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New UNPO report “Disappearing Peoples and Voices: Enforced Disappearances as a Tool of Repression against Human Rights Defenders

August 25, 2026

On 21 August 2026 UNPO has published a new report, “Disappearing Peoples and Voices: A Look into Enforced Disappearances as a Tool of Repression against Human Rights Defenders and Activists,” examining how enforced disappearances are used to silence political dissent and self-determination movements among unrepresented nations and peoples.

Enforced disappearances rank among the most severe human rights violations. Beyond stripping victims of their rights and freedoms, they function as a deliberate mechanism to silence activism and instil fear within entire communities. By removing activists, community leaders and human rights defenders from public life, these practices restrict communities’ ability to document abuses, advocate for their rights and participate meaningfully in national and international discussions on their future. They also create a chilling effect that discourages others from speaking out or engaging in advocacy for fear of similar reprisals. Yet those responsible for enforced disappearances often face minimal, if any, consequences.

Unrepresented nations and peoples are disproportionately affected by this practice, as their lack of equal representation, political participation, and meaningful access to self-determination leaves them with fewer protections and avenues to address enforced disappearances.

The paper follows two webinars held by the UNPO in commemoration of the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances in 2024 and 2025, and it is part of the organisation’s Compromised Spaces campaign, which has documented how states target activists, journalists, and human rights defenders abroad.

Drawing on testimonies gathered directly from UNPO’s membership, the report examines case studies from seven member communities: the Baloch, Sindh, Ahwazi Arabs, Crimean Tatars, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Iranian Kurds. While each community’s context is distinct, the analysis identifies recurring patterns across cases, including the use of counter-terrorism and national security pretexts to justify repression, the deliberate concealment of victims’ whereabouts, and the extension of these tactics across borders through transnational repression. The report, in fact, examines how states increasingly extend repressive practices beyond their own borders. Transnational repression can involve digital surveillance, intimidation, threats against family members, illegal deportations, political assassinations, and enforced disappearances. These practices create a situation in which leaving a country does not necessarily provide protection, as activists and diaspora communities may continue to face threats and reprisals abroad.

While enforced disappearances remain a global challenge, unrepresented peoples experience their impact disproportionately, given their limited access to formal channels of recognition and redress. The report underscores that, as methods of repression become increasingly sophisticated, including through the use of digital technologies, the importance of impartial and accessible human rights mechanisms capable of protecting those who are excluded and silenced.

At the same time, the report highlights how greater international awareness and collective action can help amplify the voices of affected communities. The same technologies that facilitate repression can also support the search for disappeared persons, maintain connections across borders, and strengthen advocacy. UNPO’s webinars demonstrate the value of bringing affected communities together to share their experiences, raise awareness, and support one another in seeking greater international attention.

https://unpo.org/disappearing-peoples-and-voices-a-look-into-enforced-disappearances-as-a-tool-of-repression-against-human-rights-defenders-and-activists

Bahraini Police Seize Prominent Human Rights Defender Naji Fateel in Dawn Raid

August 24, 2026

In a Blog for Human Rights First published on 20 August, 2026 Brian Dooley decries the arrest of Naji Fateel in Bahrain.

Around 5am on Tuesday morning this week, Naji Fateel was woken up by police banging hard on his bedroom door. They grabbed and arrested the Bahraini Human Rights Defender, and took him into custody.

Speaking today from jail, he described how startled he was at what happened, because in 2024, after spending a decade in prison for his human rights work, he was given a “Royal Pardon” and told was no longer wanted by the police. “They rushed into the house, terrifying the children, terrifying my mother, first thing in the morning. They dragged me out and put me on a bus,” he said.

Fateel is a prominent peaceful activist, known internationally for his human rights work. He was arrested in 2013 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 2016, while already imprisoned, he was given another fifteen-year sentence following his alleged role in prison unrest at the notorious Jau Prison the year before. That sentence was later reduced to ten years on appeal. Human Rights First was among those, including various UN mechanisms, regularly calling for his release over the years. I raised his case repeatedly, including in testimony I gave to the U.S. Congress in 2022.

Although he should never have been jailed in the first place, Bahrain’s ruling family – its unelected government – issued him a pardon in 2024, assuring him he had no more prison time to serve. But now he is back in jail.

The pretext for seizing him appears to be a fine imposed by the bizarre 2016 judgement over prison protests. In addition to the prison time, the sentence ordered Fateel and 56 other defendants to pay over $1million between them towards repairing alleged damage to the prison during the unrest, mostly to its air conditioning system.

