news & tweets from Human Rights Defenders

Relive the ProtectDefenders.eu roundtable with the UNSR Mary Lawlor and the EUSR Eamon Gilmore

In case you missed the ProtectDefenders.eu round-table among WHRDs with the UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor and the EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore on aggravated challenges for HRDs in COVID times, you can watch it online now. 

Belarus: Escalating crackdown on human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu partners continue to denounce the repression and persecution of Belarus human rights defenders, which has steadily worsened since the results of the 2020 Presidential election were announced on 9 August. The ProtectDefenders.eu partners condemn the ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders and journalists and urges the authorities in Belarus to immediately put an end to the persecution and harassment, including at the judicial level. Only in the recent weeks:

Since the early morning of February 16, 2021, at least 25 human rights defenders and journalists across Belarus have seen their houses and offices searched. Many among them have been detained. The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and the Human Rights Centre “Viasna” are amongst the main targets.
 
Police officers have conducted searches at the apartments of  Pavel Sapelko, Viasna lawyer and Andrei Poluda, Viasna’s coordinator of the campaign "Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus”, at the offices of members of the Mahiliou branch of Viasna Aliaksei Kolchyn andBarys Bukhel, at the house of the head of Mazyr branch of Viasna Uladzimir Tselepun and at the house of the head of Svietlahorsk branch of Viasna Alena Masliukova. Another search was initiated at the house of Natalya Satsunkevich, member of the Minsk branch of Viasna. Dmitri Solovyov, Viasna staff member, has been arbitrarily detained.

 
Viasna’s main office in Minsk has been raided, with Valentin Stefanovich, Viasna’s Deputy Chairperson, as a witness of the search. At the time of publication of this statement, the house of Ales Bialiatski, Viasna’s Chairman, was being searched.
 
The arrests and raids are supposedly linked to a criminal case opened under Article 342 of the Belarusian Criminal Code (“organisation and preparation of actions that grossly violate the public order, or active participation in them”).
 
Simultaneously, in the morning of February 16, 2021, the press secretary of BAJ, Barys Haretski, published an alert on social media as police officers were banging on his door. He was not detained but his equipment and money were confiscated. The house of Aleh Ageyeu, BAJ Lawyer, has also been raided, as has the house of Yevgenia Parashchenko, press secretary of the Boris Zvozkov Belarusian Human Rights House. Andrei Bastunts, BAJ Chairman, was taken by police officers of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee to witness the search of the BAJ offices in Minsk.

On 18 January 2021, human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka was detained in Gomel as part of an investigation relating to the “organisation and preparation of actions, grossly violating public order, or active participation in them.” On the same day, Leanid Sudalenka’s colleague Maryia Tarasenka was also detained and held for three days before being released on 21 January 2021. Leanid Sudalenka is a prominent human rights defender, lawyer, and  heads the Gomel branch of the Human Rights Centre Viasna (HRC Viasna). He is also an active campaigner and advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus. Leanid Sudalenka is laureate of the 2018 ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ Human Rights Prize of the French Republic. Maryia Tarasenka is a woman human rights defender and a volunteer of the Gomel branch of the HRC Viasna. She has actively opposed the unpopular presidential tax decree against “social parasites” targeting those who do not have an official job. The Gomel branch of the HRC Viasna provides legal support to victims of human rights violations and helps them to prepare individual complaints to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

On 12 January 2021, human rights defender Andrei Alexandrov was detained on the suspicion of “education or other preparation of persons for participation in group actions that grossly violate public order, as well as financing or other material support of such activities”. The human rights defender is being accused of financing the protests in Minsk by paying fines and reimbursing the costs for detention in temporary detention facilities for those detained during protests in Minsk. Andrei Alexandrov is human rights defender and a prominent media manager in Belarus. Between 2009 and 2012 Andrei Alexandrov worked as a deputy head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists and from 2014 to 2018, he was the deputy director of the BelaPAN news agency.

In late December 2020, five human rights defenders and members of the Belarus Press Club,  Yulia Slutskaya, Sergey Olshevsky,  Alla Sharko, Sergey Yakupov and Petr Slutsky were detained in Minsk. They were all questioned by the Department of Financial Investigations on the suspicion of tax evasion. Sergey Yakupov was later released from the pre-trial detention centre and was deported to Russia on 31 December 2020. The four other human rights defenders were indicted and remain in detention. Belarus Press Club is a platform for the professional development of Belarusian independent media and journalists, and a member of the International Association of Press Clubs (IAPC). Press Club conducts educational trainings, provides space for professional discussion and development of new media projects and monitors compliance of Belarusian media materials with journalistic standards.

According to RSF, in Belarus (ranked 153 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index), critical journalists and bloggers are threatened and arrested, leading news sites are blocked, access to information is restricted and media diversity is unknown. The state exercises total control over all TV channels. A few independent media outlets exist but many are forced to base themselves abroad and the authorities continue to harass them.

Venezuela: Repression and harassment of human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu partners are concerned over the ongoing criminalisation, harassment, and stigmatisation facing human rights NGOs and human rights defenders.

On 14 January 2021 human rights defenders and humanitarian workers from humanitarian NGO Azul Positivo Johan Leon Reyes, Yordy Bermudez, Layners Gutierrez Diaz, Alejandro Gomez Di Maggio and Luis Ferrebuz were charged with alleged ‘fraudulent handling of cards;’, ‘criminal association’ and ‘money laundering’. The human rights defenders and members of Azul Positivo were denied access to their lawyers for two days after their detention. The human rights defenders were then presented before the Fourth Court of First Instance of the State of Zulia. The Court ratified the charges against five of the six defenders detained and ordered preventative detention measures against them.

In a separate incident, on 13 January 2021, during the broadcast of his weekly television program "Con el Mazo Dando", Mr. Diosdado Cabello, a deputy in the National Assembly of Venezuela, requested to open an investigation against  Rafael Uzcátegui – general coordinator of NGO Venezuelan Program of Education Action in Human Rights (Provea) - for a message published on his account of the social network Twitter in which the general coordinator of Provea was critical of the criminalization of international cooperation by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). On the television set, Rafael Uzcátegui's publication was hung on a panel, where the defender's name and surname were clearly visible, and it was later crossed out with a "red marker”.

On 11 January 2021, ProtectDefenders.eu partners received information about about the release and continued criminalization of Vannesa Rosales in retaliation for her defense of sexual and reproductive rights. Vanessa Rosales is a defender of women's rights, teacher, social worker and founder of the nucleus of the Open Studies Program of the Universidad Politécnica Territorial de Mérida (UPTM) in the areas of nursing, comprehensive health, accounting in community management, prevention of crime and criminology. On January 11, 2021, the Third Criminal Court of Control of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the State of Mérida, granted alternative precautionary measures to the deprivation of liberty from house arrest to Vannesa Rosales, who had been detained in the Mérida Penitentiary Center since 12 October 2020. That day, officials from the Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigations Corps (CICPC) raided her home without a court order in the community of Pueblo Nuevo, Mérida, and proceeded to arrest her, accusing her of providing information and medications for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy. to a 13-year-old girl who had become pregnant as a result of rape and whose life was at serious risk due to pregnancy.

According to RSF, Venezuela’s president since 2013, Nicolás Maduro persists in trying to silence independent media outlets and keep news coverage under constant control. The climate for journalists has been extremely tense since the onset of a political and economic crisis in 2016, and is exacerbated by Maduro’s frequent references to “media warfare” in an attempt to discredit national and international media criticism of his administration. Harassment of independent media has intensified since 2017, and the country is ranked 147 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

Tanzania: Killing of human rights defender Paschal Raymond

ProtectDefenders.eu partners strongly condemn the killing of human rights defender Paschal Raymond. Paschal Raymond was an LGBTIQ+ rights defender who supported the LGBTIQ+ community in Dar es Salaam, in the Mwananyamala, Kindoni area. One of his main areas of human rights work was helping homeless LGBTIQ+ people by hosting them in his own home and supporting them in solving conflicts with their estranged or homophobic families so they could reunite.

Paschal Raymond’s support for homeless LGBTIQ+ and sex worker community members was especially critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the virus itself and the state responses to the affected queer and sex worker communities in ways that exacerbate existing systems of classed, gendered, sexualized and racial injustice. Paschal Raymond provided life-sustaining support for LGBTIQ+ people and sex workers in Dar es Salaam until the day he was killed.

The body of Paschal Raymond was discovered in a sewage drain in Mwananyamala, Dar es Salaam, in the early morning of 20 January 2021. The human rights defender’s body was found without his phone or money. His eyes had been repeatedly stabbed.

Police in Mwananyamala in Dar es Salaam have launched an investigation into the killing of Paschal Raymond, and have held two suspects for questioning as part of this investigation. Based on the information available, the human rights defender received a phone-call which lead him to go to a local shop during the night of 19 January 2021.

Paschal Raymond’s colleagues believe he was violently "hunted" because of his well-known work defending the rights of LGBTIQ+ people in Dar es Salaam. At the time of his killing, the human rights defender was housing two homeless community members in his home.

Roundtable "Aggravated challenges for human rights defenders in times of pandemic"

Join us in a dialogue with human rights defenders supported by ProtectDefenders.eu. With the participation of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, and the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore.

To conclude a series of internal consultations with human rights defenders, strategies and innovative actions will be discussed to better respond to three challenges facing HRDs and accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic:

• Digital risks
• Increased violence against women human rights defenders
• Shrinking spaces for advocacy and mobilisation

This roundtable will be moderated by Hassan Shire, Executive Director of DefendDefenders, a member of the Consortium of ProtectDefenders.eu.

CLICK TO REGISTER BY 10 FEBRUARY

Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) at PEN America released its first-ever Safety Guide for Artists

The Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) at PEN America, members of the EU Temporary Relocation Platform, released its first-ever Safety Guide for Artists. While comparable tools exist for practitioners like journalists, human rights defenders, and cartoonists, no such guide currently exists for artists at large, and this resource will fill a crucial gap in resources available for artists to learn about and better respond to risks related to their work.

A Safety Guide for Artists explores topics such as defining and understanding risk, preparing for threats, fortifying digital safety, documenting persecution, finding assistance, and recovering from trauma. Tips and strategies were drawn from testimonies of artists who have faced persecution, including Cuban performance artist Tania Bruguera, American visual artist Dread Scott, Lebanese singer Hamed Sinno, and Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu, as well as the research and expertise of you, ARC’s vast network of partners.

Given the EU HRD mechanism role in defending human rights and artistic freedom, ProtectDefenders.eu is featured in the guide.

Join our partner Protection International launch event

It’s been 15 years since the Risk Approach for Protection was conceptualised. In 2020, PI conducted an online consultation with experts from around the world, to assess the effectiveness of this method and produce a set of minimum standards for the protection of W/HRDs. Tune in to learn about the importance of using the Risk Approach when it comes to the protection of women and men human rights defenders (W/HRDs*) as well as why we need minimum standards when doing so. In 2020, Protection International hosted a consultation process with UN agencies, NGOs, protection mechanisms, and practitioners from around the globe to write 20+ recommendations for these standards, and on January 27th PI will launch the results. Participate in the kick-off event which aims to change the way we approach W/HRD protection for the better.

The launch event will include the following speakers:

- Joel Hernández García, President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
-Brian Dooley, Senior Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Luciana Peri, Coordinator of the European Union Temporary Relocation Platform (EUTRP) and the “Shelter Initiatives” programme, Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu
- Magda Adamowicz, Program Officer, Human Rights Initiative, Open Society Foundations
- Ricardo Neves, Human Rights Officer, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras
- Paola Pacheco Ruíz, Coordinator of Comprehensive Accompaniment to Human Rights Defenders and Migrants of the Scalabrinianas Mission with Migrants and Refugees, Espacio OSC Mexico
- Islam Al-Khatib, Project Officer, WHRD MENA Coalition
- Salome Nduta, Director of Programs, Defenders Coalition (Participating independently)
- Jorge Ruiz del Angel, Director General for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, SEGOB Mexico

Moderated by: Luis Enrique Eguren & Meredith Veit, Protection International

During the event, we will discuss how we can understand a defender-centered, gendered, intersectional, psycho-social approach when working with W/HRDs to support their protection. Key questions include:

• What are the successes and failures of how the Risk Approach is currently being implemented?
• What is the role of the State in implementing these recommendations? Donors? Civil society?
• How can we work together as a community to bring these recommendations to life?

Register here: https://bit.ly/3sqGpLO

Nicaragua: Excessive use of force against and ill-treatment of defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu partners received with concern recent information about the excessive use of force by the National Police to repress journalists and members of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), including its president Vilma Núñez, during a peaceful demonstration in front of the facilities of the newspaper Confidencial. CENIDH is an organization for the promotion and protection of human rights that is a member of the SOS-Torture Network of the OMCT, as well as of the FIDH, both ProtectDefenders.eu partners.According to the information received, on 14 December 2020, a group of journalists and members of CENIDH held a press conference in front of the facilities of the newspaper Confidencial, to commemorate the two years of the closure of the facilities of organizations human rights and the media. At the beginning of the conference, the National Police violently dispersed the peaceful gathering and attacked the participants.

A separate worrying incident was reported earlier in December 2020, when a relative of human rights defender John Cerna visited him in Jorge Navarro penitentiary, also known as “La Modelo” in the city of Tipitapa, Managua. After the visit, his relative reported that the student rights defender showed serious signs of physical and psychological torture, and that he was lacking adequate medical attention in the maximum-security cell that was transferred to on 16 September 2020. John Cerna is a civil and political human rights defender and a prominent student leader who is actively involved in pro-democracy activism in Nicaragua. He is a member of the Movement for University Autonomy and the Student Defense Movement.

According to RSF, censorship, intimidation, and threats against journalists are common in Nicaragua (ranked 117 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index). President Daniel Ortega’s reelection in November 2016 for a third consecutive term was accompanied by many attacks on the media, especially opposition media outlets. Journalism as a whole is stigmatized and journalists are often the targets of harassment campaigns, arbitrary arrest and death threats. At demonstrations, reporters are treated as participants and are often physically attacked. 

Vietnam: Sentencing of human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu partners have strongly condemned the sentencing of independent human rights journalists Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Le Huu Minh Tuan in Vietnam. On 5 January 2021, the People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City found Pham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tuong Thuy, and Le Huu Minh Tuan guilty of “making, storing, spreading information, materials, items for the purpose of opposing the State” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code. Pham Chi Dung was sentenced to 15 years in prison and three years’ house arrest. Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Le Huu Minh Tuan were each sentenced to 11 years in prison and three years’ house arrest.

Pham Chi Dung, 55, is the founder of the Independent Journalist Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), a civil society organisation that promotes the freedom of the press and the right to freedom of expression in Vietnam. Nguyen Tuong Thuy, 69, and Le Huu Minh Tuan, 31, are IJAVN members.

Pham Chi Dung has been arbitrarily detained since November 2019, on charges of writing “anti-State articles” and “cooperating with foreign media to deliver distorted information”. In particular, he had sent a video message to members of the European Parliament urging them to postpone ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) pending human rights progress in Vietnam. Shortly after his arrest, IJAVN’s website (www.vietnamthoibao.org ) was shut down by the authorities. Nguyen Tuong Thuy and Le Huu Minh Tuan were arrested on 23 May and 12 June 2020, respectively, on charges under Article 117 of the Criminal Code.

According to RSF, as Vietnam’s media all follow the Communist Party’s orders, the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher harsh forms of persecution, including plainclothes police violence. To justify jailing them, the Party resorts increasingly to articles of the criminal code, under which “activities aimed at overthrowing the government,” “anti-state propaganda” and “abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state” are punishable by long prison terms. The country is ranked 175 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

Saudi Arabia: Sentencing of women human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu partners deplore the sentencing of Loujain al-Hathloul and of Mayaa al-Zahrani to 5 years and 8 months by Saudi Arabia’s Special Criminal Court on 28 December 2020, in retaliation for their defence of women’s rights.

Al-Hathloul was sentenced on charges including “seeking to change the Saudi political system”, “harming national security”, “calling for an end to male guardianship”, “attempting to apply for a U.N. job”, “communicating with international rights groups and Saudi activists”, and “speaking to foreign diplomats and with international media about women’s rights in the kingdom”. Al-Zahrani was also sentenced on charges relating to her peaceful activism. Although the court suspended two years and ten months of their sentence, which they have already been serving for over 2 and a half years and means they should be released in early 2021, their sentences are also coupled with 3-year probation and a 5-year travel ban. During her detention, Loujain has also endured two hunger strikes and psychological torture which have contributed to a deterioration of her health.

These sentences are in no doubt aiming to punish them for their activism in favour of promoting women’s rights, including women’s right to drive, which was granted by the King of Saudi Arabia, a few weeks after their arrest during a massive crackdown on women human rights defenders in May 2018.

According to RSF, Saudi Arabia (ranked 170 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index) permits no independent media. The authorities keep Saudi journalists under close surveillance, even when they are abroad, as Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in Istanbul in October 2018 illustrated. Despite his talk of reform, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) has intensified the repression since he was appointed as crown prince in June 2017. The number of journalists and citizen-journalists in detention has tripled since the start of 2017. Most are being held arbitrarily and are likely subjected to torture, which is almost systematic for prisoners of conscience.

Western Sahara / Morocco: Harassment and repression of Sahrawi defenders and journalists

ProtectDefenders.eu is concerned about the acts of harassment against journalists Mr. Ahmed Ettanj and Ms. Nazha El Khalidi, president and member of the board of the Sahrawi collective Équipe Media, which only seem to aim to sanction their legitimate activities in the defense of human rights as well as their rights to freedom of movement and expression.

According to the information received, on 21 and 22 November 2020, nearly 200 representatives of the Moroccan police and paramilitary forces surrounded the houses of Mr. Ahmed Ettanj and Mrs. Nazha El Khalidi as well as the adjacent streets, in the district of Lahohoum, in the center of Laâyoune, preventing anyone from entering or leaving it, while the two journalists were preparing to celebrate their wedding. Law enforcement officials justified their massive intervention in the name of measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19, while the ceremony respected the required social distances. Law enforcement officials finally left the scene at dawn on 23 November.

Moreover, the whereabouts of human rights defender Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza remain unknown. Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza is a Sahrawi human rights defender and co-founder of the Saharawi Collective of Human Rights Defenders (CODESA). He also served as president for the collective branch in Tan Tan province, where his work focused on the political rights of Sahrawi prisoners. On 13 October 2020, he was transferred from his cell in Bouzairkarn prison to an unknown location and has not been heard from him since. Yahya Mohamed el Hafed Aaza had reported that he was detained in a cell with a prisoner who tested positive of COVID-19. Neither his family nor lawyer have been able to locate or contact the imprisoned human rights defender and are deeply concerned regarding his well-being and health.

According to RSF World Press Freedom Index, in Morocco – ranked 133, media continue to be subjected to judicial harassment. In addition to the trials of a number of media figures that have dragged on for several years, several new prosecutions have been initiated and heavy sentences have been passed. Many journalists and citizen-journalists continue to be imprisoned. The elimination of the ministry of communication and the creation of a press council have not helped to make the environment for media and journalists any more peaceful.

Thailand: Ongoing judicial harassment against women human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu partners are concerned about the ongoing judicial harassment of women human rights defenders Angkhana Neelapaijit, Puttanee Kangkun, and Thanaporn Saleephol, as they are being targeted for their legitimate and peaceful work for the protection of human rights, specifically on labour rights in Thailand. On 23 November 2020, the Bangkok South Criminal Court began hearing the combined case against the three women human rights defenders, who are facing defamation charges brought against them by a Thai chicken company, Thammakaset Company Limited, for their social media posts expressing support for other human rights defenders who were being judicially harassed by the company. The next preliminary hearing on the case is to be held on 18 and 25 January 2021. 

Angkhana Neelapaijit is a woman human rights defender and the former Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. She started her human rights activism after her husband, a prominent human rights lawyer, disappeared in March 2004. The WHRD is the founder of Justice for Peace Foundation, a human rights organisation that works to help the victims of human rights abuses in Thailand. She was also awarded the 2019 Magsaysay Award for her contribution to human rights work in Thailand. Puttanee Kangkun is the Senior Human Rights Specialist at the NGO Fortify Rights. Prior to joining Fortify Rights she worked with several Thai human rights organizations. Thanaporn Saleephol is the former Communications Associate at Fortify Rights. This case brought against the defenders is not an isolated incident. Since 2016, the company has filed at least 37 complaints against 22 human rights defenders. While many of these cases have been dismissed or ruled against the company by the courts, several cases still remain open. The company’s constant judicial harassment of the human rights defenders who speak out against labour rights violations within the company has created an environment of fear and reprisal, causing many to be afraid to speak up about the abuses that are reportedly occurring.

Thailand is ranked 140 in the RSF 2020 World Press Freedom Index. The National Council for Peace and Order, the military junta set up by Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha after seizing power in a coup d’état in 2014, was disbanded in 2019. This ubiquitous and all-powerful junta had constantly hounded the more outspoken journalists, summoning them for questioning, detaining them arbitrarily and driving at least ten of them to flee the country. But the long-promised elections held in March 2019 made no difference to the total control wielded by the elite surrounding Gen. Prayuth, who is now prime minister, defence minister and chief of the Royal Thai Police. Any criticism of the government is liable to lead to harsh reprisals facilitated by draconian legislation and a justice system that follows orders. The threat of a lèse-majesté charge carrying a possible 15-year jail sentence continues to be used as a weapon of mass deterrence against dissident journalists and bloggers. The authorities meanwhile behave in a very indulgent manner towards certain regimes: Cambodian, Chinese and Vietnamese operatives have been allowed to come and arrest dissident exile journalists or bloggers from their country in order to “repatriate” and then jail them.

Honduras: Killing of woman human rights defender Laura Carolina Valentín Dolmo

ProtectDefenders.eu partners have received with utmost concern information on the murder of Laura Carolina Valentín Dolmo, a Garífuna woman and member of the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH). According to the information received, on 24 November 2020, the lifeless body of Mrs. Laura Carolina Valentín Dolmo was found on the Riviera Danto, in the city of La Ceiba. At the time of publication of the urgent call by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, according to OFRANEH, the body of Mrs. Valentín Dolmo was in the Department of Forensic Medicine in the city of Ceiba, without the required autopsy having been performed in accordance with the existing protocol.

