Lenur Kerymov

Combating Authoritarian Influence in Central Asia through Online Education

Mr. Lenur Kerymov is director of Eurasia programs and board treasurer of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, a Warsaw-based organization dedicated to the protection and monitoring of human rights in Europe and Eurasia. In his role at the Helsinki Foundation, Mr. Kerymov utilizes his expertise in Soviet politics to coordinate and support projects on human rights education and monitoring. His work has also focused on protecting human rights defenders at risk and on building and strengthening coalitions of civil society leaders, human rights activists, and democracy advocates. Prior to joining the Helsinki Foundation, Mr. Kerymov was a lawyer for the Crimean Tartars Lawyers’ League. He has authored several reports on human rights monitoring in Europe and Central Asia and has served as an expert for many Polish and international organizations, including the OSCE and the European Union. During his fellowship, Mr. Kerymov conducted research on Russian authoritarian narratives and their influence within Russia and its sphere of influence. He additionally explored the potential of distance learning in countering authoritarian influence in Central Asia. He will utilize the findings of his project to develop a series of online human rights trainings for citizens in the region.