Fateel says that when police put him on the bus they cited this collective punishment as the reason he was taken from his home and arrested in a dawn raid.

“They said, ‘You have a fine.’ I said ‘There was no need for you to do this – if you had called me and told me to come to your office, I would have come.’”

Fateel also said he had been specifically told, in a call with the police two days before the early morning raid, that there was no need for him to report to the police offices for anything.

He said the police who stormed his home showed no arrest warrant, and that the way they targeted him “was a method of intimidation.” He said today too that he and four others arrested that same morning have been told they will be brought before the Public Prosecution Office to be charged with crimes.

Not for the first time, Bahrain’s security forces seem to be exhibiting a dangerous mix of brutality and incompetence. Fateel should be released immediately, as should the other human rights activists still jailed in Bahrain for their peaceful criticism of the government

https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/library/bahraini-police-seize-prominent-human-rights-defender-naji-fateel-in-dawn-raid

Bahrain re-arrests human rights defender Naji Fateel two years after royal pardon

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/re-arrest-and-detention-human-rights-defender-naji-fateel-following-royal-pardon

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Tags: arrest, Bahrain, Brian Dooley, Front Line (NGO), history, Human rights defender, Human Rights First, Naji Fateel, politics, writing

Major 2019 report on environmental defenders finds 52% of defenders were harassed by companies

August 24, 2026

A 2019 report released today by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) clearly demonstrates that people who protect the environment and human rights are increasingly being monitored, threatened, harassed – and even murdered.

The civil society democratic space is shrinking. Since 2012 more than 70 countries have introduced legal restrictions aimed at citizens involved in civil society organisations. The situation has become increasingly dangerous for people fighting for democracy, environmental protection and human rights. People who defend nature are particularly vulnerable.

…The report presents the results of a comprehensive study carried out by the SSNC … based on testimonies given by 25 environmental organisations around the world with whom SSNC collaborate:

• 88 percent … state that the situation for civil society … has deteriorated in recent years.

• 80 percent state that they find it difficult to carry out their activities as planned…

• 24 percent state that employees or individuals from the organisation’s target groups have been killed as a result of their environmental work.

• 52 percent state that they can give examples of when they or their target groups have been harassed or threatened by private companies.

• 68 percent perceive that decision-makers … regard the environmental movement as a threat.

https://www.business-humanrights.org/my/%E1%80%9E%E1%80%90%E1%80%84/environmental-report-defenders-under-attack-the-threats-facing-people-who-protect-nature

https://www.business-humanrights.org/my/latest-news/major-new-report-on-environmental-defenders-finds-52-of-defenders-were-harassed-by-companies

Posted in books, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Business and human rights, environmental defenders, harassment, Human Rights Defenders, report, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC)

Interview with Tania Pariona Tarqui, an Indigenous human rights defender from Peru,

August 20, 2026

OMCT published this interview.

Tania Pariona Tarqui is an Indigenous Quechua human rights defender, activist from Peru, and Executive Secretary of the coalition Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH). As she started defending the rights of children and youth during her teenage years, now an advocate for women’s rights across South America, her work is more than ever relevant, not only in Peru, but for the global anti-torture movement. Over the past few months, the country has passed a series of laws that threaten decades of efforts for justice and accountability. Passing through Geneva for various advocacy meetings, she tells us all about the state of human rights in Peru and what these laws will mean for human rights defenders and victims of torture and ill-treatment.

What is the current human rights situation in Peru?

Peru is experiencing severe setbacks in human rights, even in very basic rights that took decades to achieve, such as gender equality or the broad women’s movement, along with sexual and reproductive health. We are also facing setbacks in terms of memory of our past. Recently, an Amnesty Law was passed to ensure impunity for serious human rights violations committed by the Armed Forces, the National Police, and self-defense committees during the internal armed conflict of the 1980s-2000s. This paves the way for impunity for those linked to crimes against humanity and erases the memory of thousands of victims who have waited decades for justice. In Peru today, our rights are not guaranteed, there is no protection.

What is the impact of these laws?

For families of victims of the 1980s conflict, as well as those killed in the 2022–2023 protests, these impunity measures deny justice and memory, rewriting history in ways that contradict lived experience. This “turning the page” denies grave violations. This is a hard blow to families who have fought for decades. The Amnesty Law would affect hundreds of cases, not isolated events. The State claims this law responds to terrorism, but in reality, it benefits human rights violators in the security forces implicated in torture, extrajudicial executions, and enforced disappearances.