The murder of Mrs. Valentín Dolmo is framed in a context of generalized violence, including harassment and systematic attacks against human rights defenders and journalists in Honduras, and notes with concern and strongly denounces the increase of cases of aggression and criminalization against them. The murder of Mrs. Laura Carolina Valentín Dolmo does not correspond to an isolated event, but is part of a series of homicides, feminicides and cases of forced disappearance against the Garífuna people in recent years. This murder evidences the unwillingness of the Honduran authorities to guarantee the protection of human rights defenders.

According to RSF, in Honduras – ranked 148 in the World Press Freedom Index, the situation of the media has worsened steadily for more than a decade, ever since the 2009 coup d’état. In this country racked by violence, organized crime and corruption, the impunity rate is among the highest in the western hemisphere. Journalists working for opposition media or community media are often the target of death threats or violence or are forced to flee abroad. They are also often the targets of abusive judicial proceedings, and prison sentences for defamation are common, sometimes accompanied by bans on working as a journalist after release.  The security forces, especially the military police and army, are responsible for most of the abuses and violence against media personnel.

Furhtermore, European and North American organizations, including ProtectDefenders.eu partners PBI, FIDH, PI, and OMCT. are expressing their solidarity with the peoples of Honduras, - and Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico, especially with all the communities, organizations, and people who are bravely facing damages and organizing for mutual support and those most affected by the hurricanes ETA and IOTA. Civil society - particularly rural and indigenous communities - is significantly affected.

Egypt: Arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of bloggers and journalists

ProtectDefenders.eu is alarmed by recent reports of ill-treatment in detention and persecution of human rights defenders advocating for the freedom of expression in Egypt. Our partners call for ceasing the targeting of all human rights defenders in the country and for guaranteeing in all circumstances that they can carry out their legitimate activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.  Only in recent weeks:

On 10 October 2020, human rights defender and journalist at Daaarb newspaper Khaled Elbalshy was informed that his brother, Kamal Elbalshy, had been placed under preventive detention. These events follow the arrest of Islam El-Kalhy on 9 September 2020, also a journalist at Daaarb newspaper, who was detained while covering a peaceful protest in Giza. Khaled Elbalshy is a human rights defender and prominent journalist. He is the chief editor of the Daaarb online newspaper, which works on documenting human rights violations, and following human rights defenders work in Egypt. Islam El Kalhy is a human rights defender and journalist at Daaarb newspaper where he monitors human rights violations in Egypt. At the time of his arrest, he was covering peaceful demonstrations taking place in Munib, south Giza following the killing of a man at the hands of police.

On 20 September 2020, Khaled Elbalshy’s brother, Kamal Elbalshy, was arrested while walking in the streets of Cairo near his home and was forcibly disappeared for 10 days. On 1 October 2020, he was spotted at the Office of the Public Prosecutor. He is accused of “joining an illegal organisation”, “misuse of social media” and “spreading false information” as part of the recently opened case 880, which is related to peaceful demonstrations that took place in September 2020. The arrest of Kamal Elbalshy is considered an attempt to further discourage his brother from carrying out his human rights work. Kamal Elbalshy’s arrest follows another recent incident involving the targeting of Daaarb staff. On 9 September 2020, Islam El-Kalhy was detained while he was covering demonstrations in Giza against police violence. On 10 September 2020, he was brought before the Public Prosecutor and is accused of “spreading false information”.

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India: Raids and persecution of human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu partners express serious concern about the ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders in India. On 28 and 29 October 2020, the houses and offices of several human rights defenders, human rights groups and journalists in Srinagar and Bandipora (Jammu and Kashmir) as well as in Bengaluru, Karnataka State, and in Delhi were raided by National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials in connection with a case of non-profit groups allegedly using foreign funding for “carrying out secessionist and separatist activities” in Kashmir, in contravention of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), India’s primary anti-terror and foreign funding laws.

These included the houses of Ms. Parveena Ahanger, Chairperson of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and 2017 laureate of the Rafto Prize, Mr. Khurram Parvez, Coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCSS) and Chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), JKCCS members Parvez Ahmad Bukhari,  Parvez Ahmad Matta and Swati Sheshadri, and of Mr. Zafarul Islam Khan, Chairperson of the NGO Charity Alliance; as well as the premises of the NGOs APDP, JKCSS, Athrout, which provides education and medical aid to vulnerable communities, and Charity Alliance; and the daily newspaper Greater Kashmir. Documents and electronic devices, including hard disks containing sensitive information such as victims' personal data and testimonies, were reportedly seized during the raids. The groups affected have been at the forefront of the human rights movement in the country for decades, and this is only seen as the latest attempt to silence them and to cripple their important human rights work.

In another separate report of recent targeting of human rights defenders, on 8 October 2020, human rights defender Stan Swamy was detained by NIA officials in Ranchi, Jharkhand in connection with the “Bhima Koregaon case”. The 84-year-old human rights defender was originally named as a suspect in the case in August 2018, after his home was raided by Pune police and in 2020, has already been summoned multiple times for lengthy interrogation by the NIA. Stan Swamy is a human rights defender and Jesuit priest, based in the State of Jharkand, who defends the rights of Adivasi indigenous people. He is the founder of the Vistapan Virodhi Janvikash Andolan, an all-India platform to secure and protect the land rights of Dalit and Adivasi peoples. Stan Swamy has been a prominent advocate against the forced displacement of Adivasi communities, which typically occurs for development purposes or mining mineral-rich lands. On October 9, 2020 he was transported to Mumbai, Maharashtra State, 1,700 km away from his home and despite the fact that he is suffering from advanced Parkinson’s disease, therefore putting him at an increased vulnerability of contracting COVID-19, and was remanded in Taloja jail.

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We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a Programme Officer (Turkey project)

The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is currently recruiting a Programme Officer. This is an exciting opportunity for someone with experience in Human Rights in the Turkey context and/or Grants, with strong communication and administrative skills, who will play a crucial role in the successful implementation of the project Comprehensive support to Human Rights Defenders in Turkey.

The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu values diversity and is an equal opportunity employer. Applications comprising a CV with at least two references and a cover letter should be sent by email to recruit@ProtectDefenders.eu before December 1st.

Read the full job description here and below.

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Mexico: Attacks, harassment, and repression against defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu partners are concerned by recent attacks and reports of persecution against human rights defenders in Mexico, which are understood as a reprisal for legitimate and peaceful activities. These attacks may be part of a broader strategy to intimidate those who work to defend and promote human rights in the country. In particular, there is growing concern about the use of fabricated crimes as an effective strategy to intimidate defenders, especially those advocating for land and indigenous peoples’ rights. Only in recent weeks:

On 18 October 2020, woman human rights defender Kenia Inés Hernández Montalván was detained at a toll booth on the Amozoc highway in the state of Puebla by unidentified police officers. This detention adds to the harassment and criminalisation she has been facing in the past months. The defender has been transferred to prison and is reportedly facing charges of robbery with violence. Kenia Inés Hernández Montalván is the coordinator of Zapata Vive, a peasant movement that defends land rights, collective identity and promotes different forms of peaceful resistance against development models with a neoliberal approach imposed by the Mexican State. She is also a leader of the National Movement for the Freedom of Political Prisoners.

On 15 October 2020,  indigenous defenders José Luis Gutiérrez and César Hernández were arbitrarily detained during a violent police operation aimed at dispersing a peaceful demonstration in the municipality of Chilón, Chiapas. José Luis Gutiérrez and César Hernández, from the San Sebastián Bachajón community also in Chilón are Maya Tseltal indigenous defenders and farmers. They have spent most of their lives defending their rights to and use of their ancestral land, particularly against the construction of megaprojects and other large infrastructure projects. Several hours after the arrest, the officials from the Public Security Secretariat seized the vehicle and the mobile phone belonging to José Luis Gutiérrez. Later on 15 October 2020, José Luis Gutiérrez and César Hernández were presented before the Indigenous Justice Prosecutor's Office, where they were accused of “rioting”. Eventually, defenders were transferred to the State Center for Social Reintegration of Sentenced Persons “El Amate”. In prison, José Luis Gutiérrez and César Hernández have reported that they fear being forced to pay a sum of money so that prison officers do not beat them.

ProtectDefenders.eu partners emphasize that these recent attacks are happening in a context of criminalization and increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and social protest and protest in Mexico, especially to dismantle the demands of the indigenous peoples and movements in defense of land and territory.

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"We Are Not Who They Say We Are"

Have a look at this video about the struggle of trans human rights defenders in Honduras, supported by our partner Peace Brigades International.

Webinario - Como avançar na proteção das defensoras e defensores ambientais: o apoio dos atores internacionais

Não perca amanhã (15/10, 15h Brasilia) a webinario “Como avançar na proteção das defensoras e defensores ambientais: o apoio dos atores internacionais”.

Inscreva-se: https://defambiental.eco.br

Com o fim de promover a melhoria da proteção das pessoas e dos grupos para que defendam seus direitos ambientais, soluções precisam ser identificadas para mitigar o abuso desses direitos, uma situação que afeta cada vez mais pessoas na América latina. Frente a esse contexto, esse painel abordará os meios de apoiar aos defensores usados pelas organizações internacionais, bem como os doadores através do papel da comunidade internacional na prevenção e proteção dessas pessoas; e o financiamento da proteção dos direitos das defensoras e dos defensores com a experiência dos fundos de resposta rápida.

Myanmar: Arbitrary detention of an environmental rights defender

ProtectDefenders.eu partners have been informed by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders about the arbitrary detention of Gei Om, a member of the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA) who works actively on environmental protection and conservation in Chin State. Mr. Gei Om is also a member of the Chin Aung Ta Man (a youth organisation of Chin people), the Chin Civil Society Network, and the Man Eain Working Committee (a community-based organisation).

According to the information received, Gei Om was taken into custody after a local official in Ohn Village Tract sent a letter of complaint to authorities in Mindat Township, Chin State, on July 13, 2020. The complaint alleged that Gei Om had spread false news about possible illicit activities throughout Chin villages, was involved in an illegal land dispute settlement in 2016 and had been collecting taxes from villages. Before his arrest, Mr. Gei Om helped local community leaders to monitor the impact of a project of model farms to harvest oilseed plants designed by the Management Committee of Mindat Township. In August 2020, the Deputy Police Chief charged Gei Om for his participation in the settlement of a land dispute in 2016. The fabricated charge stemmed from his participation as a community negotiator in the resolution of a land dispute under a customary dispute resolution mechanism after the destruction of a village by a landslide in 2015. At the time, the government authorities had authorized the land dispute to be settled according to local customs but they subsequently claimed that the dispute was not settled legally and that Mr. Gei Om should therefore be charged for his involvement in it, which the authorities claimed it amounted to inciting conflict.

After charges were pressed, Mr. Gei Om was offered a conditional release provided that he would not leave Mindat Township and he would report on a bi-monthly basis to the police for six months to one year, which he refused. If found guilty, Mr. Gei Om will be prohibited from leaving his township and, if he does not comply with this measure of restriction, he could be sentenced to one year in prison. He is currently detained in Mindat Township.

Myanmar is ranked 139 in the RSF 2020 World Press Freedom Index: After the National League for Democracy’s first election victory under Aung San Suu Kyi’s leadership in 2012, Myanmar’s journalists hoped they would never again have to fear arrest or imprisonment for criticizing the government or military. However, media freedom is not one of the priorities of the government led by the “Lady of Yangon,” which has ruled since 2016. Myanmar rose 20 places in the World Press Freedom Index from 2013 to 2017, but now the reverse is taking place.

Godfrey Mtimba, a journalist and human rights defender from Zimbabwe, has been able to relocate urgently with the support of an emergency grant

In August 2020, the OMCT in the framework of ProtectDefenders.eu allocated a grant to Godfrey Mtimba, a journalist from Masvingo and Vice-President of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), which promotes the access to information, freedom of expression, press freedom and media law reforms. Thanks to the grant allocated by the OMCT, Godfrey Mtimba was able to relocate to a safer place and to receive medical and psychosocial support.

On June 29, 2020, Godfrey Mtimba was arrested after he had taken pictures of police officers chasing opposition youth activists a few days before. Following his arrest, Mr. Mtimba was charged with insulting and undermining the authority of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. He was detained at Masvingo police station for around eight hours, during which he was subjected to acts of torture. After his release, Mr. Mtimba continued to be subjected to acts of harassment, threats via anonymous phone calls, and to be under surveillance at his home, which has in turn led to a deterioration of his psychological well-being.

Internship at the Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu

(Update 13 October: We are no longer accepting applications for this opening. Thank you for your interest in ProtectDefenders.eu!)

ProtectDefenders.eu - The EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism is looking for a Programmes Intern, based at the Secretariat's office in Brussels. This is an exciting opportunity to gain real experience and learning in a multicultural and dynamic team. The intern will  provide support to the Programme and Administrative teams, under the overall supervision of the Head of Secretariat. During your internship, you will have the chance to apply your knowledge and skills to enhance the protection of human rights defenders worldwide.

Do you want to join us? Please send your CV and cover letter (please include information about your availability) by 25 October 2020 by email at recruit@protectdefenders.eu with the subject : 'Programme Internship'. Early applications are encouraged, as the position might be filled before the deadline!

Read here the full internship description.

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Shelter Initiatives Programme | Call for applications

The Shelter Initiatives programme, by ProtectDefenders.eu, is calling for proposals to enhance local and regional Temporary Relocation Programs for HRDs at risk with an integral approach to protection, a gender perspective, and a focus on particularly targeted defenders.

Submit your application by 21 October.

Entities can request up to 60,000 EUR to develop initiatives aimed at, at least, one of the following objectives:

- Implement a feasibility research on the establishment of a new TRP at local/regional level;

- Establish new TRPs at local/regional level;

- Amplify the scope of existing TRPs at local/regional level;

- Strengthen existing TRPs to guarantee a holistic approach to protection as well as a measurable gender perspective;

- Look for advice and expertise, networking opportunities, knowledge-sharing between initiatives.

The call for proposals is available here.

The application form is available for download here. 

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Bolivia: Arbitrary detention of human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu has been informed about the arbitrary detention and subsequent release of human rights defenders María Cristina Quispe, vice president of the Association of Victims of the Senkata Massacre (AVS) and David Inca Apaza, representative of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights of El Alt(APDHEA).

According to the information received, on 18 September 2020, in the vicinity of the Government Palace in La Paz, Ms. Quispe and Mr. Inca were arbitrarily arrested by members of the Tactical Unit of Police Operations (UTOP) who, in addition, used excessive force when proceeding to arrest Mr. Inca, including hitting, kicking the lower legs, and insults. Ms. Quispe and Mr. Inca had gone to the headquarters of the executive branch, together with relatives of victims of the Senkata massacre, to peacefully protest the lack of progress in clarifying the events - which occurred in November 2019 - and to request a meeting with Mr. Yerko Núñez, Minister of the Presidency. The aim was to request the fulfillment of the commitments acquired in February 2020 by the Government of Bolivia with the victims of the aforementioned massacre, including humanitarian aid and medical care for the victims. After two hours in detention, both defenders were released without charge.

Likewise, ProtectDefenders.eu partners have expressed the utmost concern over the high levels of impunity that exist around the serious human rights violations committed in the context of the social and political crisis that began in September 2019, including the Senkata massacre. 

Bolivia is ranked 114 in the RSF 2020 World Press Freedom Index: President Evo Morales’s resignation and forced exile as a result of a dispute over the November 2019 presidential election have plunged Bolivia into a period of uncertainty and instability. The elections were marked by many attacks against journalists during street protests and strikes. During Morales’s three consecutive terms as president (2006-2019), the media were often the focus of tension between government supporters and opponents and were under strong pressure to refrain from any negative comments about Morales and his government.

Uganda: Criminalisation and charging of land rights defenders

On 17 September 2020, land rights defenders Fred Mwawula  Ramu Ndahimana, Samuel Kusiima, Martin Munyansia , Martin Haweka , Amos Wafula , Eliot Talemwa, and Pamela Mulongo were charged with “threatening violence” by Kiryandongo Magistrate Court. If convicted, they could face up to four years of imprisonment. The eight defenders remain in detention at Masindi Prison, with their first hearing scheduled for 15 October. The eight defenders are land rights defenders from Kiryandongo district in Uganda. They mobilise local communities to defend their land rights, particularly when facing forced evictions reportedly perpetrated by private companies including Agilis Partners, Great Season Company Limited and Kiryandongo Sugar Limited, which have been implementing farming projects in the area.

The land rights defenders believe their arrest and the charges brought against them form part of a pattern of reprisals for their work opposing forced evictions perpetrated by Agilis Partners, Great Season Company Limited and Kiryandongo Sugar Limited. Local communities have reported that over 35,000 families in Kiryandongo have been forcibly evicted from their land since 2019. These evictions have taken place without court orders, prior consultation or adequate compensation. Schools, churches and private health centres in Kiryandongo have allegedly been torn down, and community members have been subjected to harassment and intimidation by security agents and employees of the three companies. The affected communities have filed a complaint before the Masindi High Court, and in February 2020, communities’ lawyers filed a certificate of urgency, following an intensification of the violence used by the companies.

Uganda is ranked 125 in the RSF 2020 World Press Freedom Index: Acts of intimidation and violence against reporters are an almost daily occurrence in Uganda. The security services, which are the leading press freedom violators, often target them and detain them arbitrarily, as was the case with several journalists investigating trafficking in fake medicines in 2019. Any criticism of the authorities can result in journalists being beaten, abducted or deprived of their equipment with impunity.

New ProtectDefenders.eu brochure and video out now

ProtectDefenders.eu is launching a new communication pack, consisting of an updated brochure, developed in consultation with all our parnters. We encourage you to use this publication to dissemination information about our practical resources as widely as possible; in particular in your events, missions, or training plans, as well as in meetings with stakeholders, your campaigning and communication work, or your interactions with other organisations, defenders, and media.

It is available in the five working languages of the project (Arabic, English, French, Russian, and Spanish), as well as Portuguese, Mandarin, and Farsi.

Files in both low and print quality are freely available for download, here.

In addition, you can now watch our most recent ProtectDefenders.eu presentation video, available with subtitles in all the languages previously mentioned, on our YouTube.

Armenia - Arbitrary arrest of human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu partners are raising their voices to urge the Armenian authorities to put an end to police brutality and to guarantee the right to protest, after recent incidents reported in the country in relation related to the blockade that has been held for the past two years by environmental activists against the construction of a gold mine in Amulsar. According to the information received, on 10 August, nine environmental activists, including women’s rights defender Zaruhi Hovhannisyan, were arrested during a peaceful gathering in front of the Parliament in Yerevan for “not obeying police orders”. Previously, in the afternoon of 6 August, about a dozen of people, including Nina Karapetyants and Ara Karagyozyan, who were participating in a peaceful picket in Yerevan in support of the protests in Amulsar, were arrested by the police. They were all released after administrative proceedings.

According to the information received, on 10 August, nine environmental activists, including women’s rights defender Zaruhi Hovhannisyan, were arrested during a peaceful gathering in front of the Parliament in Yerevan for “not obeying police orders”. Previously, in the afternoon of 6 August, about a dozen of people, including Nina Karapetyants and Ara Karagyozyan, who were participating in a peaceful picket in Yerevan in support of the protests in Amulsar, were arrested by the police. They were all released after administrative proceedings.

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Psychosocial Well-being for Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines

The well-being of human rights defenders is a critical – but still often neglected – issue. Human rights defenders (HRDs) are particularly exposed to a number of different stressors. Unlike others, HRDs will generally have a higher exposure to stress and trauma, either directly or indirectly. ‘Psychosocial Well-being for Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines’, a publication by ProtectDefenders.eu's partner FORUM-Asia, aims to provide HRDs with the basic knowledge to address their well-being individually, organisationally and as a movement.

The booklet also aims to serve as an advocacy tool to demonstrate the importance of well-being to decision makers – whether it be the heads of their organisations or donors – and call for well-being to be prioritised.

Safeguarding the psychosocial well-being of HRDs is critical for their health, and is essential for ensuring they are able to continue their work in the long term and build their resilience against the threats they face.

This booklet is an output document from the Psychosocial Well-being Workshop for HRDs held in the Philippines in 2019. The event was organised based on the recognition of the mounting threats and harassment HRDs endure and that take a toll on their psychosocial well-being.

Ferdinand Mensah Ayité, a journalist and human rights defender from Togo, is reinforcing his security and covering legal costs with the support of an emergency grant

In August 2020, OMCT in the framework of ProtectDefenders.eu provided a grant to support the Togolese journalist Ferdinand Mensha Ayité after he was victim of reprisals as a result of his work. The assistance allocated by OMCT aimed at covering the legal defence costs of Mr Ayité, as well as the installation of a security system in his home, in order to guarantee his safety and to ensure the continuation of his human rights work.

Mr. Ferdinand Mensha Ayité is the director of publication of the newspaper l’Alternative, a biweekly news and investigative newspaper engaged in denouncing corruption and documenting human rights violations in Togo.

In its issue published on 9 June 2020, l'Alternative revealed a case of massive embezzlement in the Togolese oil sector. Shortly after, Mr. Ayité started receiving threats, particularly through anonymous phone calls, and became extremely concerned for his safety. A month later, one of the people who was directly named in the embezzlement scandal filed a defamation complaint against Mr. Ayité and requested that all copies of the June 9 issue be destroyed, and that the disputed publication be removed from the website and the newspaper social networks.

A booklet for defenders: The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and other resources

FORUM-ASIA, a member of ProtectDefenders.eu, recognises the need to address the ongoing trends of violations against human rights defenders (HRDs) in Asia, and their key role in ensuring that everyone’s human rights are protected and fulfilled.

To this end, FORUM-ASIA has produced a booklet explanatory of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom, commonly referred to as the Declaration on human rights defenders. This booklet aims to emphasise the role and rights of human rights defenders as well as the responsibilities of others towards them, and to provide practical information to enhance their security.

Click here for a pdf version of this booklet.

Click here to see the HRD Declaration posters (available in English, Urdu, Burmese, Mongolian and Tagalog)

Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program

The deadline to apply for the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program has been extended to October 15, 2020. The Reagan-Fascell program is an international exchange program that offers five-month fellowships to leading democracy activists, journalists, civil society leaders, and scholars from around the world to conduct independent projects at the National Endowment for Democracy, a member of the European Union Temporary Relocation Platform. During their time at NED's International Forum for Democratic Studies, in Washington D.C., fellows reflect on their experiences and consider lessons learned; conduct independent research and writing; engage with colleagues and counterparts in the United States; and build ties with a global network of democracy advocates.

