Dear IRR News subscriber,

The IRR is carrying out research and collecting case studies of prosecutions of humanitarian workers across Europe for ‘crimes of solidarity’. This week, Anya Edmond, reports on the case of three Spanish fire-fighters who answered a call to help save lives in the Mediterranean, only to find themselves charged with human trafficking. The criminalisation, stigmatisation and de-legitimisation of human rights defenders is a theme that Liz Fekete returns to in her review of a Transnational Institute briefing paper on ‘shrinking space’ – a metaphor to describe increasing restrictions and overt political interference in the work of civil society organisations.

We also have a review by IRR chair, Colin Prescod, of Beginning with you last breath, a book of poetry by Roy McFarlane. Finally, our regular calendar of racism and resistance, a fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, is available here.

IRR News Team