What about human rights defenders?

Many human rights lawyers and organisations advocate for justice, but this law blocks their work by pardoning perpetrators of serious violations. Defenders are also stigmatised as “terrorists” or “terrorist sympathisers”. The term “terrorist” is indiscriminately applied by authorities, politicians, and even President Boluarte to delegitimise human rights defense. But lawyers are defending victims, not terrorists.

What can be done?

Raising a collective voice is essential. International solidarity must echo demands for justice globally. It is indispensable to maintain hope for a real democracy, not just the act of voting, but one that is intercultural, equal, and inclusive of Indigenous peoples and women. Currently, there are no political participation mechanisms for Indigenous peoples or Indigenous women. This is not true democracy.

The mechanisms of the UN and of the inter-American system are crucial, not only to issue recommendations but also to adopt a firm stance. Too often, human rights violations and violence against women are normalised. The international community must rethink its actions and strengthen democracies, protection mechanisms, and resources for defenders. Civil society is vital to democracy, yet civic space in Peru is shrinking. Without human rights, there is no democracy.

What is most important when defending human rights under these conditions?

Defending human rights today must go beyond the human rights community, reaching society at large. Youth and children must be included, with schools and communities addressing these issues. I come from a generation that witnessed progress thanks to older sisters who fought for important policy change. Now it is our duty to defend those advances, ensuring they remain for future generations.

Peru’s message of granting amnesty for crimes against humanity is disastrous, signaling to the world that impunity is acceptable. But as global conflicts show, impunity only harms the poorest and most vulnerable. We cannot normalise this; we must confront it now.

What message would you like to send to the international community?

To the international community: in Peru today, citizens’ rights are being violated, especially those who raise their voice against measures affecting our well-being and future.

Peru often presents itself abroad as a defender of human rights, but right now Peruvians have no guarantees of these rights. It is crucial that the international community pay attention, especially to cases of torture and arbitrary detention of activists, students, and indigenous women. Our call is for the international community not only to express concern but also to be present, speak out, and advocate for the rights of Peruvians.

https://www.omct.org/en/resources/blog/growing-impunity-peru-interview-with-a-peruvian-human-rights-defender

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Tags: activist from Peru, and Executive Secretary of the coalition Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH), anti-torture campaign, history, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, impuntiy, interview, OMCT, OMCT SOS-Torture network, Peru, politics, Tania Pariona Tarqui, Tania Pariona Tarqui is an Indigenous Quechua human rights defender, video clip

Environmental defender Pablo López Alavez released after more than 15 years

August 19, 2026

On 27 March 2026, Pablo López Alavez was released following a ruling by the High Court of Justice of the State of Oaxaca on appeal. The decision revised the legal classification of the offences and imposed a sentence of 15 years and 3 months imprisonment for the offence of simple homicide. Taking into account the time the human rights defender had spent in detention since his arbitrary arrest on 15 August 2010, the court considered the sentence to have been served and ordered his immediate release. Although the sentence remains in force, his release represents a significant step forward after more than 15 years of detention. Due to concerns for Pablo’s safety and that of his family, as well as for security reasons, this information is only being made public now.

Pablo has been released after a fight for justice and freedom of over 15 years, led by his wife, the woman human rights defender Yolanda Pérez Cruz, and organisations from the state of Oaxaca, as well as Mexican and international civil society organizations. Activists, collectives and human rights organisations celebrate the release of our colleague Pablo López Alavez, a Zapotec forest defender originally from the community of San Isidro Aloapam, Oaxaca. This long journey would not have been possible without the support and solidarity shown from all corners of the world. We thank all the organisations, individuals and collectives who never gave up on their efforts and commitment to securing his release over the course of more than 15 years. We thank the international bodies for their sensitivity in highlighting the political use of the criminal justice and the prison system to criminalise and impose prolonged punishment on human rights defenders in Mexico.

On 15 August 2010, the human rights defender was arbitrarily detained and tortured by a group of armed individuals without an arrest warrant. In the years that have passed since then, Pablo was detained and subjected to further violations of his human rights, including the right to a fair trial.

His family were forcibly displaced from their community due to the constant and serious threats they have faced as a result of their struggle for justice and the defence of human rights: so they are currently under protective measures granted by the Oaxaca State Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office (DDHPO). We emphasise that Pablo’s detention and his family’s forced displacement have had profound impacts on their well-being, including chronic illnesses, cultural and community displacement, as well as the necessity of having to learn Spanish against their will and adapt to an urban, mestizo environment.