Eligibility: The program is intended primarily for practitioners from developing and aspiring democracies, and those from nondemocratic countries. Distinguished scholars from the United States and other established democracies are also eligible to apply. Practitioners include activists, journalists, lawyers, and civil society professionals who have substantial experience in their field. Scholars include professors, researchers, and other writers who have a Ph.D. or academic equivalent at the time of application. A working knowledge of English is required.

Support: Fellows receive monthly payments to cover living expenses, plus basic health insurance, travel reimbursement, and research support.

Fellowship Dates: Fall Session: October 1, 2021–February 28, 2022; Spring Session: March 1–July 31, 2022.

Extended Deadline: Thursday, October 15, 2020

For more information and to apply, visit www.ned.org/fellowships.

Cambodia - Charging and criminalisation of human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu are deeply concerned by the progressively hostile environment for human rights defenders in Cambodia, following numerous incidents of repression and criminalisation of peaceful human rights activists. The Cambodian authorities have increasingly been targeting and silencing those who criticise them, with labour rights defenders and unions being targeted in particular.

Among them, on 31 July 2020, human rights defender Rong Chhun was arrested at his home in Phnom Penh, which is thought to be in relation to a statement he made on the demarcation of the border between Cambodia and Vietnam that has stripped several farmers of their land. The following day, on 1 August 2020, the Phnom Penh municipal court charged the defender with “incitement to commit a felony”, and he is currently being detained. Rong Chhun is the President of the independent Cambodian Confederation of Unions and a member of the Cambodia Watchdog Council. He was the former president of the Cambodian Independent Teacher's Association (CITA), an organisation that promotes solidarity between the private and public sector teachers, irrespective of colour, race, sex, religion or political belief. He has been a vocal human rights defender and has long raised concerns about the plight of farmer’s and worker’s rights. This is not the first time Rong Chhun has been arrested. The defender has been a target of judicial harassment since 2015 for his activism and work in defence of human rights. 

Furthermore, on 13 August 2020, human rights defender Hun Vannak and woman human rights defender Chhoeun Daravy were arrested for their participation in a peaceful protest in Phnom Penh. The defenders were part of a larger group of protesters who had gathered outside the municipal court to demand the release of Rong Chhun. Hun Vannak and Chhoeun Daravy are currently detained at the Phonom Penh Correctional Center (CC), in CC1 and CC2 respectively. Hun Vannak is an environmental rights defender and a former member of Mother Nature Cambodia, a grass-roots organisation opposing land-grabbing and defending environmental rights. In early 2020, the defender founded the youth group Khmer Thavarak that advocates against social injustices and environment issues. Chhoeun Daravy is a woman human rights defender and a member of Khmer Thavarak. As one of the first members of the organisation, she has been heavily involved in drawing attention to several human rights issues in the region, especially those concerning the environment. She regularly livestreams events and protests organised by Khmer Thavarak and other defenders on social media, reaching large audiences.

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Iraq - Killings, threats and harassment of several human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu are expressing their deep concern over recent attacks against defenders in Iraq, which are part of a series of targeted killings in recent weeks against leaders of the protest movement against corruption and in favour of basic rights and dignity for the Iraqi people. In addition, in the last few weeks, numerous Iraqi activists have been receiving daily threats to their life and safety, mostly through text messages or publicly using social media networks.

According to the information received (Click and read more)

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Israel and Palestine - Detention and judicial harassment of human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu are alarmed by the numerous reports received in recent weeks of attacks, threats and harassment of human rights defenders in Israel and the Palestinian territories:

    • On 30 July 2020, several Israeli soldiers stormed the house of human rights defender Mahmoud Nawajaa and arrested him, subsequently releasing him on 17 August. Mahmoud Nawajaa is a human rights defender, who  advocates for the rights of Palestinian people under the Israeli occupation. He is the general coordinator of the Palestinian National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Committee (BDS). The BDS Movement is an international movement founded in 2005, which has pioneered a non-violent mobilisaton against Israel’s occupation of Palestine through exerting social, economic and political pressure on the State. BDS seeks to hold Israel accountable for human rights abuses and other violations of international law, defends the ‘right of return’ of Palestinian refugees to family properties lost in the 1948 war and engages in advocacy and non-violent campaigning for Palestinian rights.

    • On 28 July, Rania Elias, Director of the Yabous Cultural Centre in Jerusalem, was summoned and interrogated by police following her participation in a peaceful demonstration against the raid of the Centre, as well as on the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, on 22 July. On 22 July 2020 at approximately 9 am, the Israeli Police raided the home of Rania Elias and Suhail Khoury in Jerusalem. Rania Elias is the Director of the Yabous Cultural Centre, her husband Suhail Khoury is the Director of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Jerusalem. The police asked the couple to keep their children in one room whilst they searched the house and confiscated their mobile phones, laptops, and some of their papers and documents. Following this, the police brought Rania Elias to the Cultural Centre, where they proceeded to confiscate the laptops there too, as well as other documents from the centre. Currently Rania Elias and Suhail Khoury are facing charges of ‘money laundering’, ‘tax evasion’ and ‘supporting terrorist activities’.

    • On 22 July, the Ramallah Magistrate Court extended the detention of the anti-corruption human rights defenders Jihad Abdo and Fayez Swaity for an additional 15 days. The two defenders were initially detained on 19 July 2020 whilst peacefully protesting, and have been charged with ‘illegal gathering’ and ‘violating the emergency laws’. Jihad Abdo is a co-founder of the The Coalition of Civilized Demand for Fair Palestinian Telecom Sector (Bekfi ya shrikat alitisalat - Enough Communication Companies), a movement which was established to demand fair competition in the Telecom sector in Palestine and to defend the economic rights of Palestinians. He regularly participates in organising peaceful demonstrations calling for an end to corruption within the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian telecom sector. Fayez Swaity is the founder and director of the Palestinian association ‘Together Against Corruption’. His activities focus on investigating and documenting corruption in the Palestinian Authority.

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Afghanistan - Killing of human rights defenders, including Independent Human Rights Commission staffs

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, an FIDH-OMCT partnership supported by ProtectDefenders.eu, has been informed about the killing of  Fatima Khalil, Donor Liaison Officer at Afghanistan’s national human rights institution, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), and her driver Jawid Folad, also a staff member of AIHRC.

According to the information received, on 27 June, Fatima Khalil and  Jawid Folad were victims of a bomb attack in Butkhak square in Kabul’s District 12. The two human rights defenders were on their way to the AIHRC office when an improvised explosive device (IED) placed under their car exploded. As of the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, the attack had not been claimed by anyone and the perpetrators had not been identified.

This is not the first time that AIHRC staff have been subjected to targeted killings. In September 2019, Abdul Samad Ameri, the interim Head of the Ghor provincial office of AIHRC, was abducted on the Kabul-Ghor highway in Maidan Wardak Province and shot dead two days later.

Afghan authorities must immediately carry out a thorough, transparent, and impartial investigation into these killings, identify all those responsible, bring them before an independent tribunal, and sanction them as provided by the law.

A few days later, on August 1, 2020, Mr. Asmatullah Salaam, who worked on promoting the right to education in the province of Ghazni, was kidnapped by Taliban members while he was driving to Khwzeyo, Andar District, Ghazni Province, to visit his family for Eid celebrations. The kidnappers stopped his car and abducted him. His body was found one day later, on August 2, in Wahghez, with signs of severe torture.

The Observatory urges the Afghan authorities to implement the strategy for the protection of human rights defenders, to which they publicly committed on January 20, 2020, and to put an end to the culture of impunity that prevails in the country. In response to this recent path of deaths, UN experts engaged on a dialogue with Afghan authorities to call on Afghanistan to prevent further killings of human rights defenders.

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Honduras - Killings and enforced disappearances of human rights defenders

In the past month, we have received with great concern and alarm information about the murders and forced disappearances of human rights defenders in Honduras, in a context of high risk and harassment for the defense of human rights in the country.

Recently, we have been informed by the Association for Participatory Citizenship (ACI Participa) about the murder of Marvin Damián Castro Molina, defender of the environment, president of the Youth Network of the Association of Development Pespirense-Honduras ( ADEPESHN) in the municipality of Pespire, Choluteca, and coordinator of the Youth Secretariat of the Southern Social Environmental Movement for Life (MASS-Vida). Between 12 and 13 July, Castro Molina, who had been missing since the 12th, was assassinated, his body found on the banks of the Sacamil River, in the Agua Tibia Community. We strongly condemn the murder of Castro Molina, as well as the gross negligence committed by the Honduran authorities, who had been alerted by Castro Molina himself about the serious fears for his life and physical integrity the week before his murder. In addition, said murder is framed in a context of deep criminalization and attacks on people and organizations defending the territory and the environment, and human rights in general, in the southern part of the country, where more than 100 attacks have been recorded between January and June 2020. 

ACI Participa has also informed us about the murder of Scarleth Campbell, a transsexual woman, a defender of LGBTIQ + rights and a member of the “Las Muñecas” collective of the Arcoíris Association. According to the information received, on 10 July,  Campbell was killed by two unknown men in the area known as “El Arbolito” in the La Plazuela neighborhood, in Tegucigalpa. According to the same information, the perpetrators of the murder got out of a vehicle without license plates and fired firearms at Campbell, who died while being transferred to the hospital. 

On the other hand, reliable sources report on the forced disappearance of Alberth Sneider Centeno, President of the Board of Trustees of the Garífuna community of El Triunfo de la Cruz, department of Atlántida, and member of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), and Aparicio Mejía García and Joel Martínez Álvarez, belonging to the El Triunfo de la Cruz community and also members of OFRANEH. According to some information, a fourth individual from the community was reported missing. On 18 July, a group of unidentified and heavily armed men wearing bulletproof vests and uniforms with the initials of the Police Investigation Directorate (DPI), broke into the residence of Sneider Rye and kidnapped him. Subsequently, the same group of armed men kidnapped Mejía García, Martínez Álvarez and a fourth unidentified person. The four members of the El Triunfo de la Cruz community were taken aboard three vehicles and are missing. The facts are being investigated by the Investigative Police Directorate and the Tela City Prosecutor's Office. 

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Kyrgyzstan - Sentencing of a human rights lawyer defending victims of torture

On 29 May 2020, human rights defender Kamil Ruziev was detained outside a courthouse in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan. He was then interrogated and spent two days in detention, before being placed under two months’ house arrest on 31 May, on charges of forgery. Kamil Ruziev is a human rights defender and lawyer, and acting head of the Karakol-based organisation Ventus. He has been working for more than 20 years on combatting torture, violence and arbitrary law enforcement, defending the rights of victims of torture and victims of domestic violence.

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"Down, but not out". Repression of human rights defenders in Cambodia

In July 2020, the OMCT and FIDH in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders released a new report documenting the severe persecution faced by human rights defenders in Cambodia and the deepening crackdown on civil society and independent media.

The report, titled “DOWN, BUT NOT OUT - Repression of human rights defenders in Cambodia”, shows how human rights defenders operate in a repressive environment that is unprecedented in Cambodia’s recent history. Land and environmental rights defenders, labour leaders, women’s rights defenders, cyber activists and journalists have all faced increased violence, intimidation, detention and judicial harassment from the state, while civic space has in parallel continued to erode. The report also documents how the Cambodian government has used repressive laws and subservient courts to harass and attempt to silence human rights defenders.

Moreover, since March 2020, the Cambodian government has used the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to further crackdown on dissent. The Law on the State of Emergency, promulgated on April 29, if implemented, will lead to further curtailment of civil rights and freedoms, such as the rights to freedom of movement, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and peaceful assembly.

Read the full report here. 

Sudan- Harassment of two women human rights defenders  

Since 29 May 2020, women human rights defenders Lana Awad and Aida Abdel Qader have been subjected to several harassments following an article they published on 26 May in the South Darfur News, defending the health rights of citizens in Al-Fashir city. In the context of COVID-19, Al-Fashir city has reported an alarming number of deaths, according to research published by Al-Fashir University, the Sudanese Government and the UN. Lana Awad and Aida Abdel Qader are women human rights defenders and journalists. Both women are members of the Darfur Journalists Association and their work focuses primarily on promoting women’s rights and defending health rights in Sudan. Lana Awad had worked for the Ministry of Health and Social Development but was dismissed as a result of the article she wrote with Aida Abdel Qader.

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Philippines - Sentencing and incommunicado detention of human rights defenders

Philippine Senator Leila de Lima, a human rights lawyer and an elected member of the Philippine Senate, has been denied visitors since 25 April as part of preventive measures against the COVID-19. She was also prevented from communicating with the outside world between 5 May and 27 May. Several requests have been made by Senator de Lima’s staff and by the Senator herself to the Custodial Center administration in order to exempt her from these measures, given her status as a working legislator and the conditions at the PNP Custodial Center, which is not congested and where social distancing measures can be implemented. However, all requests have been rejected.

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#PrideMonth: ILGA World report 'Curbing deception', a global research into pseudo-scientific and harmful 'conversion' practices

‘Conversion therapy’ is a term describing pseudo-scientific and harmful practices used to attempt altering a person’s gender expression, gender identity or sexual orientation. These gruesome ‘techniques’ are still applied in numerous countries, pushing people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions to living self-loathing lives, up to the extreme consequences of committing suicide.

In 2020, ILGA World has released a ground-breaking report on the issue: Curbing Deception is an extensive global research into laws banning these harmful practices both at the national and subnational level,  which also analyses strategies beyond legal reform to restrict them.

Protection from similar ineffective and cruel treatment is as urgent as ever: thanks to the tireless advocacy of activists, survivors and grassroots organisations – States, health professionals and international human rights bodies across the world are speaking up. Download the report in English and in Spanish.

#PrideMonth: Meet our partner ILGA World

ILGA World – the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association -, a member of the ProtectDefenders.eu Consortium, is a worldwide federation of more than 1,600 organisations from over 160 countries and territories campaigning for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex human rights. We want a world where the human rights of all are respected and where everyone can live in equality and freedom: a world where global justice and equity are assured and established regardless of people’s sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and sex characteristics.

Established in 1978, ILGA World has ECOSOC consultative status at the United Nations, and their members are based in six regions: Pan Africa ILGA, ILGA Asia, ILGA-Europe, ILGALAC, ILGA North America and ILGA Oceania. Governed by an elected Board of 19 activists representing our global family, ILGA World is queer democracy in action!

Belarus - Crackdown on human rights defenders ahead of presidential elections

Between late April and early May 2020, several human rights defenders in Belarus have been arbitrarily detained and subjected to judicial harassment for participating in peaceful assemblies and criticising government policies. This wave of prosecution of human rights defenders is taking place against the backdrop of the campaign for the presidential election, due to take place on 9 August 2020. This targeting of human rights defenders is expected to have a chilling effect on civil society and affect the important role of human rights defenders in ensuring independent monitoring during the election campaign and election day. Since early May, approximately 120 people, including several human rights defenders, have been detained, fined or sentenced to up to 25 days detention on charges of violating the procedure for holding a protest. The arrests are related to three protest movements, namely weekly protests against a battery factory in Brest; the Youth Bloc rally in Minsk against the decision to hold the annual Victory Day parade on 9 May in the context of COVID-19; and numerous gatherings in protest against the arrest of well-known YouTube vlogger Syarhei Tikhanovsky.

Several other human rights defenders who criticised the state’s environmental policy or commented on COVID19 have also been targeted and may face criminal charges. Five of the human rights defenders arrested are from the leading human rights organization in Belarus, Human Rights Centre Viasna (HRC Viasna).

- Aliaksandr Burakou is a human rights defender, a member of HRC Viasna and a journalist for mspring.online, a website that covers human rights violations in Belarus. On 8 May 2020, Aliaksandr Burakou was detained in Mogilev in connection with a protest held on 6 May against the detention of Syarhei Tsikhanouski. He was detained for 72 hours, the first seven hours of which he spent in a cold, windowless room no bigger than 2.5m by 2.5m. On 11 May he appeared before the Leninsky District Court where he was sentenced to 10 days’ detention on charges of violating the procedure for organising and holding a protest.

- Aliaksandr Burakou’s nephew, Ales Burakou, is a defender, journalist and also a member of HRC Viasna. On 15 May 2020 Ales Burakou was detained at his apartment and brought to the Leninsky District Department of Internal Affairs in the city of Mogilev. He was sentenced on the same day to 10 days of administrative detention for alleged participation in an unauthorized mass event on 6 May.

- On 10 May 2020, human rights defenders Raman Kisliak, member of For Freedom Movement board, and Uladzimir Vialichkin, member of HRC Viasna, were arbitrarily detained when monitoring a protest against the construction of a battery plant in Brest. The protests, referred to as “Pigeons feeding”, have been taking place in the city on Sundays since March 2018. Upon their detention, the whereabouts of the two human rights defenders remained unknown and their families and colleagues were not able to contact them. It eventually transpired that they had initially been taken to Kobrinsky District Department of Internal Affairs, approximately 40 km from Brest, before being transferred on 12 May to the temporary detention centre of the Leninsky District Department of the Interior of the city of Brest.

- Alena Masliukova is an environmental rights defender and a member of HRC Viasna in Svetlogorsk. She has been particularly engaged in activities against the construction of a pulp bleaching factory in Svetlogorsk on account of its negative environmental impact. On 23 April 2020, Masliukova was questioned as part of an investigation as result of a complaint against her, after a comment she made on social media criticising the President and the authorities for allegedly disseminating false and inaccurate information regarding the factory’s purpose. Her phone and laptop were also seized as part of the investigation.

- Andrei Miadzvedzeu is a journalist and a member of HRC Viasna in Rechytsa. On 7 May 2020, he was questioned in connection with a critical commentary he had written and posted on the social media network Vkontakte, in response to an article published in the local newspaper Dniprovets. Despite the fact that no complaint was made by the editor of the newspaper, which is a legal prerequisite for investigation, Andrei Miadzvedzeu is currently under investigation and may face criminal charges.

Belarus is ranked 153 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index. Critical journalists and bloggers are threatened and arrested, leading news sites are blocked, access to information is restricted and media diversity is unknown. The state exercises total control over all TV channels. A few independent media outlets exist but many are forced to base themselves abroad and the authorities continue to harass them. Publications that were previously spared, such as Tut.by and the BelaPAN news agency, are now being targeted by the authorities. Those lucky enough to be tolerated struggle to survive because they are denied both state subsidies and advertising. 

Morocco - Repression and judicial persecution of defenders

Between late April and early May 2020, several human rights defenders in Morocco have been subjected to preventive detention as a result of their posts on social media, on the issue of human rights and the response by the Moroccan authorities during COVID-19.

- On 5 May 2020, Abdel Fattah Bouchikhi, a member of the National Instance for Human Rights and a blogger focusing primarily on corruption issues, was summoned to Jorf El Melha police station regarding a post he made on social media. In the post he exposed corruption related to the issuing of transport permits, which are necessary for travelling in Morocco during COVID-19. He was interrogated for seven hours without the presence of his lawyer, following which he was placed in preventive detention. He was detained for 48 hours at the police station before being transferred to the public prison, where he remains at the time of writing. In the 48 hours he spent in detention at the police station, he was not given any food. Abdel Fattah Bouchikhi has been charged with defamation and his hearing is scheduled for 21 May 2020.

- On 27 April 2020, Omar Naji, a human rights defender who works on refugee and immigration issues, and is vice-president of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (MAHR) in the Nador city branch was summoned to the Cybercrime police section in Nador city, following a complaint submitted by the Nador city governor regarding a social media post he had made. In the post, Omar Naji defended the economic rights of the street hawkers in the city, following the confiscation of their goods by the police due to COVID-19 restrictions. He was placed under preventive detention for almost 24 hours, before being granted release on a bail of 10000 Dirham (approximately 900 Euros).

- On 5 May 2020, several police officers dressed in plain clothes arrested woman human rights defender Siham El Makrini, whose work is focused on the promotion of women’s rights in Morocco, at her home. She was brought to the police station in Nador city, where she was interrogated for almost two hours without the presence of her lawyer, regarding a post she had made on social media which called for improved economic rights for teachers in Morocco. Siham El Makrini has been charged with ‘incitement’ with regard to her social media post, the hearing for which has not yet been scheduled. On 17 May 2020, Siham El Makrini’s home was raided and vandalised by unknown individuals, which she believes to be connected to the charges against her and her human rights activities. The woman human rights defender has been previously harassed by Moroccan authorities. In 2018, Siham El Makrini was physically attacked by a group of police officers, fracturing her arm.

Morocco is ranked 133 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index. Morocco’s media continue to be subjected to judicial harassment. In addition to the trials of a number of media figures that have dragged on for several years, several new prosecutions have been initiated and heavy sentences have been passed. Many journalists and citizen-journalists continue to be imprisoned. The elimination of the ministry of communication and the creation of a press council have not helped to make the environment for media and journalists any more peaceful. 

Peru - Murder of two indigenous rights defenders

In the past month, we have received with concern the news of the killing of two human rights defenders in Peru. In both cases, the defenders carried out their peaceful work in favor of the rights of indigenous peoples and their territories, particularly in the face of advances in illegal and harmful economic activities in their communities.

- On 17 May, human rights defender Gonzalo Pío Flores was assassinated in the town of Santa Rosa de Cashingari, located in the Río Tambo district, Satipo province (Junín). Gonzalo Pío Flores, an Asháninka indigenous, defender of indigenous rights and territory, and leader of the Nuevo Amanecer Hawai Community worked for the legal recognition of the communal territories of the Nuevo Amanecer Community, as well as for their protection against the presence of illegal logging activities established in the area. His wife, Maribel Casancho Flores, who was with him at the moment of the attack, was seriously injured. His killing is not an isolated case. It occurs in a context of conflict over land and territory in the district of Puerto Bermúdez characterized by the lack of legal security in the indigenous territories and by the presence of illegal economic activities of deforestation.

