poverty included women, children, young or 46 Amnesty International Report 2017/18