The fight for justice continues. We, the undersigned organisations, call on the Federal Judiciary to conduct a thorough review of the case, as the ruling that convicted him lacks a solid basis. In order to put an end to the criminalisation that the defender has faced for more than 15 years, an acquittal must be issued in favour of the forest defender and comprehensive measures must be adopted to provide redress for the harm caused. This implies ensuring that the authorities responsible for the serious violations committed against him are properly investigated, prosecuted and punished, as well as implementing all necessary measures to protect his physical integrity and psychological well-being, as well as that of his family and the organisations that have supported them. Finally, our organisations emphasise the obligation of the Mexican authorities to establish robust guarantees of non-repetition.

The conviction was issued without taking into account the serious inconsistencies and contradictions in the evidence presented by the prosecution. Nor did it give due consideration to the evidence presented by the defence, which demonstrated that the human rights defender was elsewhere when the events of which he was accused took place.

Nine years after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued Opinion 23/2017, which concluded that Pablo’s deprivation of liberty is arbitrary and motivated by his legitimate work in environmental defence; and that, similarly, in December 2020, a group of United Nations Special Rapporteurs issued the joint communication UA MEX 14/2020 calling for his release and the adoption of comprehensive reparatory measures; both of these opinions by international United Nations experts remain unfulfilled.

We therefore demand that the State of Mexico, in compliance with its international obligations, put an end to the serious and systematic violations of the rights of the forest defender Pablo López Alavez, and we call on the authorities to:

Comply immediately with the recommendations set out in Opinion 23/2017 and UN Urgent Action UA MEX 14/2020, including comprehensive redress and guarantees of non-repetition;
Overturn the conviction issued on 27 March 2026 and acquit Pablo López Alavez, given the lack of a proper assessment of the evidence, which resulted in his wrongful imprisonment and prevented him from continuing to defend the territory;
Ensure comprehensive and effective protection measures for him and his family, who remain under constant harassment and threat;
Refrain from the misuse of criminal law against defenders of the territory and indigenous peoples, and ensure that no unfounded criminal proceedings are initiated or pursued on the grounds of the legitimate exercise of their defence of human rights.

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/release-forest-defender-pablo-lopez-alavez-after-15-years-7-months-and-12-days

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Tags: detentiion, environmental defenders, Frontline, history, human rights, Human rights defender, Mexico, Pablo López Alavez, release, UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Yolanda Pérez Cruz

Podcast with staff of International Service for Human Rights

August 19, 2026

On August 18, 2026 Swissinfo, in their series Summer profiles, featured the ISHR and its director and deputy, Phil Lynch and Pooja Patel.

Please listen to this week’s episode:

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/international-geneva/summer-profiles-international-service-for-human-rights-ishr/91910274

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Tags: history, International Service for Human Rights, ISHR, news, Phil Lynch, podcast, politics, Pooja Patel, Swissinfo

Annual Report 2025 of the Minorities Rights Group

August 18, 2026

14 August 2026: 2025 brought extreme challenges for those working in international development and human rights. Many long-held values were questioned, and, indeed, rapidly jettisoned by some actors. The US’ rapid international funding shutdown jeopardized the lives and health of millions and ended thousands of vital education, poverty, governance and rights projects. MRG was thankful to escape relatively lightly, though we are affected by increased competition for every other funding source in our sector, and are aware of the grave impacts on many organizations with which we are in partnership or whose work complements our own.

We have welcomed the gathering pace of global social media regulation over the last year, having long highlighted social media’s power to propagate hate, discrimination, violence and polarization. Nevertheless, we have watched with alarm the explosive rise of Artificial Intelligence with its capacity to concoct falsehoods and make decisions with the inherited biases of our societies.

Climate change continues to devastate, with minorities and indigenous peoples often most affected despite contributing least. Renewed drought in Somalia. Intense tropical storms across Asia and the Caribbean. From the DRC to Myanmar, Palestine to Ukraine, conflicts devastating lives and lands. Some states continue to reject or undermine multilateralism, sidelining the UN and failing to pay their dues. Democratic backsliding has become more common than not. The bulwark the UN provided is needed now more than ever, and yet it is now more than ever in question.

This year has shown us just how deeply every struggle is intertwined.

Today’s conflicts will have grave environmental consequences for generations to come, not only where they are fought but across our shared world. Weakened and silenced multilateral institutions will struggle to protect peace in such precarity. History reminds us that when challenging circumstances prevail, those in power will scapegoat those who are different – aided no doubt, by new digital tools.