- On 12 April, Arbildo Menéndez Grandez, a native of Cacataibo, defender of indigenous rights and of the territory, and head of the Native Community of Unipacuyacu, in the district of Puerto Inca, was killed when hunting with Redy Rabel Ibarra, a resident from outside the community. At first, Mr Ibarra communicated  that Mr Menéndez had shot himself. However, two days later, Mr Ibarra confessed to the police that he had shot Mr Menéndez in confusion. The request for preventive detention was rejected in the first instance by the judge, so he is released. It should be noted that, according to the same information, Mr Ibarra had allegedly been making numerous outings to allegedly coordinate the murder of Mr Menéndez with people from outside the community. Illegal economic activities, such as planting crops for drug trafficking, illegal mining, and the indiscriminate felling of vast extensions of primary forests, have been triggering numerous attacks and threats against the Unipacuyacu Native Community for more than 10 years. Aggression was suffered also by Mrs Zulema Guevara Sandoval – Mr Menendez’s late wife - on 5 March 2020, when a villager attacked the boat in which she was with his two minor children. Her requests for protection have so far been ignored.

Peru currently ranks 90 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index. Peru’s journalists risk sometimes very harsh reprisals when they cover social or environmental conflicts, expose cases of corruption, or investigate the infiltration of state entities by drug traffickers. The main threat to media freedom in Peru comes from the defamation laws, which often lead to journalists being threatened, intimidated or prosecuted. Journalists are particularly vulnerable if they cover drug trafficking, illegal logging or other kinds of trafficking in the remoter and more rural parts of the country. 

Call for applications: RSF Germany Time Out and Research Scholarship

Scholarship for journalists from war zones and conflict areas

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Germany is offering a new scholarship directed at journalists worldwide who are exposed to particular risks and challenges due to their work. RSF Germany invites a journalist from a war zone or crisis area to take some time out from their stressful environment and come to Berlin for six months, where they can rest and work on a new journalistic project. The scholarship will run for six months, from autumn 2020 to spring 2021. In case this will not be possible in autumn 2020 due to the corona pandemic and the associated travel restrictions, the start of the scholarship will be postponed.

Who can apply?

+ Journalists who urgently need some time out. This could be the case for example if they work in a war zone or crisis area, or if they recently reported on a particularly sensitive topic and are now being threatened or harassed, and those who need time to focus on a new journalistic project that they would work on during the scholarship period.

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We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a Head of Secretariat (Maternity replacement)

The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu - FIDDH is recruiting a Head of Secretariat for a maternity replacement. (Click to read the full description of the vacancy)

As director of the Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu - FIDDH, the Head of Secretariat reports directly to the Chair of the Board of ProtectDefenders.eu. They works under the supervision and management of the Board with the assistance of other Secretariat staff members. They supervises and coordinates effectively all elements of three programmes: the EU Human Rights Defenders Mechanism EIDHR2019/410-910, the EU Emergency grants for Human Rights Defenders at risk EIDHR2019/412-087 and the Comprehensive support to Human Rights Defenders in Turkey IPA2018/403-372. In addition, they provides overall representation of, and coordination between, the Board of ProtectDefenders.eu, the Turkey project Board, the members of the two Consortia; ensures liaison with the EU Commission, EEAS, EP and other external actors; manages the Secretariat and its staff.

Applications comprising a CV with at least two references and a cover letter should besent by email to recruit@protectdefenders.eu before 10 June 2020. Please indicate as subject of the email: “your surname  - HoS maternity replacement”

The position might be filled before the deadline, early applications are encouraged.

The successful candidate will be expected to start work in June 2020 until February 2021. The Head of Secretariat will be based at ProtectDefenders.eu Secretariat in Brussels and would have the necessary permit to work in the EU.

Increasing reports of attacks against human rights defenders in India and Guatemala - Protect Defenders NOW!

Over the past month, ProtectDefenders.eu has received a considerable and growing number of reports regarding attacks, threats, and alerts affecting human rights defenders in India. This information alerts to the numerous acts of police and judicial harassment in the repression of legitimate activities in favor of human rights. Among other incidents, police harassment and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders were reported in Manipur State, in relation to statements made to criticise the management of the current COVID-19 pandemic by local authorities.

Safoora Zargar, a 27-years old student and woman human rights defender unjustly detained since 10 April, is one of the OMCT's campaign #FacesOfHope

Our monthly digest also highlights with great concern the situation of human rights defenders in Guatemala, after numerous alerts reported in the country. Among other, the threats, digital attacks and acts of intimidation against human rights lawyer Esteban Celada, or the acts of stigmatization and defamation against the Peasants’ Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) and against its leader, Ms Lesbia Artola.

Overall, at least 50 new incidents, including physical attacks, threats, and acts of harassment have been recorded in our Index of Attacks over the past month. 

Click here to read the full digest of May 2020.

#StaywithDefenders | PI's Global Campaign on the Right to Defend Human Rights in times of COVID19

COVID-19 is a challenge for all across the world. This is also true for women and men human rights defenders (W/HRDs), who are now even more at risk for standing for the Right to Defend Human Rights (RDHR).

"#StayWithDefenders in times of COVID-19" is latest PI's Global Campaign on the Right to Defend Human Rights in these difficult times. With this campaign, Protection International wants to call for international solidarity and recognition to both women and men human rights defenders (W/HRDs), be they individuals or collectives, under such times of crisis and uncertainty.

A message of solidarity to the community of The Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018

Given the extremely challenging and difficult times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ProtectDefenders.eu and all the convenors of the Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018, are sending a message of solidarity to the human rights defenders community. Our organisations remain operational and active, and continue to put pressure on governments so that human rights are at the forefront of any measures they take to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

For instance, ProtectDefenders.eu has taken all the necessary measures to maintain its global protection programmes to provide practical support to human rights defenders and local communities at risk. ProtectDefenders.eu's emergency support programmes - including the 24/7 hotline, remain available, as well as the funding for human rights organisations and groups operating in repressive contexts. Moreover, it will continue to receive requests for temporary relocation for at-risk defenders - and their families when possible, that will be processed as long as global movement limitations allow.

Read the full message for more information on the actions undertaken by the conveners of the Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018.

Call for the release of arbitrarily detained HRDs worldwide, amid the global COVID-19 crisis - Protect Defenders NOW!

As the spread of COVID-19 poses an unprecedented threat, the need to release HRDs is more urgent than ever. Our rights and those who defend them must not become a casualty of this pandemic. ProtectDefenders.eu's  partner FIDH and its member-organisations have launched the global campaign #ForFreedom, calling for the release of all HRDs detained worldwide. Human rights defenders should be freed and allowed to conduct their legitimate activities to defend the rights of individuals against injustice, discrimination, violence, and other forms of human rights violations.

@FIDH #ForFreedom

In our monthly bulletin we also call on authorities in Egypt, Uganda, and Cuba to put an end to all forms of abuses and attacks against human rights defenders.

Only in the past weeks, ProtectDefenders.eu have received, among other information, worrying reports about the judicial harassment of  Bahey el-Din Hassan, Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), or the arbitrary arrest and subsequent release on bail of four women human rights defenders after they called on the State to take serious steps regarding the spread of the COVID-19 in prisons. Furthermore, many HRDs currently remain arbitrarily detained in Egypt, despite the additional risks derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, including inter alia Ibrahim Ezz El-Din, Haytham Mohamadein, Patrick George Zaki, Zyad El-Elaimy, Mahienour al-Massry, Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy, or Mohamed el-Baquer and Alaa Abdel Fattah.

In Uganda, land rights defenders Godfrey Ssebisolo, Erias Wanjala, and Fred Mwawula were arrested by and subjected to severe beatings and other forms of physical abuse by the prison authorities. The land rights defenders believe their arbitrary detention is part of a pattern of reprisals for their work opposing forced evictions perpetrated by the companies Agilis Partners, Great Season Company Limited, and Kiryandongo Sugar Limited.

Finally, on 1 March 2020, Cuban HRD Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara - a visual artist and human rights defender promoting freedom of expression and cultural rights, was arrested when leaving his house to attend a peaceful protest organised by the LGTBIQ community to call for freedom of expression. During the arrest, his girlfriend Claudia Genlui was violently beaten, and both had their phones confiscated. Since the entry into force of Decree 349, artists have been protesting against government control over cultural productions, resulting in a number of arbitrary arrests. 

Only in March 2020, our Index of Alerts has recorded 37 new reports on attacks and threats against human rights defenders. 

Click to read the monthly bulletin, and share.

Announcement: Closing Call for Applications for Institutional Support Grants

Due to excessive number of applications received, the project Comprehensive Support to Human Rights Defenders in Turkey decided to close the call for applications for the institutional support grants to human rights defenders in Turkey. ProtectDefenders.eu Secretariat will not accept institutional support grant applications received any later than 4 May 2020, 17:00 o’clock CET.

The project received a great interest in its grants program. We are thankful to every human rights defender organisation that reached out to the project seeking support to continue and extend their crucial human rights work in Turkey.

Protection Grants Programme will continue to accept applications as usual until the official end date of the project, 31 January 2022. For requests to improve the security and protection of individual human rights defenders and organisations, please apply directly to Front Line Defenders, who manages the protection grants of the project. For guidelines and secure online grant application form, please visit Front Line Defenders website by clicking here.

#ForFreedom COVID-19: Jailed Human Rights Defenders Must Be Released Immediately

Check out FIDH’s #ForFreedom campaign for the release of imprisoned human rights defenders threatened by the pandemic

In light of the serious threat posed to prisoners by the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, FIDH and its undersigned member organisations recall governments’ obligation to ensure the safety and health of detained individuals that are under their responsibility, and launch a campaign, #ForFreedom , to call for the release of all jailed human rights defenders (HRDs).

As the spread of COVID-19 poses an unprecedented threat, the need to release HRDs is more urgent than ever. Our rights and those who defend them must not become a casualty of this pandemic. FIDH and its member organisations are launching today a new global campaign #ForFreedom for the release of all HRDs detained worldwide. They should be freed and allowed to conduct their legitimate activities to defend the rights of individuals against injustice, discrimination, violence, and other forms of human rights violations.

“Hundreds of people all over the world are imprisoned not because they committed a crime, but because of their work to defend human rights. As legitimate actors of change, they should never have been detained in the first place,” declared Alice Mogwe, FIDH President.

As stated by UN High Commissioner for Human RightsMichelle Bachelet, “Now, more than ever, governments should release every person detained without sufficient legal basis, including political prisoners and others detained simply for expressing critical or dissenting views.” This concerns minors, migrants, refugees, political opponents, journalists, and HRDs.

The campaign website profiles imprisoned HRDs, including Loujain Al-Hathloul (Saudi Arabia); Azimjan Askarov (Kyrgyzstan); Sevda Özbingöl Çelik and Hasan Ceylan (Turkey); Yuri Dmitriev (Russia); Leila de Lima (Philippines); Pablo Lopez Alavez (Mexico); Khalil Maatouk (Syria); Narges Mohammadi (Iran); Miyan Abdul Qayoom (India); Nabeel Rajab (Bahrain); Germain Rukuki (Burundi); Patrick Zaki (Egypt). The website will be regularly updated with additional arbitrarily detained HRDs.

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Turkey: Grant early release from overcrowded prisons without discrimination.

A statement from the OMCT

Brussels-Geneva, March 31, 2020 – While welcoming the current intentions in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on the early release of prisoners due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ProtectDefenders.eu echoes the OMCT Europe call to legislators to not discriminate against any group of inmates on the basis of political opinion, ethnic, racial, religious differences or human rights activism.

A draft bill currently discussed by lawmakers to reduce prison overcrowding in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak could lead to the early release of up to 100,000 prisoners. With a current prison population of 286,000, the penitentiary system of Turkey is designed to host no more than 200,000 inmates. In addition to overcrowding, concerns over detention conditions have repeatedly been raised by both local and international bodies, such as the Council of Europe or the United Nations Committee against Torture, among others. 

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COVID-19 outbreak: A message from ProtectDefenders.eu

Amidst the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are taking all the necessary measures to maintain the global protection programmes in support of human rights defenders and local communities at risk.

ProtectDefenders.eu - the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism, remains operational despite the coronavirus crisis. We continue focused on maintaining our support to human rights defenders at risk and taking the necessary measures to safeguard our staff. Some of our activities, however, might be impacted. 

Our emergency support programmes - including the 24/7 hotline, remain available, as well as our funding for human rights organisations and groups operating in repressive contexts. We will continue to receive requests for temporary relocation for at-risk defenders - and their families when possible, in partnership with host institutions worldwide, and we will process them as long as movement limitations in place in part of the world allow.

For more information, get in touch!

Ideas & tips from Front Line Defenders for HRDs in times of COVID-19

Read the full Front Line Defenders' article "Physical, emotional and digital protection while using home as office in times of COVID-19" to get some practical ideas to better cope with your work in defense of human rights and the security, physical, and emotional implications related to the limitations and restrictions imposed by the coronavirus outbreak.

"A global pandemic is a new situation for all of us. Most of us already are or soon may be forced to start working remotely. Many will use their home as an office. In some places, there is no doubt this crisis will be abused to further repress human rights defenders (HRDs) and human rights organisations (HROs) like many other crisis situations have been used in the past. Physical and emotional environments are also very different for each of us..."

Unabated persecution and harassment of human rights defenders in Turkey

Every day, the persecution and criminalisation of the defense of human rights in Turkey provide new information and reports about human rights defenders facing harassment and harsh retaliation because of their peaceful work. Check out our monthly digest of alerts to learn more about the most recent information on attacks and threats against HRDs in the country.

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Consultancy Vacancy: Workshop on psychological and emotional well-being for staff

ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for an experienced consultant to organise a training workshop for its staff to incorporate psychological and emotional health education in their daily work, promote well being and encourage supportive workplace relationships. The terms of reference for this assignment are available here.

Applicants with the relevant academic and professional background are requested to send their submissions by 15 March 2020.

Check out the video: UNSR report on Human Rights Defenders in conflict areas

Check out the video by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, launched on the occasion of his last report, addressing the situation of human rights defenders operating in conflict areas. "Each day, defenders take great risks to ensure that human rights are respected in war zone countries. It is time to acknowledge their contribution to international peace."

In this report, the last one before concluding his six-year mandate and presented to the Human Rights Council on 4 March 2020, Forst called on States and non-State actors to implement and strengthen protection mechanisms for defenders in conflict and post-conflict situations. “Defenders in conflict settings are courageous men and women who provide emergency relief, ensure access to civilians and document civilian casualties and violations of international law. In too many cases their contributions go unnoticed, while they face multiple threats to their safety due to conflict related insecurity or the very nature of their work, for example when they denounce violations committed by warring parties. Women defenders are particularly exposed to gender based violence, including sexual violence” Forst said.

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Incommunicado detention of human rights defenders in China - Protect Defenders Now!

As of the end of January 2020, four Chinese human rights defenders have been held in incommunicado detention for a month, as reported in the ProtectDefenders.eu digest of alerts. In December 2019, police from Shandong province arrested human rights defenders Dai Zhenya in Xiamen, Fujian, Ding Jiaxi in Beijing, Li Yingjun in Zhangzhou, Fujian, and Zhang Zhongshun in Yantai, Shandong. Their arrests were part of a year-end crackdown in December 2019 affecting more than 20 human rights defenders across China.

Also, in Iran, ProtectDefenders.eu received information about the ill-treatment of imprisoned women human rights defenders Narges Mohammadi and Atena Daemi in Evin prison, following their participation in a peaceful sit-in protest. Atena Daemi was put in solitary confinement, where she was physically abused and denied medical assistance. Narges Mohammadi was physically abused by security agents and transferred to the Zanjan prison located over 300 km from Tehran. In DRC, ProtectDefenders.eu’s partners were informed about the arbitrary detention and the judicial harassment against human rights defenders Jean-Claude Malitano, coordinator of the NGO Action for Rural Promotion (APRu), which runs a legal clinic on human rights issues in Faradje, and Etienne Tandele, president of the New Civil Society of Faradje, in the province of Haut-Uélé, in the northeast of the country.

Only in January 2020, at least 20 new attacks against HRDs have been reported in the ProtectDefenders.eu's Index of alerts.

Land and indigenous rights defenders at risk in Brazil - Protect Defenders Now!

The ProtectDefenders.eu digest of alerts reports two recent killings of HRDs in Anapu, which elevates concerns about the lack of effective protection and access to justice for land rights defenders in the Brazilian state of Pará. Pará has one of the highest numbers of killings of environmental defenders in the country. Considered as a priority country for ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union mechanism mobilizes comprehensive support for Brazilian defenders at risk through the material and emergency support, financing, training, and advocacy.

Also, in Thailand, reliable sources have informed ProtectDefenders.eu’s partners about recent cases of judicial harassment and intimidation against human rights defenders. Zambia is also featured in this issue of the monthly digest. 

Only in December 2019, at least 35 new attacks against HRDs have been reported. 

"We need to walk the extra mile to protect Women Human Rights Defenders"

On 21 January 2020, ProtectDefenders.eu organised the conference "Women human rights defenders, at the forefront of environmental preservation", co-hosted by MEP and vice-chair of DROI Subcommittee Ms. Hannah Neumann and MEP and member of FEMM and ENVI Committees Ms. Soraya Rodríguez. This conference featured the testimonies of Cristina Palabay and Milena Florez, two environmental WHRD from the Philippines and Colombia, and high-level speakers from the European Commission, and it was chaired by Liliana De Marco, executive director of Protection International - a member of the Consortium of ProtectDefenders.eu.

Milena Florez and Cristina Palabay shared their testimony of resilience and their strategies to overcome the particular struggles they face as women defending rights in very oppressive contexts. "In Colombia, when megaprojects arrive in our territories, they find us there as women who are leading the struggle. Our goal is to defend life, and it concerns us all", Florez said.

As explained by MEP Hannah Neumann in her keynote, "the number of environmental defenders killed and under attack is ever-growing, but things get even worse when you are a woman and dare to speak up. We need to walk the extra mile to protect women human rights defenders". MEP Soraya Rodríguez noted that ·silence is the greatest accomplice of violence. That is why we need to give voice and power to women who defend human rights, also here in the European Parliament, and doing so with a gender perspective is essential."

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SAVE THE DATE. CONFERENCE AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Women human rights defenders, at the forefront of environmental preservation

Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) safeguarding environmental rights are a fundamental pillar in the protection of their communities and in the protection of the environment and natural resources for future generations. However, they are confronted with an unprecedented scale of persecution and repression. It is time to strengthen the visibility on the situation and challenges faced by WHRDs and to act to offer better protection and create a more favorable environment for their work in the years to come.

ProtectDefenders.eu, the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism implemented by international civil society, is pleased to invite you to the conference "Women human rights defenders, at the forefront of environmental preservation", co-hosted by the vice-chair of DROI Subcommittee Ms Hannah NEUMANN and the member of FEMM and ENVI Ms. Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS. This conference will feature the testimonies of two renowned environmental WHRD from the Philippines and Colombia, a representative of the ProtectDefenders.eu’s Consortium and high-level speakers from the European Commission.

Interpretation Spanish/ English will be provided.

Please, confirm your participation by 15 January. If you need an accreditation to access the European Parliament in Brussels, kindly provide your ID information as soon as possible.

Killings of HRDs in Mexico and ongoing harassment of defenders in Crimea and Western Sahara

Throughout 2019, the situation of defenders in Mexico has remained particularly critical. ProtectDefenders.eu partners have regularly monitored and denounced the pattern of systematic attacks against HRDs in the country - one of the most dangerous places for the defense of human rights in the world. On 20 November 2019, the body of human rights defender Arnulfo Cerón Soriano was found buried under several tons of soil in the "El Aguaje" colony in Tlapa, Guerrero. Arnulfo Cerón Soriano was a lawyer and human rights defender belonging to the Naua people of the region of La Montaña, Guerrero. In recent months, Casa del Migrante de Saltillo (CMS) has reported a series of increasingly worrying threats and attacks, with a spike in intensity and frequency starting at the end of November. The judicial persecution and criminalization of the defense of rights continues to be reported in the country.

Also, the monthly issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest reports the sentencing of human rights defender Emir-usein Kuku to twelve years in a strict-regime correctional colony in Crimea, and the arbitrary detention of woman human rights defender Mahfouda Bamba Lefkire.

In 2019, ProtectDefenders.eu has documented more than 350 attacks against defenders. Since the launch of the index in 2016, more than 3,000  attacks have been reported. Real figures are likely much higher, as many alerts still go unreported.

Escucha los reportajes sobre ProtectDefenders.eu en la radio nacional de España

Conoce más acerca de ProtectDefenders.eu a través de dos reportajes realizados en los programas Solidaridad y Europa Abierta, de Radio Nacional de España.

En el programa Solidaridad, que puedes escuchar aquí, podrás descubrir cómo ProtectDefenders.eu ha acompañado a más de 30.000 personas defensoras en todo el mundo. Conoce también a Yésica Sánchez Maya, abogada feminista defensora de los derechos humanos e integrante del Consejo Directo del Consorcio Oaxaca en México. Con la participación de Javier Roura, responsable de comunicación del secretariado de ProtectDefenders.eu y Miguel Martín Zumalacárregui Director de la Oficina en Bruselas de la Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura y responsable para las Américas del Programa de Protección a Personas Defensoras.

En el programa Europa Abierta podrás conocer más acerca de nuestros programas de subvenciones de urgencia para personas defensoras en peligro o saber más sobre cómo, en ocasiones, la visibilidad de quienes defienden derechos humanos es un elemento de protección. 

Haz clic en la imagen para escuchar los reportajes.

Applications now open for the ECPMF's Journalists-in-Residence Programme

ECPMF’s Journalists-in-Residence Programme provides a safe haven for media professionals from Turkey, Central Eastern Europe or the European part of Eurasia who need to take a break away from a hostile working environment. For a period of up to six months between February 2020 and August 2020 the programme provides temporary shelter, an opportunity to rest and recover, and if the fellow wishes, to continue one’s work.) The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) offers practical solidarity to journalists resident in Turkey, Central Eastern Europe and European part of Eurasia. The Centre extends its Journalists-in-Residence programme to up to three more media professionals and is now accepting applications (Deadline: 31 December 2019).

This invitation is for media professionals holding a valid passport and who are currently based in Turkey, Central Eastern Europe or in the European Part of Eurasia. Timeslots are available for stays up to six months, during the period from February to September 2020.

Participants are provided with a rent-free, furnished apartment in Leipzig, Germany, a monthly stipend of 1,000 euros, and free health insurance. ECPMF also covers travel costs to and from Leipzig, as well as, visa fees. The selected journalists are offered access to the Centre’s wide-ranging network of contacts, as well as, optional training sessions in useful skills such as, secure digital communication and data safety.

More information and how to apply.

