EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA REGIONAL OVERVIEW On 30 November 2016, “Ahmed H”, a Syrian man living in Cyprus, stood trial on terrorism charges in Szeged, in Hungary. He was accused of orchestrating clashes between police and refugees following the sudden closure of Hungary’s border with Serbia in September 2015. His prosecution played to the government’s conflation of Muslim asylum-seekers with terrorist threats. In reality, Ahmed H was only there because he was helping his elderly Syrian parents flee their war-torn country. Caught in the melee, he admitted to throwing stones at the police, but, for the most part, as numerous witnesses testified, he had been trying to calm the crowd. Nevertheless, he was convicted, becoming a tragic, chilling symbol of a continent turning its back on human rights. In 2016 populist movements and messages burst into the mainstream. Politicians across the region tapped into widespread feelings of alienation and insecurity. Their targets were many: political elites, the EU, immigration, liberal media, Muslims, foreign nationals, globalization, gender equality and the ever-present threat of terrorism. In power, in countries like Poland and Hungary, they achieved most, but also further west, they forced anxious establishment parties to borrow many of their clothes and usher in many of their policies. The result was a pervasive weakening of the rule of law and an erosion in the protection of human rights, particularly for refugees and terrorism suspects, but ultimately for everyone. Further east, long-established strongmen strengthened their grip on power. In 40 Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, constitutional amendments extending presidential terms were ushered in. In Russia, President Vladimir Putin continued to surf the wave of popularity generated by Russia’s excursions in Ukraine and its resurgent influence internationally, while undermining civil society at home. Across the former Soviet Union, the repression of dissent and political opposition remained surgical and constant. The region’s most tumultuous developments took place in Turkey, which was shaken by ongoing clashes in the southeast, a series of bombings and shootings and a violent coup attempt in July. The government’s backsliding on human rights accelerated dramatically in its wake. Having identified one-time ally turned bitter foe Fethullah Gulen as responsible, the Turkish authorities moved with speed to crush the extensive movement he had created. Around 90,000 civil servants, most of them presumed Gulenists, were dismissed by executive decree. At least 40,000 people were remanded in custody, amid widespread allegations of torture and other ill-treatment. Hundreds of media outlets and NGOs were closed down and journalists, academics and MPs were arrested as the crackdown progressively moved beyond the nexus of the coup and weaved in other dissenters and pro-Kurdish voices. PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Following the arrival by sea of just over a million refugees and migrants in 2015, EU member states were determined to dramatically reduce their number in 2016. In this they succeeded, but only at the considerable, and quite deliberate, expense of their rights and welfare. At the end of December, around 358,000 refugees and migrants had made the crossing into Europe. There was a modest increase in numbers taking the central Mediterranean route (up to around 170,000), but a sharp decline in numbers arriving on the Greek islands (down from 854,000 to 173,000), owing almost entirely to the Amnesty International Report 2016/17