We are shifting power and funding to the global grassroots. In 2025, we renewed this commitment to localization by refreshing the statutes of our Africa office and beginning work towards new offices in Asia and the Middle East. Subgranting directly to minority and indigenous rights defenders is an evergrowing component of our strategy. We are cultivating new networks and partnerships to achieve louder voices in support of progress. We co-design with communities and influence decisionmakers at the local, national and international levels, to amplify the voices of those who so often go unheard and unheeded.

At MRG we refuse to give up. While seeking maximum impact, we continue to work towards the day our organization is no longer needed.-Claire Thomas, Executive Director, Minority Rights Group

Download the report (PDF, English)

https://minorityrights.org/resources/aa25

https://minorityrights.org/resources/rga-reps

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Tags: annual report 2025, Claire Thomas, funding, Indigenous environmental human rights defenders (IEHRDs), Kenya, minorities, Minority Rights Group, MRG, Uganda

Afghanistan’s human rights crisis worsening after five years of Taliban

August 17, 2026

As Taliban rule in Afghanistan continues, UN experts and many others warned that normalisation continues despite increasing restrictions imposed on the population, including women and girls, over the past year. They urged States to accelerate steps towards accountability.

“Five years may be a short period in the life of a country, but it is a long one in a child’s life,” the experts said. “A generation of girls has now been denied secondary education. A girl who was in grade six when the ban began is reaching adulthood without another day in school.”

Over the past year, the Taliban have further entrenched their institutionalised gender-based repression. The experts reiterated that the Taliban’s intentional and targeted gender-based deprivation of fundamental rights amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds. As this repression forms part of an institutionalised system of gender-based discrimination, oppression and domination, the experts said it can also be characterised as gender apartheid. They urged States to actively support the codification of gender apartheid as a distinct crime against humanity…

Enforcement measures, some involving cruel and inhuman punishment, have also intensified, the experts said. In 2025 alone, more people were publicly flogged than in all the previous years of Taliban rule combined.

“Women have been turned away from hospitals on account of their attire or for lacking a male guardian, denying them their right to access health care. In June 2026, at least 30 women and girls were jailed in Herat for allegedly violating the Taliban’s dress code. When residents protested, security forces opened fire, killing at least two people, including a boy.”

They called for strengthened support for the International Criminal Court, warning that “the newly mandated Independent Investigative Mechanism for Afghanistan must not remain only an achievement on paper; it must also be properly and swiftly resourced.”

“Afghanistan is not a safe country: mass returns and forced deportations in violation of the obligation of non-refoulement must stop, particularly for those who face heightened protection risks, including religious or ethnic minorities and LGBT persons,” the experts said.

“There should be no moves to normalise the Taliban de facto authorities, including by accepting diplomats or holding meetings in capitals, without demonstrated, measurable progress against human rights benchmarks, particularly for women and girls,” the experts said. “For five years, Afghans’ human rights have been systematically violated, yet many continue to strive bravely and against the odds to restore them. The international community must not let them down again.”

The full statement is available here.

Afghanistan: UN experts warn against normalisation of Taliban rule (Press Release)

HRW calls for release of six rights workers from Taliban prison

https://amu.tv/249925

https://www.omct.org/en/resources/blog/a-bridge-to-justice-an-afghan-woman-lawyer-on-resilience-solidarity-and-a-hopeful-future

Ravadari Says Taliban Have Arbitrarily Detained More Than 6,000 People in Afghanistan

https://amu.tv/250139

https://8am.media/eng/five-years-taliban-world-misunderstand

https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/09/07/afghanistan-advance-accountability-for-grave-abuses-in-afghanistan

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Tags: Afghanistan, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, human rights of women, ICC, Independent Investigative Mechanism for Afghanistan, news, politics, Taliban, un experts, women

Four US human rights groups sue Trump administration over ‘crippling’ ICC sanctions

August 13, 2026

On 11 August 2026 the Guardian and other media reported that four prominent US human rights organizations have accused the Trump administration of using its “crippling” sanctions regime against the international criminal court (ICC) to undermine global efforts to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Tuesday, the groups – the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Institute – argued that the administration’s targeting of the ICC, as well as of groups and individuals affiliated with it or assisting its work, amounts to a “blatantly illegal attack on international justice”, the groups said.

The suit challenges Trump’s February 2025 executive order, which authorized sanctions on ICC officials, judges and others working to support its investigation of Israeli crimes in Palestine – one of 18 investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity the Netherlands-based tribunal is overseeing.