We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a Grants Officer for the EU Emergency Fund

The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is recruiting a Grants Officer for the EU Emergency Fund for Human Rights Defenders at risk. This programme aims to support human rights defenders (HRDs) in situations where they are most at risk through the operation and implementation of a rapid and efficient EU Emergency Fund.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with experience in Human Rights and Grants, with strong communication skills, who will play a crucial role in the successful implementation of the project.

Applications comprising a CV with at least two references and a cover letter should be sent by email to recruit@protectdefenders.eu by 10 December. Please write in the subject of the email: Your surname - Grant officer application”. The position might be filled before the deadline, early applications are encouraged. The successful candidate will be expected to start work in January 2020. 

The Grant Officer will be based in ProtectDefenders.eu Secretariat in Brussels and needs to have the necessary permit to work in the EU.

International Women Human Rights Defenders Day

Every year, ProtectDefenders.eu supports more than 5,000 women human rights defenders in the most vulnerable countries, through direct and gender-sensitive protection grants, funding to local women rights' organisations, comprehensive relocation programmes, training and capacity-building, accompaniment in the field, advocacy and specific outreach programs.

Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) are key actors for sustainable development, social justice, peacebuilding in post-conflict areas, and the rule of law in the most vulnerable and fragile communities. However, WHRDs are particularly targeted, and their resilience very often confronted with specific threats that demand gender-focused tools and strategies for ensuring their safety. In this context, the development of protection mechanisms, capacity-building programmes and tailored advocacy initiatives that address WHRDs' particularities is an increasing demand to the international civil society and donors' community.

From the outset, ProtectDefenders.eu has committed to provide gender-sensitive assistance and WHRDs are a high priority target for the EU HRD mechanism. Today, WHRD represent 48% of the overall number of beneficiaries, and these figures are consistently increasing in time.

Human rights defenders targeted amidst protests in Iraq and Chile - Protect Defenders Now

Since anti-corruption demonstrations in Iraq began in early October 2019, human rights defenders have been targeted by the Iraqi authorities and other unknown militant groups. The demonstrations are calling for increased respect for civil and political rights in the country, and an end to corruption and chronic unemployment. According to Front Line Defenders, the Iraqi authorities and other militant groups have been using excessive force against protesters, resulting in mass killings, arrests, and the disappearance of participants. Human rights defenders, in particular, have been targeted and several have been forcibly disappeared, detained or killed.

The November 2019 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest also raises concern over intimidation and judicial harassment of human rights defenders in Chile, and over the abduction of Muhammad Ismail, father of WHRD Gulalai Ismail, in Pakistan.

Only in October 2019, ProtectDefenders.eu reported at least 32 new attacks against human rights defenders. 

Click here to read the full digest of alerts. 

One year anniversary of the HRD World Summit and The Action Plan - Spread the message!

On the occasion of the Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018’s first anniversary, ProtectDefenders.eu and the Summit's convening group are publishing a summary of the Summit and relaunching the Action Plan, a key document that was adopted by hundreds of HRDs and organizations attending the Paris Summit, with a series of recommendations that need to be put into practice urgently.

As human rights defenders continue to be discriminated, intimidated, harassed, criminalized and killed on an alarming scale and those suffering intersecting forms of discrimination are at an even higher risk, action to tackle this scourge needs to be taken urgently. This Action Plan is a powerful tool to address those with power: States, businesses, financial institutions, donors and intergovernmental organizations. Since the action plan was adopted, this document has already been presented to the United Nations General Assembly and has been regularly referred to in advocacy work at the national level and in our work as international civil society organizations.

This document constitute a key tool to be used in our everyday activism and ensure that the right to defend human rights is upheld. 

You can consult and download this material, available at the moment in English, French, and Spanish.

You can also relive the highlights of the HRD World Summit

Serious concerns over relentless repression of HRDs in Egypt

ProtectDefenders.eu has received with utmost concern recent reports on the aggravation of the repression against human rights defenders in Egypt, in a new wave of harassment, attacks, and threats reported in recent weeks, such as the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Amr Imam, human rights lawyer at the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)..

Moreover, the October 2019 digest of alerts rings the alerm their deepest concern over the sentencing of four women’s rights defenders in Iran, who have been targeted by the authorities for their defence of women’s rights and their support of the protests against mandatory hijab laws. Also, recent information reporting judicial harassment and police abuses against human rights defenders in Russia is featured this month.

Only in October 2019, ProtectDefenders. eu documented and reported at least 18 new attacks against human rights defenders and has provided emergency support to 25 human rights defenders facing high risk.

Click to read the full digest.

New Funding Opportunity for Human Rights Defenders in Turkey

In consideration of the latest developments in Turkey creating an ever less enabling environment for human rights defenders, with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu Secretariat, five international organizations working in the human rights field established a new grant-making program to provide support to human rights defenders in Turkey. The Comprehensive Support to Human Rights Defenders in Turkey program is funded by the European Union.

The project aims to protect human rights defenders at risk, support human rights defender organizations in continuing to carry out their work while strengthening their domestic and international networks and increase their capacities in documenting human rights abuses, access to justice mechanisms and advocating for a more enabling environment for their work in Turkey.

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Seminar "Well-being and psychosocial support of human rights defenders enrolled in relocation programmes", 22 October 2019 Barcelona

ProtectDefenders.eu, with the support of Agència Catalana de Cooperació al Desenvolupament and Comissió Catalana d'Ajuda al Refugiat,is organising the seminar "Well-being and psychosocial support of human rights defenders enrolled in relocation programmes", next Tuesday, 22 October 2019 in Barcelona. 

Human rights defenders, experts in psychosocial aspects of temporary relocation, as well as members of the EUTRP and other local entities will exchange and share their views on how to best address the well-being and psychosocial challenges during the cycle of temporary relocation of human rights defenders. Interpretation available English/ Spanish. Limited places available, registration required by 17 October 2019

We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a Coordinator of the EU Temporary Relocation Platform

The Fondation Internationale pour les Défenseurs des Droits de L’Homme (FIDDH), Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is recruiting a Coordinator of the EU Temporary Relocation Platform. 

Applications comprising a CV with at least two references and a cover letter should be sent by email to recruit@protectdefenders.eu by 25 October. Please write in the subject of the email the position you are applying for + your surname: “EUTRP Coordinator – Applicant’s surname”. Early applications are welcome since the successful candidate is expected to start work in November, if possible.

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Killings and repression of human rights defenders in Honduras - Protect Defenders NOW!

In the monthly digest of alerts, ProtectDefenders.eu’s partners alert about the killing and repression of human rights defenders in the context of the Guapinol case, in Honduras. After the murder of defender Roberto Antonio Argueta Tejada and the ongoing criminalisation process against seven human rights defenders claiming for their water rights, ProtectDefenders.eu reiterates its condemnation of the improper use of the criminal law to control, neutralize and punish people who exercise the right to resistance in defense of land and territory.

Moreover, ProtectDefenders.eu has received with great concern recent information on the ongoing threats and harassment against human rights defenders in the Maldives, and is raising awareness about the escalating online threats against human rights defenders and journalist Mbolatiana Raveloarimsa, in Madagascar.

Only in September 2019, ProtectDefenders. eu reported at least 23 new attacks against human rights defenders and has provided emergency support to 16 human rights defenders facing high risk.

Click to read the full digest.

Palestinian journalist, Reham Owda, temporarily relocated to Berlin with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu

Through the Rest and Refuge Scholarship run by Reporters Without Borders Germany and the Taz Panter Foundation, Palestinian journalist Reham Owda was granted a three-month relocation to Berlin from March until May 2019, with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu Temporary Relocation Programme. During that time, she benefited from psychological support in a peaceful environment, wrote an article for Taz newspaper and participated to their workshop about the political context in Palestine.

After being blocked in Gaza for six years due to the closing of the Rafah Crossing Point, Reham Owda’s relocation to Berlin allowed her to taste “the freedom of movement within European Union countries”, as well as “the democratic life in Germany and the freedom of the press”, she said. She was able to travel across Europe and visit different countries, therefore broadening her cultural, social and political knowledge. She believes that this experience will help her expand her network with other journalists and understand better the safety of journalists in conflict zones.

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Building the capacitites of Haven of Artist in Lebanon

With support from ProtectDefenders.eu, Urgent Action Fund supported Haven of Artists in Lebanon, an organization that aims to endorse, encourage and expose the modern underground art scene of Lebanon and the Middle East. Their grant request was to support an artist/activist collective to secure its building and operations as well as organize a staff retreat to address collective security and burnout issues following an increased crackdown against LGBTQI groups by Lebanese General Security. A retreat for a team that has worked for over 8 years without compensation has assisted their collective mental health, and they were also able to install and repaint new doors, locks, security cameras, blankets, permits, and outstanding lawyer fees. "Now we are able to focus all of our energies on capacity building for our target audiences without the looming debt and fear of not making rent due to them."

Internship at the Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu

ProtectDefenders.eu - The EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism is looking for a 'Programmes' intern. This is an exciting opportunity for a graduate to gain real experience and learning in a multicultural and dynamic team. During your internship, you will have the chance to apply your knowledge and skills to enhance the protection of human rights defenders worldwide.

Do you want to join us? Please send your CV and cover letter (please include information about your availability) before the 26 September 2019 by email at recruit@protectdefenders.eu with the subject : 'Internship'. Early applications are encouraged, the position might be filled before the deadline.

Read here the full internship description. 

We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a Finance Officer (Turkey project)

The Fondation Internationale pour les Défenseurs des Droits de L’Homme (FIDDH) - Secretariat of  ProtectDefenders.eu is currently recruiting a Finance Officer.This is an exciting opportunity for someone with some experience in EU funded projects and/or Grants, who will play a crucial role in the successful implementation of the project to support human rights defenders in Turkey.

The Finance Officer will be based in FIDDH in Brussels, the Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu, and would have the necessary permit to work in the EU.

FIDDH values diversity and is an equal opportunity employer. Applications comprising a CV with at least two references and a cover letter (please mention your availability) should be sent by email to recruit@ProtectDefenders.eu before 22 September 2019. Early applications are encouraged.

Read the full job description here and below.

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Serious deterioration of the situation of human rights defenders in Guatemala - Protect Defenders Now!

In the monthly digest of alerts, ProtectDefenders.eu’s partners alert about the deep worsening of the situation of human rights defenders in Guatemala. In a crucial period marked by the end of the CICIG mandate, civil society organizations denounce an escalation of attacks and threats against defenders and organizations, including recent murders of land rights defenders.

Moreover, ProtectDefenders.eu has received with great concern the ruling by the Chuy Regional Court of Kyrgyzstan to uphold the life sentence of Mr. Azimjan Askarov, the Director of the human rights organisation “Vozdukh” (Air). The monthly digest also denounces the judicial harassment faced by two human rights defenders in Malawi.

Only in August 2019, ProtectDefenders. eu reported at least 26 new attacks against human rights defenders and has provided emergency support to nine human rights defenders facing high risk.

Click to read the full digest.

We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for an administration officer

The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for an experienced administration officer to join our dynamic and energetic team in Brussels.

Under the supervision of the Head of Secretariat, the Administration Officer supports the team of the Secretariat facilitating a smooth implementation of the programme and ensuring an efficient working environment.

Read the full job description here, and submit your application by 11 September 2019.

ProtectDefenders.eu supports the Asturian temporary relocation programme for Human Rights Defenders

For more than two years, ProtectDefenders.eu has been providing sustained financial and technical support to the oldest temporary relocation program for human rights defenders in Spain, located in the Principality of Asturias, an autonomous region in the north of the country. Since 2001, the Asturian Program for Assistance to Victims of Violence in Colombia (Programa Asturiano de Atención a Víctimas de la Violencia en Colombia - PAV-DDHH) has been hosting trade unionists and human rights defenders from Colombia for a period of six months. In addition, every year since 2005, the Program conducts a mission to the country, which aims to verify the state of human rights in Colombia and to verify the situation of former beneficiaries of the program after their return. 

During their stay in Asturias, the human rights defenders participate in 'citizen diplomacy' and advocacy activities for peace before the Asturian and European institutions; and carry out continuous actions for denouncing, raising awareness and promoting human rights within the Spanish society.

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CONSULTANCY VACANCY - Final evaluation of the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism, ProtectDefenders.eu

ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a consultancy team to conduct an external evaluation at the end of the first phase of the Project. This evaluation should focus on documenting the impact that the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism has had on the situation of human rights defenders during 37 months of implementation and whether the Consortium has delivered in accordance with the Project proposal and main objective of the Project. The evaluation should focus in particular on the direct support to human rights defenders under components and should compare this with other programmes and the broader EU support to HRDs. It should also provide recommendations to improve the relevance and effectiveness of the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism in its follow-up phase of implementation.

The evaluation should concentrate as far as possible on the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism in its entirety. It is not the intention to evaluate the performance of the individual ProtectDefenders.eu Partners, although comparisons of practices can be used when relevant in order to draw lessons learned and contribute to improve overall performance.

The terms of reference of this assignment are available here. 

Applicants are requested to send their submissions to recruit@protectdefenders.eu, with the subject "Evaluation consultant" by 16 August 2019.

Enforced disappearance of HRDs in Egypt. Attacks and repression in India and Zimbabwe - Protect Defenders Now!

ProtectDefenders.eu’s partners express their utmost concern over the recent reports on attacks and repression against human rights defenders in Egypt, since reliable sources informed about the enforced disappearance of Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din, a researcher on the right to housing at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF).

Moreover, the July 2019 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu's digest reports on the harassment and repression of human rights defenders in India, which is believed to be directly related to their peaceful and legitimate human rights work. Finally, this digest also warns about the situation of seven human rights defenders in Zimbabwe, who are facing judicial harassment after attending an advocacy training.

Only in June 2019, ProtectDefenders. eu reported at least 36 new attacks against human rights defenders and has provided emergency support to nine human rights defenders facing high risk.

Click to read the full digest of alerts. 

"We are not opposing development, we just want to be treated with equality and respect" - European Development Days 2019

On 18 June 2019, ProtectDefenders.eu, in partnership with the European Union External Action Service and the International Land Coalition, organised a panel at the European Development Days 2019, under the title 'The guardians of the territory - Strengthening international solidarity and support to indigenous peoples and environmental human rights defenders'.

In this session - which is available in this podcast, participants debated new strategies to defend and increase solidarity to those risking their lives to protect the planet's most precious heritage. As stated by WHRD and Champion of Earth Joan Carling, indigenous communities must be able to fight for their rights without being intimidated or killed, and partnerships with indigenous people are necessary to protect their rights and deliver equitable benefits - “We need political will from States to implement the rights of indigenous peoples and human rights due diligence for the business sector. We are not opposing development, we just want to be treated with equality and respect and to engage into partnerships”. 

Environmental degradation driven by political and economic interests aggravates inequality and impacts on communities, which are denied basic rights and face repression. Indigenous peoples and environmental human rights defenders are at the forefront of defending their territories against projects that exploit natural resources and they are under threat – 207 environmental human rights defenders were killed in 2017. Stella Matutina, a courageous WHRD from Mindanao warned about the "ethnocide of indigenous peoples, through erosion of our culture and our right to self-determination. Indigenous peoples undoubtedly are left behind in our unequal world". Also Ariane Assemat, of Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan in Mexico alerted of the impunity of perpetrators of attacks and killings of land rights defenders "This is a global trend: the world is today deadlier than ever for those defending land rights".

Click to read more about the European Development Days 2019

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Attacks and criminalisation of defenders in Philippines, the USA, and Bangladesh - Protect Defenders Now!

In the June digest of alerts, ProtectDefenders.eu partners reiterate their utmost concern over ongoing killings and attacks against human rights defenders in the Philippines and call upon the authorities to adopt effective measures to ensure the protection of human rights defenders in the country. Moreover, ProtectDefenders.eu partners express their concern about the systematic efforts by the authorities in the United States to criminalise migrant rights defenders, in a context of a migration crisis exacerbated by the border enforcement policy of “prevention through deterrence.” Recent information on criminalisation and intimidation of human rights defenders in Bangladesh is also reported in this issue of the digest.

Only in May 2019, the ProtectDefenders.eu Index of Attacks and Alerts has reported 25 new incidents and attacks against human rights defenders. 

Click to read the digest of alerts, and share!

UNSR consultation on impunity issues in the MENA region

In early June 2019, ProtectDefenders.eu, in partnership with the Gulf Center for Human Rights, supported the organisation of the UNSR regional consultation with MENA human rights defenders, which took place in Tunis. More than 40 defenders from all across the MENA region and Turkey joined this gathering to provide their inputs from the field and substantial contributions to the upcoming Michel Forst's report on impunity, which will be presented in October 2019 at the United Nations General Assembly.

In the region, governments and authorities remain the main perpetrators of violations against human rights defenders, which aggravates impunity. Also, lack of independence of the judiciary and the use of judicial and criminal processes to hinder the work of defenders are seen as common patterns across all the countries. According to participants, international institutions, and in particular the special procedures of the United Nations, can play a key role in addressing this impunity.

The Human Rights Defenders World Summit at RightsCon Tunis 2019

On 12 June, ProtectDefenders.eu participated at the RightsCon Tunis 2019 panel on the Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018. A delegation of human rights defenders presented their experience of taking action to defend human rights and the consequences they had to face because of these actions. They have also mentioned the significance of the Summit 2018 had for them and what states, businesses and donors must do to ensure their fundamental role is protected and recognised in the digital sphere and beyond.  In relation to this, they have called on the Tech community to join them in the struggle for human rights.

At the end of the HRD World Summit 2018 in Paris, all defenders agreed on a landmark Action Plan, which was presented to the UN General Assembly in December 2018. As participants to the Paris Summit continue to spread this message around the world, this panel was an opportunity to remind the world of the essential work they do and the need to create a safe and enabling environment for all those who actively defend human rights. 

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RSF Germany Rest and Refuge Scholarship

Rest and Refuge Scholarship is a project run by Reporters Without Borders Germany and taz Panter Foundation, a non-profit organization linked to „die tageszeitung“ (taz), a daily newspaper from Berlin. Both the ZEIT Foundation Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) support the scholarship financially.

Reporters Without Borders Germany and taz Panter Foundation invite three journalists from countries in crisis or war to stay in Berlin. They offer them a time of refuge and rest for three months. The first journalist will be invited from September to November 2019, the second from March to May 2020 and the third from April to June 2020.

© Nick Jaussi

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On the side of more than 30,000 human rights defenders worldwide

Over the past three years, ProtectDefenders.eu - the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism implemented by a Consortium of international civil society organisations, has emerged as a solid, successful and crucial tool for at-risk human rights defenders, and as an increasingly referenced instrument within the international human rights defenders community. As per the three-years report, ProtectDefenders.eu has stepped up the practical support available to HRDs at risk and local human rights NGOs, and mobilised resources in favour of at least 30,018 defenders in a timely and comprehensive manner.

In a context marked by the increasing demand for support from human rights defenders operating in the most difficult contexts, ProtectDefenders.eu...

Read on to learn more about the key highlights of the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism

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A commitment to coordination and efficiency for the success of a flagship mechanism

ProtectDefenders.eu has offered life-saving support to hundreds of defenders and enabled several thousands of them to continue their human rights work with more security. It has contributed to addressing emergency needs of HRDs and the pushback against shrinking space for local organisations supported via the different programmes, and to build an enabling environment conducive to better human rights protection and democratic development.  Human rights defenders have been better equipped to navigate their work in the face of repression and threats and to pursue their activities for the respect and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the local level.

The unique combination of several strategic interventions including immediate support, financial assistance, capacity-building, strategic communications and advocacy, and outreach has together amplified one another and presents a strong, consolidated and comprehensive approach to supporting human rights defenders. The complementarity and the comprehensiveness of the mechanism have made a remarkable difference by linking individual support to defenders at risk, to building resilience among local communities, while successfully addressing emergency situations and broadening the space for civil society through intensive advocacy.

Read on to learn more

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A crucial instrument to counter the global backlash against human rights defenders

The situation of human rights defenders supported through the EU HRD mechanism has improved as a result of accessing grants, support, and multi-faceted assistance. This has prompted communities and defenders to continue advocating for human rights, mobilising for action, and forming or joining social movements. However, in every region of the world, human rights defenders have continued to face reprisals, harassment, and attacks because of their non-violent work and in response to their demands for basic rights.

Smear campaigns, judicial harassment, criminalisation, and stigmatisation are widely employed by both state and non-state actors to try to intimidate HRDs. Defenders working in a context of conflict, crisis or political transition zones attempting to document atrocities are also subjected to appalling violations. Moreover, the rise of ISIS, religious fundamentalism, and other non-state actors, as well as populism and authoritarianism, continues to impact directly on the work of HRDs. More than 2,600 attacks and severe cases of targeting have been documented by ProtectDefenders.eu partners in the 37 months of implementation, and killings of human rights defenders continued to rise - 281 killings reported in 2016, 312 in 2017, and 321 in 2018, with a striking increase in the number of defenders killed in specific countries, such as Colombia, Brazil, Philippines, or Guatemala. Many of the attacks and threats continue to go unreported, and a vast majority of perpetrators are still not held accountable.

Read on to learn more

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Building the resilience of defenders operating in the most repressive contexts

ProtectDefenders.eu has provided targeted  emergency responses to certain crises affecting human rights defenders, as in the case of Syria, Egypt, Burundi, Bangladesh, Turkey, or Nicaragua, as well as responding to the backlash reported against defenders of land and environmental rights or defenders advocating for the freedom of expression -including journalists and bloggers -, or LGBTI rights defenders. Moreover, a particular effort was made to support and reach out to particularly vulnerable HRDs and those working in the most difficult contexts.

Thanks to ProtectDefenders.eu support, organisations working in these hostile contexts and facing difficulties were able to maintain their core activities, increase their own capacity in security and protection and therefore improve their capability to continue their work in this repressive context, to find and access funding and to set up new initiatives to strengthen their advocacy capacities and structures. A number of organisations in particularly critical situations avoided closure as a result of that support. Many organisations were supported in creating bigger coalitions and networks in order to work together to overcome common obstacles and achieve better results, including as a measure of protection. In other situations where return to the country proved impossible. the mechanism could provide the seed funds for the creation of new human rights structures to continue addressing the protection of human rights defenders and crucial victim support.

Read on to learn more

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The guardians of the territory - ProtectDefenders.eu at the European Development Days 2019

On Tuesday, 18 June 2019 at 15:15, ProtectDefenders.eu, in partnership with the European Union External Action Service and the International Land Coalition, will organise a panel at the European Development Days 2019, under the title 'The guardians of the territory - Strengthening international solidarity and support to indigenous peoples and environmental human rights defenders'.

This lab-debate session will be moderated by Luisa Ragher, Head of the Human Rights Division at the EEAS, and will include the participation of Sabine Pallas - Partnerships officer at the ILC- and the testimonies and experience of WHRDs Joan Carling -an indigenous rights activist and environmental defender from the Philippines, Luz Stella Matutina - known for her anti-mining advocacy and work for the rights of the native population in the Philippines, and Ariane Assemat - of Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan in Mexico.

Register today to the European Development Days 2019

https://eudevdays.eu/community/profile

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Killings of human rights defenders in Peru, and ongoing harassment and criminalisation reported in Algeria and Turkey

As reported in our May 2019 digest of alerts, In the first months of 2019, Peru has seen an increase in the number of killings of human rights defenders, and at least four HRDs have been murdered since the beginning of the year. At the time of the killings, Peru had no specific laws or policies on the protection of human rights defenders, and the work of civil society organisations was being obstructed by political actors linked to the extractive industries.

The ProtectDefenders.eu monthly digest also denounces the pattern of ongoing retaliation against human rights defenders, journalists, student activists, trade unionists and lawyers in Algeria, which has intensified since the start of massive protests in the country. In addition, ProtectDefenders.eu partners condemn the relentless persecution and criminalisation of human rights defenders in Turkey. The country is considered today the biggest jailer of professional journalists.

Only in April 2019, ProtectDefenders.eu reported at least 51 new attacks and threats against human rights defenders.

Click to read the digest of alerts, and share!

We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a Programme Officer (Turkey project)

The Fondation Internationale pour les Défenseurs des Droits de L’Homme (FIDDH) - Secretariat of  ProtectDefenders.eu is currently recruiting a Programme Officer. This is an exciting opportunity for someone with experience in Human Rights in the Turkey context and/or Grants, with strong communication and administrative skills, who will play a crucial role in the successful implementation of the project Comprehensive support to Human Rights Defenders in Turkey.

Applications comprising a CV with at least two references and a cover letter (please mention your availability) should be sent by email to recruit@ProtectDefenders.eu by 12 May 2019 (extended deadline).

Read the full job description here and below.

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We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a Finance Officer (Turkey project)

The Fondation Internationale pour les Défenseurs des Droits de L’Homme (FIDDH), Secretariat of  ProtectDefenders.eu is currently recruiting a Finance Officer. This is an exciting opportunity for someone with some experience in EU funded projects and/or Grants,  who will play a crucial role in the successful implementation of the project Comprehensive Support to Human Rights Defenders in Turkey.

Applications comprising a CV with at least two references and a cover letter (please mention your availability) should be sent by email to recruit@ProtectDefenders.eu by 12 May 2019 (extended deadline).

Read the full job description here and below. 

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Intensification of attacks against HRDs in Honduras, killings reported in Pakistan, and the sentencing of Oyub Titiev

The ProtectDefenders.eu monthly digest of alerts reports on the intensification of attacks against HRDs in Honduras, in a series of events seen as part of a systematic campaign of public, verbal and physical attacks against human rights defenders and journalists in the country.

The digest also reports on the killings of human rights defender Afzal Kohistani in Pakistan. Kohistani shot dead for seeking justice for 'honour killings' in the country.

Moreover, on 18 March, following a more than 9-hour court session in the context of an unfair trial, Oyub Titiev was found guilty of false charges of drug possession and sentenced to 4 years in a prison colony settlement.

Only in March 2019, ProtectDefenders.eu reported at least 29 new attacks and threats against human rights defenders.

Click to read the digest of alerts, and share!

Internship at the Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu

The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu - The EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism is looking for a 'Programmes' intern.

Apply today and join a motivated and skilled team in Brussels!

Please send your CV and cover letter (please include information about your availability) before the 9 May 2019 by email at recruit@protectdefenders.eu with the subject: 'Internship'.

Read the full description of this opening here.

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We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a finance officer

The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for an experienced finance officer to join our dynamic and energetic team in Brussels. 

Under the supervision of the Head of Secretariat and with the assistance of the other Secretariat staff, the Finance Officer maintains an effective and accurate financial reporting system for all the HRD mechanism activities. This includes ensuring that all expenditures are in conformity with the relevant EU guidelines and that the financial reporting to the EU and the relevant audit reports are delivered on time and to the highest professional standards. Together with the Head of Secretariat, the Finance Officer ensures the development and implementation of expenditure plans and ensures that programmes are implemented within agreed and approved budgets through undertaking regular budget monitoring of expenditure against budget. The Finance Officer coordinates audits of the project and ensures that continuous monitoring and risk mitigation measures are in place.

Read the full job description here, and submit your application by 3 April 2019.

We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for an administration officer (part time)

The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for an experienced administration officer (part time) to join our dynamic and energetic team in Brussels.

Under the supervision of the Head of Secretariat, the Administration Officer supports th team of the Secretariat facilitating a smooth implementation of the programme and ensuring an efficient working environment.

Read the full job description here, and submit your application by 3 April 2019.

Aggravation of the situation of HRDs in Mexico and systematic harassment reported in Western Sahara and Belarus - Protect Defenders NOW

The ProtectDefenders.eu monthly digest of alerts reports on the constant aggravation of the situation of human rights defenders in Mexico. A few months after ProtectDefenders.eu warned about the pattern of assassinations of defenders, the country is this month, once again the main source of reports of violations and attacks against human rights defenders worldwide.

Moreover, ProtectDefenders.eu partners are expressing serious concern at the ongoing harassment of the human rights defenders in Western Sahara, which is seen as a direct consequence of their peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights. The judicial harassment of human rights defenders in Belarus, in the context of the repression of an environmental protest, is also featured in this digest of alerts. 

Only in February 2019, ProtectDefenders.eu reported at least 64 new attacks and threats against human rights defenders. Click to read the digest of alerts, and share!

Wave of killings of human rights defenders in Colombia, and crackdown on HRDs in Sudan and China - Protect Defenders NOW

The ProtectDefenders.eu monthly digest of alerts reports on the increasing numbers of killings of human rights defenders in Colombia. The epidemic has already reached extremely worrying heights during the first weeks of 2019, and at least six human rights defenders were killed in violent attacks, making the country the deadliest place in the world for HRDs. As demonstrated in a mission report published under ProtectDefenders.eu two years on the Peace Process with the FARC-EP, the State has failed to implement most of its obligations, including establishing an integrated presence in rural regions. This has led to a number of illegal armed groups fighting for control of the areas previously occupied by FARC-EP, which puts human rights defenders at an increased risk.

Moreover, ProtectDefenders.eu partners are alerting on the recent wave of arrests targeting human rights defenders in Sudan, in reprisal for the continuing protests. Over the last month, dozens of human rights defenders including women human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and academics have been arbitrarily arrested. The digest also features the ongoing pattern of repression and judicial harassment faced by human rights activists in China.

Have a look at the digest of alerts, and share it on Twitter.

Increasing attacks against land rights defenders in Brazil, and judicial harassment in Kazakhstan and Thailand - Protect Defenders NOW

The ProtectDefenders.eu monthly digest of alerts sounds an alarm bell about the pattern of increasing attacks against land rights defenders in Brazil. The recent killings of two members of the Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST), together with the climate of stigmatization against people who defend land rights show the intensification of the crisis of the right to defend human rights in the country.

Moreover, ProtectDefenders.eu partners are calling on the Thai authorities to ensure that no person is prosecuted or held criminally liable for defamation for activities protected under international law, in the context of recent complaints brought against human rights defenders. Finally, the digest shares recent reports of acts of harassment and interrogation of human rights defenders in Kazakhstan. which are believed to be part of the tactic applied by the Kazakh authorities in order to intimidate human rights defenders and activists and, consequently, prevent participants from taking part in peaceful protests.

Have a look at the digest of alerts, and share on Twitter.

Human rights crisis in Nicaragua, recent killings in Syria and Philippines, and wave of repression in Iran - Protect Defenders NOW

The first ProtectDefenders.eu digest of alerts of 2019 reports on the deepening human rights crisis in Nicaragua, recent killings in Syria and Philippines, and the ongoing wave of repression in Iran.

ProtectDefenders.eu is deeply alarmed by recent reports of acts of intimidation and attacks against representatives of civil society in Nicaragua, where social protests are strongly repressed by the authorities, causing a serious human rights crisis. Moreover, ProtectDefenders.eu partners condemn in the strongest terms the killings of human rights defenders Benjamin Ramos, a founding member of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), in the Philippines, and human rights defender Raed Fares - the founder of the Kafranbel Media Centre- , who was shot dead by unknown assailants in Kafranbel, a town close to Idlib in northwestern Syria. Finally, the digest shares alarming information from Iran on the deterioration of the human rights situation and the new wave of harassment faced by defenders, in particular human rights lawyers, since September 2018.

Have a look at the digest of alerts here, and share on Twitter. 

Have a look at the gallery of pictures of the Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018

Watch the presentation of the World Summit's plan of action to the United Nations General Assembly

On December 18th, 2018, the World Summit's plan of action for how to protect and promote the work of human rights defenders was presented to the UN General Assembly following the major international summit held at the end of October. On behalf of hundreds of human rights defenders and organisations, Alice Mogwe delivered a powerful speech and called for States to ensure protection of human rights defenders worldwide. Do you want to watch the presentation of the Action Plan at the UNGA? Click on play.

Watch the highlights of the Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018

Click on play and watch the powerful video that summarizes The Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018 and the highlights of this historic event in Paris. Change the world. Protect human rights defenders!

Global action plan calls for States at the UN General Assembly to ensure protection of human rights defenders worldwide

The World Summit's plan of action for how to protect and promote the work of human rights defenders was presented to the UN General Assembly following the major international summit held at the end of October. This effort to move the international community at the highest level on the need to ensure the effective safety and security of human rights defenders around the world comes at a time when their role is constantly challenged and undermined in blatant contradiction with international obligations and commitments. The meeting took place on 18 December 2018, twenty years on from when the first UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders was created A representative from the recent Human Rights Defenders World Summit presented the outcomes at the UN General Assembly, shining a spotlight on the increasing levels of danger facing activists worldwide. 

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«It is only our collective voice that can win»

Meet the HRD World Summit's defenders, inspiring and courageous individuals and representatives of communities that advance and protect human rights, every day, in the most difficult places around the world.

The HRD World Summit participants release an action plan for the protection and the promotion of their work in the years to come

On the occasion of the Human Rights Day - 20 years on from the first UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and on the 70th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights -, the participants of the Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018 are releasing an action plan for the protection and the promotion of the work of human rights defenders in the years to come.

This action plan proposes a concrete set of measures and calls for a lasting commitment from States to act to protect human rights defenders and to take concrete actions to offer better protection and create a more favourable environment for their work.

This action plan is available to download (in five languages) on the Summit's website.

Meet Francisco Rodríguez Cruz, human rights defender from Cuba!

In July 2018, Francisco was one of the LGBTI human rights defenders who gathered together in Mexico City from across Latin America and the Caribbean to attend a training on digital security, organised by ILGA with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu.

Watch the video below to learn more about his story, the LGBTI human rights situation in Cuba and the importance of digital security for our communities!

Killings of Human Rights Defenders in Mexico, criminalisation and judicial harassment in Algeria and Singapore - Protect Defenders NOW

Over the recent weeks, ProtectDefenders.eu’s partners have voiced their concerns on the situation in Mexico, where recent killigs and violent attacks have been reported. The context of judicial harassment of human rights defenders in Algeria, or the ongoing judicial harassment of human rights defenders in Singapore are also featured in the October issue of ProtectDefenders.eu digest of alerts, which reports more than 28 new attacks against defenders, only in October 2018.

Click here to read the full digest of alerts and attacks against HRDs.

ProtectDefenders.eu at the Paris Peace Forum: an essential tool for the protection and empowerment of more than 11,000 human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu has been the featured project during the Paris Peace Forum's conversation on the United Nations declarations on Human Rights and Human Rights Defenders. Andrew Anderson, Front Line Defenders' executive director and member of the Board of ProtectDefenders.eu, highlighted that "over the last three years, we have been able to provide emergency support to more than 11,000 human rights defenders worldwide. This is not only statistics: it is immediate and practical assistance to people defending human rights when they are most at risk". 

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We are hiring - The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a finance officer

The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for an experienced financer officer.

Under the supervision of the Head of Secretariat and with the assistance of the other Secretariat staff, the Finance Officer maintains an effective and accurate financial reporting system for all the HRD mechanism activities. Applications comprising a CV with at least two references and a cover letter should be sent by email to recruit@protectdefenders.eu by November 26. Interview will take place on November 29 (in person or by Skype). The successful candidate will be expected to start working in December if possible. The initial contract will be up to End of January 2020. The position is expected to be full-time, although a contract at 80% can be discussed.

Read the full job description here.

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PBI brings Human Rights Defenders together in Brussels to reflect on the UN Declaration

On the 20th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu, PBI brought together HRDs from Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Kenya, Indonesia and Nepal to reflect on the importance of the Declaration as well as the support and international solidarity provided by organizations such as PBI. During three days, 13 human rights defenders from Indonesia, Latin America, Kenya and Nepal; as well as PBI representatives and partner organisations, came together in Brussels to exchange experiences and knowledge about holistic protection. This meeting allowed them to analyse the global tendencies that impact their risk as well as identify their common needs as a collective of human rights defenders. The sessions allowed to construct a common narrative and key messages and recommendations to political actors in the European Union and its member states.Watch the video below to find out more.

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The HRD World Summit brings surge of new commitments to protect human rights defenders

On 29, 30, 31 October, 2018, human rights defenders from across all corners of the world gathered in Paris for the Human Rights Defenders World Summit, to develop a plan of action for how to protect and promote the work of activists fighting for rights, 20 years on from the first UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. After three days of discussions and strategy development spanning regional and global issues, environmental rights and women human rights defenders and the increasing attacks on human rights defenders everywhere, the momentum culminated in the presentation of a landmark action plan which will be presented to the UN in December.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who spoke at the opening ceremony said: "What human rights defenders teach us is that all of us can stand up for our rights and for the rights of others, in our neighborhoods, in our countries and all over the world. We can change the world.”

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Join the global call to protect human rights defenders everywhere

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Harassment and attacks against HRDs in Israel/ OPT, Bangladesh and Russia - Protect Defenders NOW

Over the recent weeks, ProtectDefenders.eu’s partners have voiced their concerns on the situation of harassment and attacks against human rights activists in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and ongoing criminalisation procedures against HRDs in Bangladesh or the Russian Federation. The October issue of ProtectDefenders.eu also reports more than 25 new attacks against defenders only over last month.

Clik and read the ProtectDefenders.eu's digest of alerts. 

THE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS WORLD SUMMIT 2018

ProtectDefenders.eu, the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism, is organising the Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018, as part of a coalition of international human rights NGOs, and with the support of the European Union. The HRD World Summit 2018 will be be held in Paris, France on 29, 30, 31 October 2018. 

On the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018 will constitute an opportunity to review the progress made in the defence of human rights and in the protection of all those that defend these rights in all their diversity since the adoption of the Declaration. By creating a unique platform for the human rights defenders' voices to be heard, this Summit will also call for the international community to reinforce its commitments to protect human rights defenders, celebrate the essential work HRDs carry out in the most difficult environments, and raise awareness about the threats, obstacles and restrictions HRD are constantly confronted with. The Summit intends to shape the upcoming human rights defenders' agenda, showing the way forward to the international community engaged in the protection of human rights defenders and the promotion of a safer and more enabling environment.

Degradation of the human rights situation in Guatemala and widespread repression against HRDs in Burundi - Protect Defenders NOW

Over the recent weeks, ProtectDefenders.eu’s partners have voiced their concerns on the situation in Guatemala, the context of repression of human rights defenders in Burundi, or the ongoing judicial harassment of human rights defenders in Tajikistan. The September issue of ProtectDefenders.eu also reports more than 35 new attacks against defenders only in August 2018. 

Click here to read the full digest of alerts and attacks against HRDs. 

Degradation of the human rights situation in Nicaragua, serious alerts reported in India and judicial repression in Morocco

The ProtectDefenders.eu monthly digest of alerts reports on the degradation of the human rights situation in Nicaragua, serious alerts reported in India & judicial repression in Morocco. Moreover, more than 31 attacks and threats have bee reported, according to the ProtectDefenders.eu Index of Attacks and Alerts.

Click to read the digest, and share!

June 2018 digest of alerts - Recent killings reported in Guatemala and the situation of HRDs in Saudi Arabia and DRC

At least seven human rights defenders have been murdered in Guatemala in the past few weeks. Also, our monthly digest of alerts and attacks against human rights defenders reports on the crackdown on Saudi civil society and women's rights defenders, and the degradation of the health status of imprisoned defenders in DRC. Check the full document here. 

ProtectDefenders.eu at the European Development Days 2018

On June 5, 2018, ProtectDefenders.eu organised a panel session at the European Development Days 2018, under the title 'Designing protection mechanisms that work for Women Human Rights Defenders'.

The session was moderated by Meerim Ilyas, a senior programme officer at Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights, and included the participation and testimonies of Christine-Astrig Mardirossian, Programme Manager at the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (DG DEVCO, European Commission), and human rights defenders Emilie de Wolf (Consorcio Oaxaca - Mexico), Weeam Youssef (Gulf Center for Human Rights - Lebanon/ Syria), and Aigerim Kamidola (Feminita - Kazakhstan).

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30th anniversary of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought

On the 30th anniversary of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, ProtectDefenders.eu participated in a two-day conference organised by the European Parliament. A delegation of human rights defenders accompanied by ProtectDefenders.eu (Emilie de Wolf, Aigerim Kamidola and Lolita Chávez) also joined the conference and shared with the audience the positive impact of the support received, as well as powerful testimonies of the numerous challenges they still face in their daily work.

Antoine Madelin, FIDH International Advocacy Director and current chair of the board of ProtectDefenders.eu highlighted that  "In a context of global deterioration of the situation of human rights defenders ProtectDefenders.eu is meeting our number one challenge: supporting those human rights defenders working on the most difficult issues and in the most difficult countries, As we manage to consolidate the impact of our work over the last two and a half years, we see that ProtectDefenders.eu has been a crucial tool for the security, protection and empowerment for at least 11,200 human rights defenders around the world"

"Human rights defenders are neither enemies of the State nor enemies of development, but champions of change" - Check out our new video

On the occasion of the second annual meeting of ProtectDefenders.eu, held on November, 8th, 2017, human rights defenders and grassroots activists, and representatives of various EU institutions involved in the protection of human rights defenders and current development agenda met in Brussels under the motto "Champions of change - Human rights defenders at the forefront of development and democracy". You can check out here the video of this unique occasion, which highlighted the fundamental role of human rights defenders as drivers of change in their societies, and as key actors in the frontlines of development, rule of law and democracy.

Watch the full version of the video here.

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EDD2018 - Designing protection mechanisms that work for women human rights defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu at the European Development Days 2018

Recent killings of Human Rights Defenders, and the situation in Egypt and Armenia featured in the May 2018 digest

In our monthly bulletin of alerts, ProtectDefenders.eu expresses its concern on the recent killings of Human Rights Defenders in Honduras, Peru and Myanmar, as well as the latest incidents related to the ongoing crackdown on civil society in Egypt and obstacles to freedom of reunion, and judicial harassment reported in Armenia

Read the full digest here: https://goo.gl/4VqCii

Colombia - No peace for human rights defenders, no peace without them

Defending human rights remains a high-risk activity in Colombia, making it the deadliest country in the world for human rights defenders. In 2017, between 106 and 126 defenders lost their lives due to the State's inability to protect them. These are the conclusions of the report of the Observatory (OMCT-FIDH), presented in Buenaventura, a place that experiences all the risks faced by defenders in the country.

"It is obvious that defenders are not living in peace in Colombia, but what needs to be made clear to everyone is that there can be no peace without them", said Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General. "Colombia is at a historic crossroads as it could leave behind the armed conflict and consolidate the rule of law, in which all human rights would be respected. This can only happen if safeguards are provided so that defenders can carry out their work freely and safely".

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ProtectDefenders.eu at the European Development Days 2018

SAVE THE DATE - ProtectDefenders.eu at the European Development Days 2018

Date: Tuesday, June 5, 2018 - 14h00 to 15h15

Venue: Room S3 - Tour et Taxis, Avenue du Port 86, 1000 Brussels

ProtectDefenders.eu is organising a panel session at the European Development Days 2018, under the title 'Designing protection mechanisms that work for Women Human Rights Defenders'.

Through relevant examples from the field and the experience and highlights of ProtectDefenders.eu, this session will discuss how to respond to the specific challenges when supporting the work of women human rights defenders, and how to improve the design of rapid-response programmes and advocacy initiatives that focus their needs and specificities.

This session will be moderated by Meerim Ilyas, a senior programme officer at Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights, and includes the participation and testimonies of Christine-Astrig Mardirossian, Programme Manager at the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (DG DEVCO, European Commission), and human rights defenders Emilie de Wolf (Consorcio Oaxaca - Mexico), Weeam Youssef (Gulf Center for Human Rights - Lebanon/ Syria), and Aigerim Kamidola (Feminita - Kazakhstan).

Do not forget to register by Friday, 18 May 2018 by submitting your profile to https://eudevdays.eu/community/profile

A final version of the programme will be available and disseminated in the coming days.

Launch of the Costa Rica Shelter City programme

With the strong commitment and financial support of ProtectDefenders.eu, Costa Rica was officially launched as a shelter hub for human rights defenders at risk from the Central America region. Human rights defenders from countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Colombia will have the opportunity to temporarily relocate, and access essential tools and training to improve their security. Costa Rica long-standing commitment to the protection of human rights makes it an ideal location for this initiative, in a region which is particularly dangerous for human rights defenders' activities, especially for those individuals working for environmental and indigenous rights.

Click on the image to watch the full presentation. 

ProtectDefenders.eu supports relocation initiatives for defenders at risk around the world. In just two years of activity, more than 850 individuals have accessed this comprehensive protection program.

Belarus, Niger and Morocco are the countries of concern in the ProtectDefenders.eu's monthly digest of alerts

The crackdown on civil society in Belarus, the judicial harassment of human rights defenders in Morocco and the repression of peacfeul demonstrations in Niger are raising the alarm about the deteriorating environment for human rights defenders in these countries, where numerous alerts have been reported this monthly digest of alerts.

Moreover, only during March 2018, the ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders has already reported 54 new violations against HRDs.

Click here to read the monthly digest, and share it widely. 

Turkey, at the centre of ProtectDefenders.eu's concerns in the March 2018 digest of alerts

The ever-growing crackdown on civil society, the political repression and the judicial and administrative persecution against defenders and organizations in Turkey get worse every day. Numerous alerts have been reported this month, which add to the continuous crackdown on civil society in the country since the failed coup in July 2016. Moreover, the March 2018 Digest of alerts features the situation in Algeria, as ProtectDefenders.eu's partners have received with great concern recent information on the precarious environment for the exercise of the defence of human rights in the country. Finally, the continuing pattern of violence, harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders in DRC, where recent killings have been reported, is also in the spotlight. 

Moreover, only during February 2018, the ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders has already reported 52 new violations against HRDs.

Click to read the ProtectDefenders.eu digest, and share it widely.

Long-term relocation of South Sudanese defender Charles Bangbe

ProtectDefenders.eu's temporary relocation program for human rights defenders in danger is one of the hallmarks of the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism. Since its launch more than two years ago, the program has been expanded and consolidated and, to date, more than more than 800 individuals have accessed financial and logistic support to find refuge away from risk, while developing productive and empowering activities during their relocation, which improves their abilities to continue their work as defenders.

That has been the case of Charles Bangbe, a South Sudanese human rights defender currently in exile in Uganda. He used to work for the South Sudan Employees Chamber, a civil society organization that protects the rights of workers. Being a new State, South Sudanese Public Services were ran by former combatants who liberated the country from the old Sudan. In 2015, the County was given authority to handle land disputes. Because of Charles' legal background, he was appointed to represent civil society on the panel charged with sorting out land matters. His firm position against unfair treatment of the victims in the cases handled made his organization and himself a target of land grabbers. The grabbed land was discovered as the commission continued its work but Charles Bangbe was looked at as a thorn to the commission members as he was blocking any unfair resolution upon the matters. As a result of his work, Charles Bangbe started receiving threats, which increased progressively to the point of being shot by an unidentified armed man who then left knowing that his target had died. He was taken urgently to a hospital in Juba, then transferred to Kampala where he has been living with his family since then.

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Morocco: victims of increasing attacks, human rights associations progressively muzzled

Paris-Geneva, January 25, 2018 - The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a FIDH-OMCT partnership) is publishing a report describing the shrinking workspace for independent civil society in Morocco, which affects a growing number of human rights organizations. Constraints and administrative harassment undermine the constitutional gains of 2011, achieved in the wake of the "February 20" Movement and the "Arab Spring".

READ THE REPORT

In 2011, Morocco adopted a new constitution by referendum which guarantees more freedoms and human rights. It includes the freedoms of opinion and expression; association; gatherings and peaceful demonstrations. The Kingdom is also bound by the legal obligations contained in the many international conventions it has ratified.

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals February 2018

The February 2018 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest warns about the killings and intimidation against human rights defenders in Mexico; the judicial harassment and criminalisation of defenders in Cambodia and attacks against activists in Russia. The EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism's partners are actively raising their voices to alert on the dire situation of defenders in those countries.

Moreover, only during January 2018, the ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders has already reported 82 new violations against HRDs.

Click to read the ProtectDefenders.eu digest and share it on Twitter.

RSF publishes report on media freedom under attack in Cambodia

Three months to the day after the arbitrary arrest of two journalists in Phnom Penh, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is publishing a report about the tragic decline in the freedom to inform in Cambodia, where the independent media are now in ruins as a result of constant depredation by Prime Minister Hun Sen's regime.

Imprisoned since 14 November on espionage charges, former Radio Free Asia reporters Oun Chhin and Yeang Sothearin are above all the collateral victims of the offensive that Hun Sen has waged against the independent media for the past six months in order to pave the way for general elections in July.

The aim of the report published today is to detail this tragic reversal for the media in Cambodia. It is based on research carried out by Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk, during a visit to Cambodia in October 2017 (see attached versions in English, Khmer and French).

Cambodia: Independent Press in ruins (EN)

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ILGA meets... Safir Soeparna, human rights defender

The Senior Campaigns Coordinator of APCOM is one of the 25 LGBTI human rights defenders who joined a training around digital security conducted by ILGA in Bangkok in July 2017 with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu. Our partner ILGA met him to learn more about his work. 

Watch the full interview and read more about his story

ProtectDefenders.eu presents a report on funding available for Human Rights Defenders

Brussels, 26 February 2018 - With human rights, democracy and the rule of law around the world increasingly under attack, those who stand up to defend them have an ever-more central role to play in sustainable development and conflict resolution. As civil society space closes around them, and governments use repressive tactics to impede their work, human rights defenders (HRDs) often put their lives, liberty, and safety at risk, and require support and protection in order to go on.

In a context where the level of need and demand from HRDs has significantly risen, increased support will be required in the coming years to meet the demands of HRDs operating in the context of a global backlash. The level of funding and support provided by international donor community no longer matches the magnitude of the needs of Human Rights Defenders, as observed in the ProtectDefenders.eu report on funding on support for HRDs, launched last January at a public seminar held in the European Parliament. Human Rights Defenders, in fact, are receiving declining support.

In its conclusion, this report shows the high volatility of the level of funding available for HRDs at risk, as well as worrying indications that public funding for HRDs may be set to decrease in coming years due to loss of support from traditional allies.

The main conclusions of this report are available on ProtectDefenders.eu website. 

OBS report - Condemned to silence: the situation of women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia

(Geneva, Paris) The report being released by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an FIDH-OMCT partnership) - with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu - is a far cry from the media frenzy that was caused by the announcement of symbolic reforms, such as that set out in the September 2017 Royal Decree (at last) giving Saudi women permission to drive. This report casts a harsh light on the scandalous situation of Saudi women human rights defenders who still have to cope with major restrictions on their rights. As women, they are subjected to a patriarchal regime that is steeped in gender inequality, and they must cope with a context that severely represses all voices of dissent. Women who report domestic violence or stand up as activists are confronted with unrelenting repression. Since they are not allowed to form movements or associations, they take refuge in social networks.

Check out the special webpage created for the report:

http://condemnedtosilence.fidh.org/

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals January 2018

The January 2018 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest warns about the incessant killings and attacks against human rights defenders in the Philippines; the killings and intimidation against social leaders in South Africa and the pattern of ongoing reprisals against human rights defenders in Bahrain. 

Moreover, only during December 2017, the ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders has reported 35 new violations against HRDs.

Click to read the ProtectDefenders.eu digest and share it on Twitter.

UAF report on the impacts of the "closing space" on defenders

Urgent Action Fund has released a new report on the impacts of the "closing space" on human rights defenders: Rights eroded: A briefing on the effects of closing space on women human rights defenders 

The report, completed with the Human Rights Law Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, documents the devastating effects of new restrictions on civil society and their disproportionate impact on women human rights defenders. Yet, the tenacity of defenders remains, as one defender from Russia states "when they shut the door, we come in the window." The perspectives of defenders from Bangladesh, Bahrain, Honduras, Turkey, and Kenya are included among others, including those supported via ProtectDefenders.eu. Among the key findings of this report, four dynamics have been identified:

• Registration and funding restrictions are layered onto more direct targeting and harassment of defenders, and together create a “rights-deprived” climate in which women and LGBTQI+ activists work;
• The funding restrictions of closing space additionally burden those groups already facing resource challenges;
• In order to reduce their exposure to attacks and reprisals by State and non-State actors, activists strategically adapt their work and self-censor, abandon, reduce, or otherwise modify their activities; 
• Activists are adapting to closing space, but face the social stigma that impacts their work more severely than it does main-stream human rights defenders.

The full version of the report is available at ProtectDefenders.eu website. 

Invitation - "Funding Human Rights, Investing in human rights defenders" - 23/Jan - European Parliament (Brussels)

ProtectDefenders.eu is pleased to invite you to the event "Funding Human Rights, Investing in human rights defenders", at the European Parliament, room ASP 3H1, next Tuesday, 23 January from 11:00-13:00, co-hosted by MEPs Soraya Post, Hilde Vautmans, Barbara Lochbihler. Speakers will include human rights defenders from around the world, and a light lunch will be provided.

To register to attend from outside the Parliament, please email euoffice@frontlinedefenders.org with the title “Registration for HRD Funding event”. Please include your full name, nationality, ID type and number, and date of birth by Wednesday 17 January.

PROGRAMME OUTLINE

Opening: Hilde Vautmans MEP (ALDE, BE) – ALDE Group Deputy Coordinator for the Foreign Affairs Committee and Security and Defence Subcommittee

Panel 1 The Work of Human Rights Defenders – Risks, challenges, and achievements

Moderator: Barbara Lochbihler MEP (Greens, DE) – Green Group Coordinator at the Human Rights Subcommittee

• Ed O’Donovan – Head of Protection at Front Line Defenders

• Faika Deniz Pasha – lawyer and a member of the Platform for Struggle for Women Held in Captivity, an organisation supporting Yazidi women

• Ahmed Samih – Director of Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies in Egypt (AITAS)

Questions and Answers session

Panel 2 Investing in support and protection – Making a difference on the ground

Moderator: Soraya Post MEP (S&D, SE) – S&D Group Coordinator for the Human Rights Subcommittee

• Gerald Staberock, Secretary-General OMCT - ProtectDefenders.eu

• Gustavo Castro – Director of Otros Mundos, an environmental organisation in Chi-apas (Mexico), and the sole witness to the murder of Honduran activist Berta Cáceres

• Anastasia Bondarenko – Ukrainian disability activist from Crimea

Questions and Answers session

Closing remarks: Soraya Post MEP and Barbara Lochbihler MEP

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Seminar "Funding Human Rights, Investing in human rights defenders" - 23 January 2018, European Parliament (Brussels)

With human rights, democracy and the rule of law around the world increasingly under attack, those who stand up to defend them have an ever-more central role to play in sustainable development and conflict resolution.As civil society space closes around them, and governments use repressive tactics to impede their work, human rights defenders (HRDs) often put their lives, liberty, and safety at risk, and require support and protection in order to go on.

However, HRDs, in fact, are receiving declining support.At a time of increasing backlash, the level of funding and support provided by the EU and its Member States no longer matches the magnitude of the needs of HRDs, as seen in the upcoming ProtectDefenders.eu report on funding on support for HRDs.

It is clear that if the EU is to tackle to tackle the instability in the region and advance the Sustainable Development Goals, it must address the root causes of forced migration, conflict, and radicalisation, and environmental destruction.

Investing more in support for human rights, and human rights defenders must be a key strategic priority for the EU and its Member States in the coming years, as the only way of truly rising up to these challenges. This increase in funding must be reflected in the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights programming 2018, as well as the upcoming Multi-annual Financial Framework, and in the long-term future of human rights funding.

ProtectDefenders.eu is pleased to invite you to an event we are organising in the European Parliament, entitled "Funding Human Rights, Investing in human rights defenders", at ASP 3H1 on Tuesday, 23 January from11:00-13:00 co-hosted by MEPs Soraya Post, Hilde Vautmans, Barbara Lochbihler. Speakers will include human rights defenders from around the world, and a light lunch will be provided.

To register to attend from outside the Parliament, please email euoffice@frontlinedefenders.org with the title “Registration for HRD Funding event”. Please include your full name nationality, ID type and number, and date of birth by Wednesday 17 January.

ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a Grants Officer

Grants Officer: EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism:

ProtectDefenders.eu is the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism, established to protect Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) at high risk and facing the most difficult situations worldwide. The mechanism is implemented by a Consortium of 12 international NGOs with the support of the European Commission. The EU HRD mechanism began its operations on 1st October 2015 for a duration of 36 months.

ProtectDefenders.eu is seeking to recruit a grants officer for the last year of the programme, to ensure coordination grants given out by Consortium partners and to support the allocation of grants for temporary relocation for HRDs. This is an exciting opportunity for someone with some experience in Human Rights and or Grants, with strong communication skills who will play a crucial role in the successful implementation of the project.

The mission of ProtectDefenders.eu is to:

• operate a permanent and rapid response mechanism to provide emergency support and material assistance to human rights defenders in danger;
• manage a support programme of temporary relocation for human rights defenders at risk to relocate inside their country, within their region or abroad in case of urgent threat;
• support and coordinate an exchange platform for organisations and stakeholders working on temporary relocation for human rights defenders including through the EU Temporary Relocation Platform;
• provide training, support and capacity-building to human rights defenders and local organizations;
• monitor the situation of human rights defenders and advocate for a protection agenda for Human Rights Defenders at local, regional and international level;
• promote coordination between organizations dedicated to support for human rights defenders, EU institutions and other relevant actors.

The members of the Consortium are: Front Line Defenders, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Network (ESCR-Net), International Gay and Lesbian Association (ILGA), Urgent Action Fund for Women Human Rights Defenders (UAF), Protection International, Peace Brigades International (PBI), Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders (EMHRF), Forum Asia and East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP). Front Line Defenders, RSF, OMCT and FIDH form the Board of the Consortium. In order to implement the EU HRD mechanism, the Board has formed an independent Secretariat for the project which is managed by the Head of Secretariat and counts with four other staff members.

ProtectDefenders.eu operates 3 grants for Human Rights Defenders and Human Rights Organisations; an emergency grant for human rights defenders, a grant to support human rights organisations and a grant  for temporary relocation of human rights defenders. The temporary relocation grant is fully run by the Brussels secretariat. The two other grants are coordinated by the Brussels secretariat, but administrated and run by the consortium members of ProtectDefenders.eu.

The grants officer will work in close cooperation with the Grants Coordinator and the Head of Secretariat.

Tasks & General Responsibilities of the Grants officer

• Manages the single-entry points for the emergency grant for human rights defenders, and the grant to support human rights organisations.
• Keeps a general overview of grants allocated directly by partners as emergency support to HRDs or as support to local HRDs organizations, ensures sharing of good practises and lessons learnt with the partners;
• Carry out the first assessment of grants applications received, before submitting Consortium partners of ProtectDefenders.eu
• Follow up on the grants awarded, monitoring the status of progress of grants and liaising with stakeholders to receive intermediate and final narrative and financial reports;
• Maintain up-to-date information within related folders and database.
• Support the Grants Coordinator in the administration of the Temporary relocation grants; and prepares them for decision making of the HRD mechanism board, manages the documentation and reporting on the beneficiaries of temporary relocation grants as well as related follow-up at the end of their temporary relocation;
• Reports issues faced in the grant allocation system to the Grants Coordinator and the Head of Secretariat and suggests pro-actively solutions;
• Ensures that all grant information is reflected adequately in the database;
• Ensures that all grants available within the project are advertised and promoted by all partners and on the mechanism website;
• Is responsible for the reporting related to grant allocation within the project.

Experience:

• Experience in managing grant programs
• Deep understanding of the needs of human rights defenders at risk
• Experience in working with people from diverse backgrounds

Skills:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent English, (French, Spanish, Russian or Arabic is an asset)
• Skills in the use of software applications.
• Database management skills.

The HRD Grants Officer will be based in the HRD Mechanism's secretariat in Brussels. The post-holder will receive a gross annual salary of €38 380.

Applications comprising a CV with at least two references and a cover letter should be sent by email to recruit@ProtectDefenders.eu before January 14th. The successful candidate will be expected to start work by February 2018 if possible. Given the project period of the Programme, the initial contract will be until October 2018 (8 months). However, the consortium aims to extend the project after 2018 for another 3 years, in that case, an extension of the contract would be possible.

For more information, please contact the Head of Secretariat, Guus Van Zwoll gvanzwoll@protectdefenders.eu

PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals December 2017

The December 2017 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest warns about the high risk for freedom of expression advocates in Vietnam, the incommunicado detentions and judicial harassment against human rights lawyers in China and the criminalisation of human rights activists in Niger.

Moreover, only during November 2017, the ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders has reported 29 new violations against HRDs.

Click to read the ProtectDefenders.eu digest and share it on Twitter.

The second year of ProtectDefenders.eu: A story of success in support for human rights defenders at risk

ProtectDefenders.eu, the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism implemented by international civil society, has been consolidated as a solid, successful and indispensable tool for at-risk human rights defenders and a referenced instrument within the international human rights defenders community. In its second year of implementation, ProtectDefenders.eu has stepped up the practical support to HRDs at risk and local human rights NGOs, both quantitatively and qualitatively, in a timely and comprehensive manner, in a context marked by the increasing demand for support and an ever-growing visibility of and referrals to ProtectDefenders.eu among human rights defenders, donors, policymakers and other.

Over this period, the complementarity and the comprehensiveness of the mechanism have made a remarkable difference by linking individual support to defenders at risk, to building resilience among local communities, while successfully addressing emergency situations and broadening the space for civil society through intensive advocacy.  ProtectDefenders.eu has also successfully reinforced the network of support available for human rights defenders at risk by intensifying the collaboration with multiple stakeholders engaged in the defence of human rights defenders, such as local organisations, international NGOs, members of the EUTRP and European institutions such as the European Parliament, and the European External Action Service.

What has ProtectDefenders.eu done over the past year? Read more to find out.

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Material assistance and advocacy support in favour of 7 environmental rights defenders in Thailand

In September 2017, OMCT allocated a grant to seven women members of the Khon Rak Ban Kerd Group (KRBKG), a community-based group committed to the defence of the local environment from the negative impacts of an open-pit copper-gold mine, operated by the Tungkum company in Thailand’s Loei Province. This grant is supporting the legal expenses of the seven women human rights defenders - namely Ms. Pornthip Hongchai, Ms. Viron Rujichaiyavat, Ms. Ranong Kongsaen, Ms. Mon Khunna, Ms. Suphat Khunna, Ms. Boonraeng Srithong, and Ms. Lumplearn Ruengrith -, who are currently facing trial under the Public Assembly Act and the Criminal Code in relation to a peaceful demonstration they attended in 2016. The seven WHRDs are each facing up to five years in prison and a 100,000 THB (about 2,586 EUR) fine, or both, and have to report themselves to Loei Provincial Court any time when ordered by the court until the trial is completed.

The grant followed advocacy efforts carried out by OMCT in the framework of the Observatory in order to raise the awareness of and call upon action from relevant stakeholders, including EU and UN institutions, to address the judicial harassment faced by the seven environmental rights defenders as a result of their legitimate human rights activities.

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Champions of Change - ProtectDefenders.eu Annual Meetings 2017

On the 8th of November, ProtectDefenders.eu held its second annual meeting, under the motto "Champions of change - Human rights defenders at the forefront of development and democracy". More than 30 human rights defenders at risk from all regions of the world who have benefited from the project gathered in Brussels with representatives of international NGOs and European institutions. This unique meeting has successfully brought together grassroots activists working on the frontlines for change and leading experts on the protection of human rights defenders, universal and regional protection mechanisms, and representatives of various EU institutions implicated in the protection of human rights defenders and current development agenda.

Setting a progressive development and protection agenda

The meeting highlighted the crucial role and impact of human rights defenders around the world as promoters of a sustainable development and engaged development actors in how to integrate the protection of human rights defenders as part of an effective development and protection agenda. The widespread attempts to de-legitimise human rights' discourse and human rights defenders' work worldwide were addressed, by promoting a positive narrative grounded on the universality and indivisibility of human rights and its contribution to more advanced and developed societies. Human rights defenders and high-level speakers shared strategies to enhance the protection of those who strive to defend human rights, and to develop a positive narrative on the human rights' work, legitimising their work at the local level and taking back the human rights discourse to the centre of the international agenda.

To conclude the meeting, the twelve partner organisations of ProtectDefenders.eu have issued a public statement urging all national authorities to "publicly recognise the crucial role played by human rights defenders and protect them in all circumstances from any form of judicial harassment". As stressed by Antoine Madelin, FIDH Director for International Advocacy and Chair of the Board of ProtectDefenders.eu, "Human Rights Defenders are the pillars of democracy and of the rule of law but are too often subjected to unfair criminal prosecution, in an effort to undermine their work in the defence of human rights."

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Register now - ProtectDefenders.eu Annual Meeting 2017:

ProtectDefenders.eu is holding its Annual Meeting next 8 November 2017 in Brussels, under the motto:

“Champions of change - Human Rights Defenders at the forefront of Development and Democracy ”

This annual meeting will allow taking stock of the most pressing protection challenges for human rights defenders at risk and operating as leaders of today's human rights and development agenda.

Join us at thie unique EU gathering of defenders working on the frontlines for change and setting a progressive development and protection agenda.

Read more for more information and register now. 

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals September 2017

The September 2017 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest warns the recent killings of human rights defenders, and the pattern of intimidation against them in the Philippines, the many media freedom violations registered in Morocco and the plight of human rights defenders in DRC.

Moreover, only during August 2017, the ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders has reported 113 new violations against HRDs.

Click to read the ProtectDefenders.eu digest and share it on Twitter.

ILGA meets Olya P., human rights defender supported by ProtectDefenders.eu

Olya is an LGBTI and women human rights defender from Russia. In 2015, she reached out for support to ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism. This is her story:

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals August 2017

The August 2017 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest warns about the ongoing criminalisation of human rights defenders in Turkey, as well as the aggravated situation of defenders in Honduras and the judicial harassment reported in Bahrain.

Moreover, only during July 2017, the ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders has reported 71 new violations against HRDs.

Click to read the ProtectDefenders.eu digest and share it on Twitter.

Annual Meeting 2017 - Champions of change: Human Rights Defenders at the forefront of development and democracy

ProtectDefenders.eu, the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism implemented by International Civil Society, is organising its Annual Meeting 2017, under the motto "Champions of change - Human Rights Defenders at the forefront of Development and Democracy", on November 8th, 2017.

Have a look at the highlights of last year's meeting.

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals July 2017

The July 2017 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest warns about the illegal surveillance, criminalisation and killings of human rights defenders in Mexico, as well as physical attacks against defenders in Pakistan and judicial and administrative harrasment reported in Russia. 

Moreover, only during June 2017, the ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders has reported 64 new violations against HRDs.

Click to read the ProtectDefenders.eu digest and share it on Twitter.

Fact-finding mission in Colombia

From July 11 to 19, 2017, OMCT, in the framework of the Observatory and ProtectDefenders.eu, carried out an international fact-finding mission in different areas of Colombia (Bogotá, Norte de Santander, Antioquia and Valle del Cauca). The work of human rights defenders continues to be a high-risk activity in Colombia, marked by a climate of constant threats and a sharp rise in killings of human rights defenders. The persistence of paramilitary structures, impunity and limitations in the State response are among the main reasons for this reality. Moreover, human rights defenders who are local leaders, particularly those who defend rights related to the land and environment in rural areas, are the group most vulnerable to constant threats.

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Colombia: Preliminary findings of an international fact-finding mission - No peace for human rights defenders

Geneva-Paris-Bogotá, July 19, 2017 - The lowest murder rate in Colombia for 40 years in the context of the peace process masks a climate of constant threats and a sharp rise in killings of human rights defenders. The persistence of paramilitary structures, impunity and limitations in the State response are among the main reasons for this reality, as reported by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an OMCT-FIDH partnership) at the close of its mission to the country, carried out in the framework of ProtectDefenders.eu, the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism.

The work of human rights defenders continues to be a high-risk activity in Colombia. Depending on the source[1], figures for the number of killings of defenders in 2016 range between 59 and 134. Despite these inconsistencies, the figures are scandalous at either end of the scale, and it is important to highlight that the different national State institutions, international bodies and Colombian civil society organisations which have gathered these statistics all coincide in reporting a significant increase in the number of killings of human rights defenders in comparison with previous years. Moreover, according to the information gathered by the mission, human rights defenders who are local leaders, particularly those who defend rights related to the land and environment in rural areas, are the group most vulnerable to constant threats.

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Internship at the Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu

ProtectDefenders.eu - The EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism is looking for a 'Programmes and Communication' intern.

Based at the Secretariat's office in Brussels, the intern will work in support to the different file-holders and under the overall supervision of the Head of Secretariat.

He/She will carry out a variety of tasks related to the purposes of the EU HRD Mechanism coordination and implementation, what will provide an opportunity for learning and achieving relevant work experience in the field of human rights at global and EU levels.

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals June 2017

The June 2017 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest warns about the crackdonw on civil society in Egypt, as well judicial harassment and repression against human rights defenders in Venezuela and Malaysia. 

Moreover, only during May 2017, the new ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders has reported 38 new violations against HRDs.

Click to read the ProtectDefenders.eu digest and share it on Twitter.

Consultation with defenders working on business and human rights hosted by UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of HRD

ProtectDefenders.eu supported in Brussels a consultation with Human Rights Defenders for the draft of the next report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of HRDs, Michel Forst, on defenders working on business and human rights.

This meeting with representatives of grassroot movements worldwide favored an open discussion on their specific challenges and needs and how to address them. ProtectDefenders reaches out to the most particularly targeted defenders around the world, with immediate protection measures, training, monitoring and advocacy.

ProtectDefenders.eu at the Venice School of Human Rights

On 11 June, ProtectDefenders.eu participated in the opening session of the cluster on Human Rights Defenders of the Venice School of Human Rights, sharing information on practical support for defenders at risk and discussing about the challenges and risks faced by human rights defenders throughout the world. 

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European Development Days 2017 - Protecting defenders as a development strategy

On June 8, ProtectDefenders.eu, the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism, organised a panel session at the European Development Days 2017. Under the title 'Protecting human rights defenders as a development strategy', the session highlighted best cases and success stories of the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism for local NGOs promoting human rights in a difficult environment, making sure that promotion of Human Rights was represented at the EDD 2017 as an integral part of the discussions and debates around development.

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ProtectDefenders.eu: A safety network to save lives

Article by Noor Ali, pen name of a WHRD benefiting from the ProtectDefenders.eu temporary relocation programme - For security reasons, information allowing her identification is not disclosed.

As a woman human rights defender, I have been living in constant state of danger for the last six years. A new war erupted in my home country of Sudan following five years of fragile peace. Alarming signs of potential genocide became hard to avoid, so I found myself doing what I can to report about these signs for international human rights organizations. Within few months my house was under surveillance, my phone was tapped and then was cut off by security, because I was making calls into the war zones... 

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals May 2017

The May 2017 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest reports judicial harassment and repression against human rights defenders in Bahrain and Uganda, and recent killings of journalists in Mexico. 

Moreover, only during April 2017, the new ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders has reported 62 new violations against HRDs. 

Click to read the ProtectDefenders.eu digest and share it on Twitter.

WHRD Nazik Awad: 'We cannot afford to be traumatized: the reality for grassroots advocates'

Nazik Awad - 16 May 2017 Local human rights defenders—who are fighting to stop global companies from destroying their people's lands, or documenting horrific war crimes against their own communities, or providing aid for displaced families—are not just advocates, they are victims too. For local advocates, the passion to defend their communities' rights is far more personal and very emotional, but most of the time, their commitment to the struggles of their people exceed their limited capacities. They often make the choice to ignore their personal needs in order to ensure the survival of their communities—but this choice can come at a significant cost.

Flickr/UNAMID (Some rights reserved)

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Call for digital security training for organisations working with sexual minorities

ILGA is organising a digital security training within the framework of ProtectDefenders.eu. Asian organisations serving and led by LGBTI people can apply for this training opportunity, that will take place in Bangkok, Thailand from July 11-14, 2017.

Digital space has a crucial role to play in the LGBTI movement by bringing together isolated LGBTI individuals and changing public awareness on diverse sexual and gender identities. At the same time, it leaves the LGBTI community vulnerable to threats of violence as they become more visible.

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals April 2017

The April 2017 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest reports alarming cases of repression, criminalisation and judicial harassment against human rights defenders in Belarus, Cameroon and Peru.

Moreover, only during March 2017, the digest reports at least 18 defenders killed in relation to their work of defence of human rights within their communities in the Philippines, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala or Mexico, among other countries.

Click to read the ProtectDefenders.eu digest and share it on Twitter. 

You can also search the new ProtectDefenders.eu Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders.

Watch the video of the ProtectDefenders.eu 2016 Annual Meeting - #DefendersNotCriminals

The video of the ProtectDefenders.eu 2016 Annual Beneficiaries' Meeting, held in Brussels on the 29 November 2016 under the motto "Defending Human Rights is not a crime - #DefendersNotCriminals", is now available.

The event gathered human rights defenders, NGO representatives, international and regional protection mechanisms and European insitutions to reflect on the first year of support of the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism and raise the awareness about the pressing threat of criminalisation against human rights defenders around the world.

Watch it now on Youtube.

Financial support to a Brazilian media outlet

Reporters Wthout Borders (RSF), within the framework of ProtectDefenders.eu, has provided financial support to FalaRN.com, a Brazilian news website launched in December 2014, by two journalists Francisco Costa and Josi Gonçalves, aiming to offer journalistic information, analysis, opinion with credibility and transparency guided by editorial independence.

Fala RN has published a series of stories about embezzlement of public funds, nepotism and election fraud involving local politicians. Since, the two journalists have been victims of judicial harassment, and those local officials have brought a total of 11 defamation suits against the couple – seeking a total of more than 200,000 reais (57,000 euros) in damages­ –. In addition to judicial harassment, Costa and Gonçalves have feared for their safety. They have been victims of persecutions, as well as threats and suspicions of abduction. Increasing legal fees have put the media into a difficult financial position. This case has been denounced by RSF and, combined with public condemnation of this persecution, financial assistance was allocated to help them purchase equipment such as cameras, computer, microphone in order to be able to continue their high quality investigative journalistic work and develop their own production of content.

ProtectDefenders.eu will participate in the European Development Days 2017 - Protecting human rights defenders as a development strategy

ProtectDefenders.eu, the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism, will organise a panel session in the coming edition of the European Development Days 2017, on Thursday, June 8, 2017. Under the title 'Protecting human rights defenders as a development strategy', this session will highlight best cases and success strories of funding and support of the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism for local NGOs promoting human rights in a difficult environment, making sure that promotion of Human Rights is represented at the EDD2017 as an integral part of the discussions and debates around development.

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ProtectDefenders.eu launches its Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders

ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism implemented by international civil society, launched its Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders, featuring a monitoring of alerts concerning violations perpetrated against individuals promoting Human Rights around the globe. The Index of attacks and threats against Human Rights Defenders is available on ProtectDefenders.eu website. 

This Index does not intend to be exhaustive, as many alerts and attacks go unreported and real figures are much higher. Still, with more than 1000 documented alerts reported by ProtectDefenders.eu partners, it aims at becoming a source of updated information that should allow the identification of worrying trends and  encourage the coordination of adequate responses by decision-makers and authorities to counter the violations faced by defenders.

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals March 2017

The March 2017 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest reports alarming cases of torture, arbitrary detentions and repression against human rights defenders in Sudan, DRC and Macedonia.

Moreover, only during February 2017, at least 12 defenders were killed in relation to their work of defence of human rights within their communities in the Philippines, Colombia, Pakistan or Mexico, among other countries.

Click to read all the alerts from ProtectDefenders.eu and share it on Twitter.

ProtectDefenders.eu is looking for a Finance Officer

The Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu is recruiting a Finance Officer to join their team, based in Brussels.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

Under the supervision of the Head of Secretariat and with the assistance of the other Secretariat staff, the Finance Officer maintains an effective and accurate financial reporting system or all the HRD mechanism activities. This includes ensuring that all expenditures are in conformity with the relevant EU guidelines, that records of receipts and other relevant documentation of expenditure are maintained and that the financial reporting to the EU and the relevant audit reports are delivered on time and to the highest professional standards.

He/she develops and adapts the necessary tools to successfully administer a consortium budget and provides financial analysis of the project's performance to inform decision-making processes. He/she oversees the coordination of accurate reporting by all organisations participating in the mechanism. Together with the Head of Secretariat, he/she ensures the development and implementation of work and expenditure plans and ensures that programmes are implemented within agreed and approved budgets through undertaking regular budget monitoring of expenditure against budget. He/she ensures that the Head of Secretariat and the Board are provided with accurate financial reports in an ongoing manner. He/she coordinates audit of the project and ensures that continuous monitoring and risk mitigation measures are in place. He/she ensures compliance with relevant legal frameworks in all contractual, financial, labor and taxation matters. He/she provides support on all other administrative and logistical aspects within the Secretariat whenever necessary. 

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ProtectDefenders.eu and CCBE Workshop - Practical tools for threatened lawyers worldwide

ProtectDefenders.eu, together with the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), is organising the workshop: "How to improve the protection of threatened lawyers worldwide? Practical tools from the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism", on Thursday 30th March. 

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Elena Pershakova: A successful example of the Temporary Relocation Programme

Elena Pershakova, a Russian woman human rights defender defending the rights of citizens victims of law enforcement entities' abuses, has recently concluded a successful and fruitful temporary relocation stay in Georgia, funded by ProtectDefenders.eu with the support of the Tbilisi Shelter City programme.

Today, more than 550 human rights defenders at risk and their relatives from all corners of the globe have benefited from a temporary relocation grant from the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism, allowing them to get away from a dangerous context and strengthen their skills and capacities to continue their work. 

Click to Read More to learn about Elena's experience

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With the support of ProtectDefenders.eu, PBI raises concerns on the situation of defenders in Sierra Tarahumara before the UN Human Rights Council

With the support of a grant provided through ProtectDefenders.eu and as part of an advocacy speaking tour organized by PBI, the director of Alianza Sierra Madre, Isela González attended the 34th Human Rights Council session in Geneva, where the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, presented his annual report, highlighting the grave human rights situation that environmental defenders face. 

In the interactive dialogue with SR Michel Forst, PBI expressed concerns on the worsening situation of human rights defenders in the Latin American region and specifically the murders of the environmental defenders, members of the raramuri community, Isidro Baldenegro and Juan Ontiveros, which happened within two weeks of each other in the Sierra Tarahumara, Mexico.

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent appeals February 2017

The February 2017 issue of the ProtectDefenders.eu digest reports alarming cases of judicial abuses, repression and harassment against human rights defenders in India, Saudi Arabia and Cameroon.

Moreover, only during the first month of the year, at least 17 defenders were killed in relation to their work of defence of human rights within their communities. Colombia, with 9 killings, has reportedly been the world's deadliest country for human rights defenders.

Click to read all the alerts from ProtectDefenders.eu and share it on Twitter.

Nur Nobi Dulal, blogger from Bangladesh, relocated in Hamburg with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu and the Hamburg Foundation for Politically Persecuted People

On February 1st, the Hamburger Stiftung für politisch Ver­folgte welcomed their new guest Nur Nobi Dulal (46) from Bangladesh in the safety of Hamburg. Nur Nobi Dulal will be relocated away from danger for the next twelve months, as part of a relocation programme funded by ProtectDefenders.eu and supported by Amnesty International and PEN International.

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Conclusiones de misión internacional del Observatorio (FIDH-OMCT) en México, con el apoyo de ProtectDefenders.eu -

Fuente: El Observatorio para la Protección de los Defensores de Derechos Humanos (OMCT-FIDH)

Ginebra, Paris, Oaxaca, 8 de febrero de 2017 – Damián Gallardo Martínez, Enrique Guerrero Aviña y Librado Baños Rodríguez siguen siendo desde hace tres años y medio víctimas de detención arbitraria, criminalización, tortura y malos tratos, a pesar de las recomendaciones emitidas por la ONU. Su único delito es su trabajo como defensores de los derechos humanos, según denunciaron hoy el Observatorio para la Protección de Defensores de Derechos Humanos (OMCT-FIDH) y el Consorcio Oaxaca. Además de abordar el patrón de detención arbitraria de personas defensoras en México, la misión conjunta -apoyada por el mecanismo de la UE para los defensores de Derechos Humanos, ProtectDefenders.eu- pudo constatar la falta de garantías para la labor de defensa de derechos humanos en el Estado de Oaxaca.

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Publication of RSF's report 'Veracruz: journalists and the state of fear'

With the support of ProtectDefenders.eu, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published a report in Spanish, French and English about the plight of journalists in Mexico’s eastern state of Veracruz, one of Latin America’s most dangerous places for the media.

Entitled “Veracruz: journalists and the state of fear,” the report is the fruit of a visit carried out by RSF to Mexico in June 2016 -within the framework of the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism- during which it met with local journalists, representatives of NGOs and representatives of federal and state-level institutions involved in protecting media freedom in Mexico.

The report examines the appalling environment for journalists in Veracruz. Caught between ultra-violent criminal cartels and corrupt politicians, journalists who take too close an interest in sensitive stories or in organized crime are liable to be admonished, threatened and even gunned down in cold blood.

From 2000 to 2016 in Mexico, 99 journalists were the victims of murders that were clearly or probably linked to their work, and 20% of these murders took place in Veracruz alone. Cases of physical attacks and disappearances are also legion, and the shocking level of impunity shows the ineffectiveness of the many mechanisms created for protecting journalists.

READ THE REPORT

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent Appeals January 2017

ProtectDefenders.eu partners are concerned about recent killings, attempted murders and enforced disappearances in Colombia, the killing of land rights defenders in Myanmar and the ongoing repression against human rights defenders and lawyers in Turkey. 

Click to read all the alerts from ProtectDefenders.eu in the December 2016 issue of the monthly digest and share it on Twitter.

PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent Appeals December 2016

ProtectDefenders.eu partners are concerned about recent killings and overall degradation of the situation of Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala, and arbitrary detentions and judicial harassment against defenders in Kenya and Malaysia.

Click to read all the alerts from ProtectDefenders.eu in the December 2016 issue of the monthly digest and share it on Twitter.

JOINT STATEMENT - Human Rights Defenders are not criminals

On the occasion of the 1st Beneficiaries' Meeting, the twelve partner organisations of ProtectDefenders.eu have issued a public statement urging all national authorities to "publicly recognise the crucial role played by human rights defenders and protect them in all circumstances from any form of judicial harassment". As stressed by Antoine Madelin, FIDH Director for International Advocacy and Chair of the Board of ProtectDefenders.eu, "Human Rights Defenders are the pillars of democracy and of the rule of law but are too often subjected to unfair criminal prosecution, in an effort to undermine their work in the defence of human rights."

#DefendersNotCriminals

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PRESS RELEASE: Human Rights Defenders are not criminals

Brussels, November 29, 2016.- ProtectDefenders.eu, the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism implemented by International Civil Society, has just concluded its first annual meeting of beneficiaries: human rights defenders at risk from all regions of the world who have benefited from the project gathered today in Brussels. The meeting aimed at reflecting on this first year of coordinated work to support defenders worldwide and at highlighting the worrying global phenomenon of criminalisation of human rights defenders.

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ProtectDefenders.eu 1st Beneficiaries' Meeting

On the 29th of November, ProtectDefenders.eu held its first annual meeting of beneficiaries under the motto "Defenders are not criminals". More than 30 human rights defenders at risk from all regions of the world who have benefited from the project gathered in Brussels with representatives of NGOs, European institutions and International and Regional Protection Mechanisms, including the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst. The meeting reflected on this first year of coordinated work to support defenders worldwide and highlighted the worrying global phenomenon of criminalisation of human rights defenders.

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Human Rights Defenders are not criminals - JOINT STATEMENT

Brussels, November 29, 2016 - "Human rights defenders worldwide are regularly subjected to harassment and trumped-up criminal charges aiming at paralysing, intimidating and delegitimising their human rights activities. They face difficulties carrying out their work in increasingly restrictive legislative and administrative environments denying the right to freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly. Licences of human rights NGOs have been steadily cancelled, bank accounts seized and their right to access foreign funds violated. A growing number of States have also developed a systematic pattern of obstacles to human rights defenders' freedom of movement, in particular through the use of travel bans, in a clear attempt to isolate them.

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent Appeals November 2016

ProtectDefenders.eu partners are concerned about recent killings and overall degradation of the situation of Human Rights Defenders in Honduras, and severe threats and judicial abuses against defenders in Kazakhstan and DRC.

Click to read all the alerts from ProtectDefenders.eu in the November 2016 issue of the monthly digest and share it on Twitter.

Training for HRDs on the occasion of the ESCR-Net Global Strategy Meeting

On November 19, ESCR-Net’s System of Solidarity Advisory Group, through Front Line Defenders and Just Associates and with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu, facilitated a security training for 35 human rights defenders, half of whom were women, during the ESCR-Net Global Strategy Meeting in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

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ProtectDefenders.eu Annual Meeting: 'Defenders are not criminals'

ProtectDefenders.eu is holding its first beneficiaries' meeting next Tuesday, 29th November 2016, in Brussels, under the theme “Defenders are not criminals - Countering Criminalisation of Human Rights Defenders”.

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Accompanying the advocacy tour of a Zimbabwean defender in Brussels

ProtectDefenders.eu has supported the advocacy tour of Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo, a Zimbabwean human rights defender and democracy activist, carried out from 7-10 of November, in Brussels. During his stay, Nkosilathi met with MEPs, human rights NGOs, scholars and EU representatives to raise awareness about the hazardous situation of civil society and human rights defenders in Zimbabwe. Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo has been particularly threatened after accusing President Robert Mugabe for crimes against humanity, and has been forced to flee to South Africa.

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Set up of a relocation hub for human rights defenders in Tbilisi

ProtectDefenders.eu, through the European Union Temporary Relocation Platform (EUTRP), has supported the set-up of a new relocation programme 'Tbilisi Shelter City' in Tbilisi, Georgia, together with two local NGOs (Truth Hounds and Analytical Center for Interethnic Cooperation). This new shelter initiative is expected to host up to 20 human rights defenders. The first group of defenders in need of relocation will arrive in December 2016.

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Fact-finding mission in Kenya: Looking at the 2017 elections, is civil society beyond the brink?

From October 24, the Observatory for the Protection of HRDs, a partnership of OMCT and FIDH, conducted a four-days fact-finding mission on the situation of HRDs in Kenya within the framework of ProtectDefenders.eu.

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent Appeals October 2016

ProtectDefenders.eu partners are concerned about reported judicial abuses, harassment and attacks against Human Rights Defenders in Russia, Colombia and Vietnam.

Check to read the October 2016 ProtectDefenders.eu Digest and share it on Twitter. 

Internship at the Secretariat of ProtectDefenders.eu

ProtectDefenders.eu - The EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism is looking for a 'Programmes and Communication' intern.

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Threatened Iranian poet Arash Chakeri, relocated in Brussels with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu

Chakeri has been increasingly critical towards his country's government, also calling for freedom and democracy as an activist. During the last years he has been regularly attacked, arrested and threatened. He decided to leave his country and he is currently relocated in Brussels with the accompaniment of Passaporta - International house of Literature as host organisation, with the financial support of ProtectDefenders.eu.

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Alerting on repression against human rights defenders in Cuba

ProtectDefenders.eu has supported the publication of a briefing on the situation of repression against human rights defenders in Cuba, drafted by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of implementing partners FIDH and OMCT, and released on August 29. In a context of diplomatic and economic opening in the island, legitimate activities in defence of human rights carried out by civil society are still subject to prohibitions and prosecution.

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PROTECT DEFENDERS NOW - Urgent Appeals September 2016

ProtectDefenders.eu partners are concerned about the plight of harassment and criminalisation against Human Rights Defenders in China, Cambodia and Bahrain.

Check here to read the September 2016 ProtectDefenders.eu Digest and share it on Twitter. 

Channelling the Voice of Youths in Moroccan Public Policies

The Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders (EMHRF), one of the twelve partners of ProtectDefenders.eu, is supporting a set of innovative initiatives launched by the Prometheus Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (IPDDH), a local organisation consisting of young defenders working to achieve human rights education and to spread a democratic culture in Morocco.

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Trial monitoring on crimes against humanity and enforced disappearances in Guatemala

Peace Brigades International (PBI), with the support of ProtectDefenders.eu, has participated in the monitoring of the CREOMPAZ case, against 14 retired military accused of enforced disappearances and crimes against humanity as the result of their participation in several massacres committed against non-combatant civilians in Guatemala. This key trial shall elucidate the responsibilities for the disappearance of at least 535 people who were taken by the Guatemalan army between 1981 and 1988, then killed and buried in a clandestine cemetery.

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Preventing the extradition of a russian journalist

Reporters without Borders (RSF), within the framework of ProtectDefenders.eu, has provided financial support and raised the voice to prevent the extradition of a young Russian opposition journalist arrested at Larnaca airport, Cyprus, at Russia’s behest. This journalist, whose identity remains confidential, was facing a possible 15-year jail sentence if extradited to his home country.

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