Ukrainian and Georgian human rights defender and founder of Tbilisi Shelter City Aleksandra Delemenchuk has passed away. Her colleagues announced this on social media.
“There are people who build organizations. And there are those who build a home. Sasha created a home for dozens of activists, journalists, and human rights defenders who, at some point, found themselves without support, without safety, without the strength to carry on,” the post reads.
Tbilisi Shelter City is a program established by the Center for Participation and Development together with Truth Hounds to “help human rights defenders who need temporary respite or emergency assistance.” The project aims to support human rights defenders, civil society activists, lawyers, cultural figures, and journalists from Central Asia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and the Caucasus. In 2021, the program expanded to cover countries across the Mediterranean, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Balkans.
Aleksandra Delemenchuk was an international advocacy and security expert who worked for many years in both Ukraine and Georgia. During the August 2008 war, she participated in missions documenting human rights violations.
She later worked in the Ukrainian human rights sector, serving as coordinator of international programs at the Center for Civil Liberties and collaborating with the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union. She was also a co-founder of the Euromaidan SOS volunteer initiative.