The US state department and justice department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tuesday’s lawsuit follows one filed last month by Democracy in the Arab World Now (Dawn), a Washington-based advocacy group focused on US foreign policy in the Middle East, and the New York-based Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide, as well as legal challenges brought by some of the sanctioned individuals themselves, including Albanese’s family and three sitting ICC judges.

James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, a program of Open Society Foundations, which the Trump administration also explicitly threatened last year, called the sanctions “an assault on the rule of law, independent judges and prosecutors, and civil society in the United States and around the world”.

“Independent courts can function only when judges, prosecutors and rights advocates are free to do their work without fear of political retaliation. We believe that no one is above the law,” he said in the press conference on Tuesday. “The executive order shields the perpetrators of war crimes from scrutiny while punishing those who pursue accountability. Justice must be fair and impartial, not only directed at America’s adversaries.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/11/human-rights-groups-trump-lawsuit-icc-sanctions

https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/08/11/rights-groups-sue-trump-administration-over-targeting-icc

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-human-rights-groups-sue-trump-over-anti-icc-push-2026-08-11

https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/08/18/us-sanctions-2-more-international-criminal-court-officials

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/other/3969297-un-experts-demand-us-end-icc-sanctions-as-international-justice-faces-growing-pressure?amp

Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: American Friends Service Committee, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Watch, ICC, International Criminal Court, Israel, news, Open Society Institute, Palestine, politics, sanctions, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Tomoko Akane, Trump, un experts, USA

2025 EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World

August 13, 2026

This year’s EU Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World is looking back at a year that has been remarkable for the persistence and variety of conflicts, and for widespread shifts away from an international rules-based order to one based on autocratic power, where self-interest takes precedence over solidarity.

There is a stark contrast between current geo-political trends and the achievements recounted in this year’s EU Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World report. Made up of many stories, the report outlines the positive results of people in countries all over the world coming together to make a positive difference. We want to tell these stories because the principles enshrined in the founding EU treaties are noble and universal, and because today it takes strong resolve to speak difficult truths and keep the European Union (EU) on the right side of history.

The EU continues to act in a world characterised by fear and uncertainty. For the EU, the compass of universal human rights has kept us on a steady course, charted in the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy, and the EU Report on Human Rights and Democracy follows the same structure. The report presents stories about protecting and empowering individuals, building resilient, inclusive and democratic societies, promoting a global system for human rights and democracy, harnessing opportunities and addressing challenges and ensuring we deliver by working with our partners.

Amid these challenges, and as this report makes clear, the European Union remains a steady force for good in the world, not least because our interests and values – grounded in universal norms – are one and the same. That is why we are still the partner of choice for those who want to foster cooperation for human rights and democracy globally. This report contains many examples of our positive work that I hope can serve as inspiration to others.

The last 12 months have brought innumerable small victories for human rights and democracy, from the many moves away from the death penalty, to the new generation rising to the challenge of public participation, online and in the streets, in Gen Z movements across the globe. We can see that democracy, human rights and justice remain an aspiration and a source of hope. Several elections in 2025 resulted in peaceful transfers of power, demonstrating the resilience of democratic institutions.

The EU accompanied many of these high points, whether through election monitoring, capacity building, or celebrations and public statements, just as it lent a hand to shed light on human rights violations and democratic backsliding by giving voice to victims, supporting human rights defenders at risk, leading efforts in multilateral fora or manoeuvring through quiet diplomacy.

The 2025 EU Report on Human Rights and Democracy shows that human rights are not just words for us, but take the form of actions of all kinds by our countless partners around the world as well of course as EU actors, whether in Brussels or in EU Delegations, offices and missions.

As this report attests, promoting and defending human rights and democracy around the world is a long-term commitment for the EU, requiring collective efforts that often need time to bring results. But working with partners to preserve and improve human dignity, basic freedoms and justice contributes to creating a solid and lasting foundation on which we can all build prosperity through sustainable development.

Learning from the unprecedented challenges of 2025, the EU carries on working to uphold human rights and democracy, and is proud to continue to promote these important stories of hope and impact.

Read the 2025 EU Report on Human Rights and Democracy Annual Report

https://euneighbourseast.eu/news/latest-news/eu-summarises-situation-with-human-rights-and-democracy-worldwide-in-its-latest-report

Posted in EU, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: annual report 2025, Democracy, EU, EU Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World, Europe, history, Human Rights Defenders, Kaja Kallas, news, politics

Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards