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Human Rights Defenders want to strengthen redress for victims in Africa

October 26, 2026
Group photo 9Sep

On 9-10 September 2026 the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) gathered legal practitioners, civil society representatives, and victim advocates from across anglophone Africa in Johannesburg, to consider means of strengthening access to justice in non-criminal processes.

The regional consultation was convened as part of a wider global initiative to elaborate guidance for human rights advocates in efforts to secure effective redress for gross human rights violations and abuses and serious violations of international humanitarian law. The consultation focused on strengthening non-criminal justice pathways, including  through judicial and administrative processes, customary and traditional legal systems, and strategic civil litigation. 

“Alongside criminal pathways a wide spectrum of non-criminal justice processes which are civil, administrative, traditional and hybrid have developed within national and regional systems. These mechanisms can deliver outcomes that criminal trials alone cannot deliver, such as restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-occurrence.” said Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, ICJ Africa Regional Programme Director. 

Participants addressed persistent gaps between official legal recognition of harm and actual delivery to survivors, noting how administrative reparation awards and truth commission recommendations, such as in South Africa, The Gambia, and Kenya, routinely stall due to such factors as political inertia and administrative bottlenecks. Practitioners mapped strategies to close these accountability deficient gaps, including record-building efforts that harmonize narrative truth-seeking with the strict evidentiary standards and archive disclosure rules required by domestic and regional courts. 

Participants also examined the interface of customary and traditional justice systems, such as those in South Sudan and Rwanda, which were purported to operate on principles of restorative harmony and local reconciliation, while stressing the need for adherence to human rights norms around gender equality and conditional amnesties.

In contexts of severe civic space closure or systemic State immunity, litigators explored extraterritorial jurisdictions and sub-regional courts like the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and ECOWAS Community Court of Justice to bypass domestic blockades…

“On top of striving to adopt a more victim-oriented approach in the criminal justice system, non-criminal justice avenues at local, regional, and international levels must be explored, reassessed, and strengthened with a view to implementing the rule of law effectively” stated Justice Aruna Devi Narain, ICJ Commissioner and Judge of the Supreme Court of Mauritius. 

The Johannesburg gathering represents the third stage of the ICJ’s multi-year initiative on non-criminal justice mechanisms, following global and regional forums in Geneva (November 2025) and Bogotá (June 2026) The insights gathered in Johannesburg will feed directly into the ICJ’s elaboration of practical global guidance for jurists, litigators, and policymakers on designing and implementing non-criminal justice mechanisms.

The initiative is supported by the Republic and Canton of Geneva. 

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Usman Hamid, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, refuses to let fear win

October 26, 2026

On 26 October 2026, Amnesty Inrernational carried the story of Usman Hamid, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, who has spent decades as a human rights defender in spite of ampaigns of harassment and intimidation with a new dimension in the digital age:

My journey into human rights activism was forged in the blood that stained the pavement of Trisakti University. In my teenage years, my mother got me involved in organizing assistance for people living in poverty. I began to witness the stark socio-economic disparities that existed under former president Suharto, amid widespread corruption and state repression. By May 1998, public frustration had reached boiling point, sparking student protests across Indonesia. What began as a growing unease with social injustice drew me into the movement. But it was the killing of four of my classmates at Trisakti on 12 May 1998 that transformed my concerns into a lifelong commitment to human rights activism.

Shortly after the brutal protest crackdown, I was appointed as student representative to a military police investigation team to search for the truth about what happened. It was through this work that I met the human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, who later became my mentor. After my graduation, Munir persuaded me to join the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS).

Due to my work at KontraS, I faced a relentless campaign to destroy my credibility. In 1999, pamphlets were circulated in communal spaces, falsely accusing me of being a “communist” or a “Jewish secret agent”. Conservative-linked publications, including Majalah Garda, spread rumors about me, publishing photographs of me and suggesting that I was not a “pure” student activist. Before long, both Munir and I started receiving death threats because we exposed human rights violations that implicated key army figures.

In 2001, I was appointed to the inquiry commission at the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) to continue investigating the deaths of protesters between 1998-1999 involving powerful army generals. Soon after, my mother began receiving mysterious phone calls accusing me of being an anti-Muslim activist, and two army officers paid an uninvited visit to our home to offer us money in exchange for me to stop my activism.

My activism became increasingly dangerous. In March 2002, a violent mob attacked the KontraS office. They were looking for me and Munir. That was when Munir gave me a bulletproof vest to protect myself and helped me to temporarily relocate to the Netherlands.

Tragically, not long after that, Munir was murdered by arsenic poisoning on his flight to Amsterdam in September 2004. Intimidation continued because of my key role in the fact-finding team investigating Munir’s murder. Two high-level intelligence officials suspected of being involved in the murder filed criminal defamation lawsuits against me in 2005 and 2008. When I joined Amnesty International in 2016, I realized that the state apparatus aimed at intimidating human rights activists was still very much alive, and had evolved significantly.

Under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, the old authoritarian tactics have returned with a digital vengeance. In early 2025, after Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard raised concerns around the entrenchment of authoritarian practices in Indonesia during a media interview, I received a phone call from a high-ranking politician. He sent me disappearing voice notes, calling me a “foreign lackey”. Weeks later, on 15 March, activists from KontraS staged a protest that disrupted lawmakers’ closed-door meeting on revisions to the military law that would allow soldiers to hold civilian positions.

Shortly after this protest, I received a phone call from the same politician.  He yelled, “Where are you, foreign lackey? I’m going to kill you now.” He accused me of masterminding the KontraS protest. Days later, amid nationwide demonstrations against the military law revision, the same politician also called to accuse me of being behind these protests. My wife and I had to go to a quiet corner of our house to listen to his disappearing voice notes so our children wouldn’t hear.

These threats came to me at the same time as a coordinated disinformation campaign by the military against me.  On 23 March 2025, Instagram accounts linked to four military units posted a video spreading false accusations that human rights defenders and journalists are “foreign agents” working to undermine Indonesia’s sovereignty. The video named a few individuals, including myself, as these foreign agents.

Example of such a post by an account that presented itself as belonging to the Sub-Regional Military Command No. 181 Praja Vira. The video is still publicly accessible via this link.

These stigmatizing narratives are not new. In my early days as an activist, I was labelled a “communist” or a “Jewish operative”; today, it is the “foreign agent” slur. It strategically uses disinformation to redirect public attention away from issues like corruption and state violence.

These campaigns have taken a heavy psychological toll. Even childhood friends received these videos and messaged to ask why I became a foreign agent. It makes me paranoid, wondering if there are people out there who believe these lies and want to hurt me and my family.

Meta has contributed to these harms. In my case, Meta allowed the military to use Instagram to propagate disinformation against me, failing to remove the content even after we presented detailed findings of its human rights impacts.

It is clear that I remain a key target of the military. In March 2026, Andrie Yunus, a prominent advocate against the Military Law revisions, was targeted in a brutal acid attack by military officers in central Jakarta. I soon learned through contacts in law enforcement, and later in Tempo’s investigative findings, that Andrie was not the only target. My name was on that same hit list.

Despite all of this, I refuse to let fear win. What keeps me resilient is my family. It is the childhood memory of my mother, who got me into activism. It is also the comfort of playing music with friends.

One day my wife and I said we wanted to see a clear blue sky—something hard to come by in a heavily polluted city like Jakarta. We decided to keep driving, no matter how far we had to go. Finally, we saw it – the clear sky we were looking for. It was a long drive, but it was worth it.

Just like other student activists of 1998, I dream of a brighter Indonesia where human rights are respected for all. We once fought and earned many victories. Today, we see a painful return of authoritarian practices, but this only means our work is not finished. We just need to keep driving and pushing until we see a clear, blue sky again.

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Write for Rights campaign turns 25, here 7 successes

October 24, 2026

Amnesty International

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Amnesty International’s global Write for Rights campaign, which has supported more than 200 people and groups.

That’s 25 years of people taking action against injustice, writing letters and signing petitions in support of people whose human rights have been denied. Some have been imprisoned for peacefully expressing their views. Others have been targeted because of who they are or who they love. Some have been criminalized simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

More than 50 million actions have been taken – in the form of letters, emails, cards, petition signatures, social media posts and more – since Write for Rights started in 2001. Amnesty’s brilliant supporters have written letters both to those whose rights are being violated, and the person in authority who can make change happen.

People have taken action because they believe hope and humanity can win over fear.

As a result, over 100 people featured in our Write for Rights campaign have seen a positive outcome in their situation. People unlawfully detained have been released, families have been reunited and justice achieved. Just as important – individuals have been reminded that they have not been forgotten.

Here are the stories of a few of them, whose lives have changed – and even been saved – thanks to the support of people like you…


Germain Rukuki – Burundi

A man stands bathed in sunlight, looking down the street.
Human rights defender Germain Rukuki was arrested in July 2017 and was serving a 32-year prison sentence after he was convicted of “rebellion” amongst other things. During Amnesty International’s global Write for Rights campaign, supporters in 37 countries took action and called for his immediate and unconditional release. He was released from prison on 30 June 2021.

On 30 June 2021, Burundian human rights defender Germain Rukuki was released from prison four years into a 32-year sentence. He had been found guilty of a number of sham charges relating to his human rights work. He was jailed before getting a chance to hold his youngest child, born just weeks after he was arrested in July 2017.

Yves Makwambala and Fred Bauma – Democratic Republic of Congo

Youth activists Yves Makwambala and Fred Bauma were released at the end of August 2016 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. An amazing 170,000 people took action for the pair as part of Write for Rights 2015. “Every letter, every visit, every word has strengthened us and reinforced our determination in this long but just struggle for freedom and democracy,” said Yves.

Seán Binder – Greece

As night closes in, a man in a dark jumper stands against a brightly lit building.
After more than seven long years, Seán Binder and all 23 defendants were been cleared of all charges in Greece relating to their humanitarian rescue work on Lesvos.

In January 2026, human rights defender Seán Binder and 23 others connected to a search and rescue NGO were acquitted of all charges in Greece. After years on trial, Seán no longer faces the possibility of a 20-year prison sentence for helping refugees.

Eight years after Amnesty first called for the charges to be dropped, Seán was finally acquitted.

Moses Akatugba – Nigeria

A man stands looking to camera with his hands clasped. He wears a red jumper.
Moses was waiting for the results of his secondary school exams when he was arrested by the Nigerian army in 2005, shot in the hand and beaten. After eight years in prison, he was sentenced to death by hanging. Activists including many young people and Amnesty International demonstrated outside their country’s Nigerian embassies his behalf. Moses was freed in 2019.

Moses Akatugba was a 16-year-old student when he was arrested in 2005 by police in southern Nigeria, on suspicion of armed robbery and stealing three telephones. He was tortured by police during their interrogations, beaten and suspended upside down from a ceiling fan for hours. His nails were pulled out with pliers to coerce him into signing a “confession” – the only basis for his death sentence eight years later.

Rita Mahato – Nepal 

Rita Mahato Chamar is a human rights defender from Nepal.

In 2009, human rights defender Rita Mahato was threatened with death, rape and kidnapping for helping women in Nepal who had suffered acts of violence. She was a health adviser at the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), a leading NGO in Nepal, yet police failed to provide Rita with protection or to investigate the threats. After Amnesty took up her case for Write for Rights 2009, schools, campuses and other institutions around the world started sending letters, postcards and other materials in support of her. The publicity and posters became so widespread that the police and local authorities began calling Rita to provide support, making her feel less alone. While the harassment has ended, Rita still stands up for what she believes in.

Aleksandra (Sacha) Skochilenko – Russia

A woman with long brown hair
Aleksandra (Sasha) Skochilenko, visits Amnesty in the Netherlands, Amsterdam, to thank them from for their support.

Russian artist Aleksandra “Sacha” Skochilenko was arrested for protesting Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In March 2022, she replaced price tags at a supermarket with paper labels that contained information censored by Russian state-run media. She was charged with “dissemination of knowingly false information about Russian Armed Forces” and sentenced to seven years in December 2023. In 2024, thanks in part to international pressure from Write for Rights 2022, Sacha was finally released as part of a huge prisoner swap, involving Russia and Belarus, who agreed to a swap with the United States, Germany, Norway, Poland, and Slovenia.  Sacha now lives in exile in Germany.

https://amnesty.ca/urgent-actions/outcome-uae-sudanese-political-activist-released-after-19-months

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NGO Forum at the 89th session of the African Commission: panel discussion on the growing issue of transnational repression of HRDs in Africa

October 21, 2026

At the NGO Forum ahead of the 89th session of the African Commission, in October 2026, a high-level panel discussion tackled the growing issue of transnational repression in Africa. The discussion, titled ‘From Restrictive Laws to Transnational Repression: Protecting Human Rights Defenders in Africa’, was the first ever panel on the topic of transnational repression in this space.

It featured Aua Baldé of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Ralmeg Gandaho, President of Changement-Social (Bénin), and Basma Mostafa, Director of Programs at the Law and Democracy Support Foundation and herself an exiled journalist and activist directly affected by transnational repression. (Basma Mostafa was unable to attend in person due to visa issues. Her statement was read on her behalf by ISHR’s Salomé Boucif)

This discussion built on our ongoing work on transnational repression: in June, ISHR convened a retreat for UN human rights experts that culminated in a landmark statement by over 130 UN Special Procedures mandate holders and Treaty Body members calling for a decisive international response to transnational repression.[https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2026/09/28/over-130-human-rights-experts-issue-global-call-for-states-to-end-transnational-repression/]

At the ACHPR’s 89th session, ISHR further called on the Commission to adopt a resolution on transnational repression and carry out a comprehensive, continent-wide study examining its nature, scale, patterns, methods, perpetrators, affected populations and impact on the enjoyment of human rights.

The panel opened from a clear premise: a conducive national legal framework is a precondition for the safe and effective work of human rights defenders, as affirmed by Aua Baldé. Yet across Africa, the opposite trend is now dominant.

In Angola, a 2025 law on the status of non-governmental organisations allows the State to monitor, suspend and financially restrict civil society organisations. In Zimbabwe, the Private Voluntary Organization Act adopted in 2025 confers sweeping discretionary powers on the executive to over-regulate and interfere in the governance and operations of NGOs. And in Uganda, the Protection of Sovereignty Act, signed into law in May 2026, created broad controls over who may receive foreign funding and who may be labelled a ‘foreign agent’.

Speaking from the experience of defenders in West Africa and particularly Benin, Ralmeg Gandaho illustrated how such frameworks translate into daily intimidation, criminalisation and surveillance of those who document violations and hold power to account.

A central thread of the discussion was that crossing an international border does not guarantee safety. For Basma Mostafa, transnational repression ‘should not be understood simply as a collection of isolated incidents’. Instead, she stressed, it is a ‘governance strategy’ used by States to ‘extend control beyond their territory’.

Drawing on the work of the Law and Democracy Support Foundation with exiled defenders, journalists and political activists, she identified several recurring patterns: proxy punishment and reprisals against family members, the weaponisation of legal and counter-terrorism frameworks, including politically motivated prosecutions and convictions in absentia, the misuse of administrative and consular measures such as travel bans and the refusal to renew documents, digital transnational repression and more.

Mostafa’s account of the case of Egyptian activist Mariam Abdelbasette illustrated how these practices intersect: her husband was reportedly deported from Oman to Egypt, following a procedure that allegedly involved INTERPOL, without meaningful due process and subsequently disappeared, while she herself faced travel restrictions, politically motivated terrorism-related accusations, threats of deportation and sustained intimidation of her and her family.

The panel stressed that the target is not only the individual defender. The broader objective is to create fear and silence entire communities, to make people think twice before speaking, organising, documenting violations, engaging with the media or cooperating with the United Nations.

When a journalist sees a colleague’s family arrested, the message reaches hundreds of journalists. When an activist’s relatives are detained, it reaches an entire exile community. Self-censorship becomes a survival strategy, undermining freedom of expression, independent journalism and cooperation with international human rights mechanisms.

Aua Baldé underlined that the cross-border nature of these threats challenges conventional approaches to human rights protection, which are typically organised around a single jurisdiction.

She emphasised that States must not be allowed to evade their human rights obligations by facilitating, outsourcing or benefiting from acts of repression carried out beyond their borders.

Recommendations

The panel called on the African Commission and the UN human rights system to:

  1. Adopt a dedicated resolution formally recognising transnational repression as a distinct and growing human rights challenge in Africa.
  2. Establish a joint task force on transnational repression bringing together the relevant ACHPR special mechanisms — on human rights defenders, freedom of expression, refugees and asylum seekers, reprisals and enforced disappearances — and UN human rights mechanisms, to ensure a coordinated and victim-centred response.
  3. Undertake a comprehensive continental study on transnational repression in Africa, examining patterns such as proxy punishment, digital repression, forced return, deportation, the misuse of counter-terrorism frameworks and cross-border security cooperation.
  4. Pay greater attention to the targeting of family members and proxy punishment, one of the most widespread and least addressed forms of transnational repression in the region.
  5. Design protection mechanisms with the meaningful participation of affected communities, guided by the principle that nothing about targeted communities should be discussed without targeted communities.

The panel concluded that, when repression crosses borders, protection and accountability must cross borders too.

Regional and international institutions must work together, including under the Addis Ababa Roadmap on cooperation between the ACHPR and UN Special Procedures, to ensure that defenders do not lose access to protection simply because their cases extend beyond a single country.

https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/ngo-forum-from-restrictive-laws-to-transnational-repression-protecting-human-rights-defenders-in-africa

https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/achpr89-training-17-inspiring-defenders-from-africa-strengthened-their-capacity-and-advocated-at-ngo-forum/

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Tomorrow 20 October webcast event on transnational repression and reprisals against HRDs in New York

October 19, 2026

Recent developments within the UN human rights system have brought increasing attention to the scale of TNR, its human rights impacts and the obligations of States and other actors to prevent and respond to it. On 23 September 2026, more than 130 Special Procedures mandate holders and Treaty Body members issued a joint statement on TNR, describing it as a growing, direct challenge to the international human rights system and the UN Charter’s principles. The statement clarifies the legal obligations of States under international law, and sets out a roadmap for States, businesses, INTERPOL and international organisations to better prevent and respond to TNR, and protect and assist individuals and groups affected. These recommendations build on existing reports by UN Special Procedures, the brief on TNR by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and resolutions adopted by the Human Rights Council. [see https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2026/09/28/over-130-human-rights-experts-issue-global-call-for-states-to-end-transnational-repression/]

TNR also increasingly intersects with acts of intimidation and reprisal against individuals and groups who cooperate, or seek to cooperate, with the United Nations. The Secretary-General’s 2026 annual report on reprisals (A/HRC/63/62) documents TNR-related reprisals affecting individuals and organisations across regions, including through digital technologies. These practices can extend the reach of repression across borders, targeting defenders and other civil society actors even after they have left the country in which the original threats arose. They can also affect relatives, colleagues and communities, creating a broader chilling effect on engagement with the United Nations. Of the  32 States cited in the report, 15 are cited for violations that include TNR, affecting at least 43 individuals and four organisations. [see https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2026/10/01/un-report-warns-of-transnational-reprisals-human-rights-defenders-cooperating-with-the-un/]

The growing recognition of these interconnected patterns creates an opportunity to move from documentation and recognition towards coordinated prevention, protection and accountability. Responses to TNR should be grounded in international human rights law and should address the conduct of both States perpetrating repression abroad and States within whose territory such acts occur. They should also ensure that people at risk can safely access international and regional human rights mechanisms, including the United Nations.

This UNGA81 side event will bring together UN experts, States and civil society to examine how TNR and reprisals manifest in practice, clarify applicable human rights standards and responsibilities, and identify concrete measures that States, the UN and other actors can take to prevent violations, protect those at risk and ensure accountability.

Location: New York City, United States of America

Date: 20 October 2026

  • Time: 1:15PM – 2:30PM EST
  • Address: UN Headquarters, Conference Room 7
  • Event language(s) English
  • RSVP Needed: no
  • The event will be webcast on UN Web TV.

Opening remarks: Ambassador Laura Dupuy Lasserre, Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the United Nations

Speakers:

  • Claudia Fuentes Julio, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights [tbc]
  • Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism
  • Grażyna Baranowska, Chair of UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID)
  • Civil society representative

Closing remarks: Ambassador Florian Laudi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations

Moderator: International Service for Human Rights

https://ishr.ch/events/beyond-borders-not-beyond-reach

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Thai Prime Minister files criminal defamation complaint against human rights defender Yingcheep Atachanont

October 12, 2026

On 8 October 2026, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests urgent intervention in the following situation in Thailand.

The Observatory has been informed that a criminal defamation complaint has been filed by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul against Mr. Yingcheep Atchanont, director of the Thai non-governmental organisation Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw), an FIDH member organisation, in connection with his legitimate work of monitoring public affairs and promoting democratic accountability.

On 15 September 2026, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul filed a criminal defamation complaint against Yingcheep under Article 326 (“defamation”) and 328 (“libel”) of Thailand’s Criminal Code with the Bangkok Criminal Court.

This development follows the announcement made by the Prime Minister on 22 July 2026 that he would take legal action against Yingcheep. The Prime Minister’s criminal defamation complaint stems from Yingcheep Atchanont’s submission of a petition to the opposition coalition in the House of Representatives on 21 July 2026, seeking a parliamentary examination of allegations that nine politicians from the ruling Bhumjaithai Party, including Prime Minister Anutin, five cabinet ministers, and three senior figures, were involved in vote manipulation during the June 2024 Senate election. According to iLaw’s investigation, evidence and witness statements suggested irregularities including candidate arrangements, the distribution of voting instructions, and the provision of financial incentives to candidates by networks linked to the Bhumjaithai Party, across different stages of the election process, which raised serious concerns over the integrity and transparency of the polls.

The Observatory recalls that since its founding in 2009, iLaw has played a prominent role in advancing democratic participation, freedom of expression, and a fair justice system in Thailand. The organisation has documented the impact of repressive laws and decrees adopted following the 2006 and 2014 military coups d’état and campaigned for their reform through public engagement and online advocacy. It has also worked to support citizen participation in legislative and constitutional reform processes, particularly through campaigns to collect signatures for proposed legislation and initiatives to amend Thailand’s military-backed 2017 Constitution. In addition, iLaw has contributed to strengthening electoral transparency by systematically documenting voting irregularities and mobilising citizens to participate in election observation.

The June 2024 Senate election gave rise to allegations of systemic fraud and vote-buying. Under a new selection system, more than 40,000 candidates voted among themselves through multiple rounds of selection at the district, provincial, and national levels to determine the 200-member Senate. The results led to public scrutiny particularly due to the disproportionately high number of successful candidates from provinces where the Bhumjaithai Party enjoyed strong electoral support…

The Observatory denounces the criminal lawsuits against Yingcheep, which appear to be in retaliation against the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression, as enshrined in international human rights law, in particular in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Thailand is a state party.

The Observatory calls upon the Thai authorities to ensure that all complaints are dropped and urges them to take concrete steps towards the decriminalisation of defamation under Articles 326 and 328 of the Criminal Code, which are used to intimidate, silence, and harass human rights defenders in Thailand.

https://www.fidh.org/en/issues/human-rights-defenders/thailand-criminal-defamation-complaints-filed-against-human-rights

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Defenders’ Days in Stockholm: international conference for human rights defenders starts today

October 12, 2026
Over a hundred human rights defenders come to Sweden to meet at Defenders’ Days.

Today, 12 October 2026, Defenders’ Days opens, bringing together more than 100 human rights defenders from around the world to share experiences, build networks, and strengthen their work. Among the participants are a Palestinian editor-in-chief who has lost friends and colleagues during the war, a Venezuelan journalist who was detained because of her reporting, and a Ukrainian lawyer working to document war crimes. What they have in common is their commitment to defending human rights, one of the world’s most important and most dangerous callings. 

Defenders’ Days is an international conference for human rights defenders, providing a safe space where participants from across the globe can meet, exchange experiences, and learn from one another. For many, it is also a rare opportunity to pause, regain strength, and find support in work that is often marked by threats, harassment, and significant personal risk. 

“We are witnessing democracy and respect for human rights come under pressure in many parts of the world. At the same time, human rights defenders continue to stand up for others, often at great personal cost. For a few days, they have the opportunity to come together, build networks, and strengthen one another for the work ahead,” says Sofia Walan, Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders. 

The conference brings together journalists, lawyers, democracy activists, environmental defenders, and human rights defenders from more than 50 countries. The programme includes training sessions and workshops on topics such as digital security, psychosocial well-being, advocacy, and leadership. 

Equally important, however, is the opportunity to meet others who share similar experiences. 

“Defending human rights can be both challenging and isolating. At Defenders’ Days, participants can connect with people who understand their reality. It creates new partnerships, provides renewed energy, and serves as a reminder that they are part of a global movement working together to defend freedom, democracy, and human rights,” says Sofia Walan. 

Defenders’ Days was launched in 2013 and is organised by Civil Rights Defenders. This year’s conference takes place on 12–14 October and brings together participants from more than 50 countries. 

Read more about Defenders’ Days here.

They risk their lives for human rights – now they are coming to Sweden

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The laureates of the 2026 Front Line Defenders Award are..

October 10, 2026

On 8 October 2026 Front Line Defenders announced the five laureates of its prestigious 2026 Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, which was presented at a special ceremony in Dublin this morning:

  • Africa: Laurinda Manuel Gouveia (Angola)
  • Americas: Adda Vyctoria Caetano (Brazil)
  • Asia and the Pacific : Umar Khalid (India)
  • Europe and Central Asia: Ljiljana (Serbia)
  • Middle East and North Africa: Ahmadreza Haeri (Iran)

“There is a powerful wave of people who believe there is a better path despite the worrying state of affairs for human rights defenders (HRDs) around the world today; a wave of those who believe in a brighter future. This year’s laureates are emblematic of this wave of positive change,” said Alan Glasgow, CEO of Front Line Defenders.

“These laureates represent the defenders from every corner of the world who are courageously and peacefully standing up for justice and equality. Arbitrary detention, torture, death threats, judicial harassment, smear campaigns: these are some of the hazards of standing up for human rights and, still, these laureates have refused to stay silent.”

The Annual Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk was established in 2005 to honour HRDs who make outstanding contributions to the promotion and protection of the ]uman rights of others, often at great personal risk. The Award focuses international attention on their work and struggles, giving them a greater national and international platform to speak about the issues they defend.[see hhttps://trueheroesfilms.com/equip/digest/?sort=most&award=2E90A0F4-6DFE-497B-8C08-56F4E831B47D]

This year’s laureates were selected from among hundreds of candidates put forward in a secure, public nomination process carried out between November 2025 and January 2026.

The winners receive support to bolster their protection, including digital and physical security, advocacy, visibility, wellbeing and more. The laureates received the Award at a ceremony at Trinity College Dublin today, which was attended by foreign diplomats and representatives of the Irish government and Department of Foreign Affairs, civil society and media organisations among others.

View a photo booklet of the Award winners

Africa

Laurinda Manuel Gouveia is an Angolan woman human rights defender who has promoted women’s rights, fundamental freedoms and participatory democracy for over a decade. In 2021 she co-founded the Balumukenu Association, which trains young people, violation documentss and builds civic participation. Her School of Human Rights and Community Leadership has seed helped at least four new youth movements. Arrested several times for her work, she once spent 73 hours in a police cell with her seven-month-old baby. Despite this, what keeps Laurinda going is a belief that Angola can change, and that every generation bears responsibility for its own moment. She has helped secure the release of four activists imprisoned for exercising their freedoms and civic and participation is now campaigning for Inécio Pessela, a 15-year-old paralysed after being shot by police at 14 during the 2025 taxi drivers’ strike.

“When young people know their rights, organise themselves and involved, they cease to be mere spectators to reality and become agents of change.” Laurinda Manuel Gouveia

Americas

Adda Vyctoria Caetano is a trans Black quilombola woman, artist, cultural producer and leader of her community, the Quilombo Conceichocéo dos Caetanos in Brazil’s northern state of Cear. As National Coordinator of CONAQ’s LGBTQIAPN+ Collective, she works to strengthen the political organisation and visibility of LGBTQIAPN+ people within the quilombola (the term quilombolo’ refers to communities of Black ancestry linked to the slave of resistancery in Brazil), her role in CONAQ’s National Collective of Quilombola Women. Facing threats, intimidation, online attacks and attempts tocredit dis dis her public leadership roles, she has built support networks and turned individual threats into collective protection. Every advocacy for the LGBTQIAPN+ community and defence of quilombola rights are steadfast.

“I fight for ownership of our territories because territory is life, ancestry and the future. I fight so that no one has to hide who they are in order to have the right to belong.” Adda Vyctoria Caetano

Asia and the Pacific

Umar Khalid is a well known name in India today. To those who try to silence his work, he is an “enemy of the state” and an “antinational”, but to others, he is a national hero, a voice of the people, and a human rights defender. For the last six years, Umar Khalid has been shackled behind bars for his leadership in the peaceful and democratic civil movement against the unconstitutional and anti-Muslim amendments to India’s citizenship laws. The law, which accompanied increasingly hostile climate of growing Hindu nationalism, threatens to disproportionately strip Muslims of documentation and legal status. Umar Khalid, with a steady trajectory defending students’, minorities’ and citizens’ rights, is seen as one of the key voices speaking out out against this injustice. Several major international human rights organisations, as well as the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, have highlighted the illegality of his arrest and detention.[see https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2026/02/20/international-ngos-call-for-the-immediate-release-of-umar-khalid-in-india/]

“We won’t respond to violence with violence. We won’t respond to hate with hate. If they spread hate, we will respond to it with love.”

Because he remains jailed, Umar Khalid was unable to travel to Dublin to receive his receive Award.

Europe and Central Asia

Ljiljana Nešić is a Serbian human rights defender, feminist, and peace activist who has advanced and protected women’s rights for more than 33 years. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to supporting women victims of domestic and intimate partner violence (including that perpetrated by soldiers who returned from the Yugoslav wars), advocating for gender equality, women’s safety, and access to justice, with a particular focus on women living in rural andalised margin communities in southern Serbia. She is now the President of ‘ene za mir (Women For Peace). She has faced detention, defamation, threats, including threats of sexual violence, and hacking. The threats have increased significantly in the last few years, and in December 2025 her home was broken into ransacked in what is believed to be an act of intimidation. She says she has never felt as unsafe in her work as she does now, but she continues.

“Let your courage be gentle. Let your word be a bridge. And let your heart never settle for a world where women are silent and peace is a privilege.”

Middle East and North Africa

Ahmadreza Haeri is an Iranian Kurdish human rights defender and anti-death penalty campaigner who has dedicated his life to defending the dignity and fundamental rights others. On 9 September 2026, he was released after three and a years half of imprisonment, during which physical assault, solitary confinement nor judicial harassmented succeed in silencing his courageous defence of prisoners ’ rights, including their right life. Ahmadreza is one of the initiators of the “No to Death Penalty on Tuesdays” campaign, a grassroots, prisoner-led movement against prisoner executions in Iran. For years, Iran has typically been among the world’s most prolific state executioner, and executions announced in 2025, with at least 2,159 people hanged, according to Amnesty International. Prisoners across tens of prisons now participate in the weekly hunger strikes each Tuesday (executions are often scheduled on Wednesdays) despite pity consequences.

“They are seeking death, while we are fighting for life. I am certain that in our struggle for the right to life, there is no defeat.” Ahmadreza Haeri

*Despite being recently released, Ahmadreza Haeri remains in Iran and was also unable to travel to Dublin to receive his Award due to security reasons.

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/tr/node/9395

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New Amnesty International report ‘We Start With the Verdict’ on Pegasus surveillance by Morocco

October 7, 2026

On 6 October 2026, Al Jazeera and others tell the story:

Omar Radi is a journalist and human rights defender from Morocco. His case is among four detailed in a new Amnesty International report, We Start With the Verdict: Inside Morocco’s Surveillance Machine, produced with 14 media organisations and coordinated by the international network of journalists Forbidden Stories.

The other three are Fouad Abdelmoumni, a veteran activist; Abdessadak El Bouchattaoui, a human rights lawyer; and Hicham Mansouri, a journalist in exile who had been imprisoned in 2015 on charges of adultery and sexual exploitation, which Amnesty describes as trumped-up.

Authorities in Morocco operate an expansive and vast surveillance apparatus that combines digital and analogue tools to track, monitor and ultimately silence journalists, activists and other critical voices, Amnesty International said in a new report. 

We start with the verdict: Inside Morocco’s surveillance machine reveals how Moroccan authorities use unlawful surveillance to target human rights defenders, journalists and other dissenting voices and subject them to criminal prosecutions, judicial harassment and other forms of repression in violation of their rights to privacy, liberty, and freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.  

“Morocco has wholly embraced techno-authoritarian practices, acquiring a wide range of surveillance technologies to establish and enable a repressive system specifically designed to instill fear among human rights activists and journalists, silence their voices and obstruct their work inside and outside Morocco,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. 

Morocco has repeatedly denied using spyware to spy on its citizens. However, new evidence obtained by Amnesty International including whistleblower testimony, leaked surveillance data, government spyware targeting records and material from companies selling surveillance tools proves the opposite. Drawing on this evidence, the organization documents not only the range of tools and techniques used to target dissent, but the web of international vendors providing them. 

“Our report provides the most detailed picture to date of the tools deployed by the Moroccan authorities, such as high-tech spyware, audio bugging systems and trackers to spy on journalists, human rights defenders and other individuals. Morocco’s surveillance tools are purchased from corporate actors based in Israel, the EU and the United States of America, and including NSO Group, the now defunct Italian spyware company Hacking Team, now known as Memento Labs, and the British-German network of companies Gamma Group and FinFisher.  Agnès Callamard, Amnesty Internation’s Secretary General

“This is another demonstration of a global economy of techno-oppression, enabled by companies and States failing to uphold their obligations under international law. 

“This repressive ecosystem makes it difficult, and dangerous for people in Morocco to exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Even after they have been released from prison, they continue to live under the shadow of surveillance and are subject to smear campaigns with private details that can only be obtained through surveillance. Moroccan authorities must immediately end the unlawful surveillance of human rights defenders and journalists,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.  

Forensic evidence unearthed by Amnesty International demonstrates how human rights defenders were targeted using multiple infection methods, including physical infection of devices; 1-click attacks, which typically rely on the victim clicking on a malicious link; zero-click attacks, which can infect a target without them having to click a link, or take any action; and network injection attacks, delivered via the state-owned Maroc Telecom network. 

Amnesty International had previously published the first ever forensic evidence confirming Pegasus spyware infections of the mobile phones of human rights defenders and activists in Morocco.  

This new report now identifies the Direction Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire (DGST), as the entity responsible for the deployment of Pegasus spyware in Morocco, and the extensively documented abuses of Pegasus against activists and journalists between 2017 and 2021 despite previous denials by Moroccan authorities.  

A whistleblower, known by the pseudonym Safir, is a former DGST employee. In multiple interviews conducted over several years, he described the inner operations of the DGST and detailed the wide range of surveillance tools and techniques used by the agency. Amnesty International corroborated key aspects of Safir’s testimony with independent sources, technical evidence and interviews with human rights defenders.  …….

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/05/05/nso-versus-whatsapp-continues-in-court/

https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/morocco-surveillance-used-to-silence-journalists-and-activists

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2026/10/6/moroccan-journalists-recount-years-of-surveillance-amid-new-amnesty-claim

https://www.spsrasd.info/en/2026/10/02/18007.html

https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr-ryan/our-work/carr-ryan-commentary/choosing-not-see-what-paragons-admissions-and

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NGOs call for the release of Egyptian investigative journalism platform Matsadaash

October 6, 2026

On 30 September 2026 the MENA Rigths Group and partner organisations called for the immediate release of six journalists working at the independent investigative journalism platform Matsadaash.

Photo collage of the six Egyptian Matsadaash journalists, arrested between September 28 and 29, 2026, courtesy of The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP).

We, the undersigned civil society organisations and independent media outlets, come together to condemn the escalating crackdown on independent Egyptian investigative journalism platform Matsadaash, which now includes the arrest of six journalists, constituting the entirety of the newsroom.

Late into the evening of Monday, September 28 and early Tuesday, September 29, 2026, Egyptian security forces conducted raids on the homes of journalists Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emeira and Abdallah Qadry and took them into custody. Raids on the homes of other journalists working for the platform continued across several governorates over the hours to come. By the end of the day on Tuesday, Islam Barakat and Omar Helal were arrested at their homes in Gharbiya and Port Said, and Mohamed Mahmoud and Mohamed Adel were arrested in Cairo.

During the home raids, officers confiscated phones and laptops, including devices belonging to family members; refused to display a warrant; and refused to disclose where the journalists were being taken. As of the writing of this statement, the reasons for their arrest has not been shared and their location remains unknown. 

In 2018, Matsadaash was founded by a group of Egyptian journalists committed to producing in-depth reporting and open-source investigations. Matsadaash has operated openly for years and has built a reputation for credible and accurate reporting on a range of public interest issues across Egypt. The detained Matsadaash journalists are known across the region. 

This is not the first time that Matsadaash has come under attack by the Egyptian authorities. In 2023, a Matsadaash editor was arrested. Although he was ultimately released 48 hours later, the platform has also previously been the target of smear campaigns intended to silence its critical work. Egypt is one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, with 19 currently behind bars.

We, the undersigned, call on Egyptian authorities to immediately release Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emeira, Abdallah Qadry, Islam Barakat, Omar Helal, Mohamed Mahmoud, and Mohamed Adel from custody.

Signatories

  • Access Now
  • Aegis Safety Alliance
  • Agência Lupa
  • AITAS
  • AlJumhuriya Collective – Syria 
  • Al Manassa
  • American Committee for Middle East Rights (ACMER)
  • ARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism)
  • ARTICLE 19
  • Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)
  • Beam Reports 
  • Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
  • Center for International Policy (CIP)
  • Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
  • Daraj Media 
  • Delfi Estonia Fact-Check
  • Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
  • Egyptian Front for Human Rights
  • Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF)
  • Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
  • EgyptWide for Human Rights
  • Electronic Frontier Foundation
  • Ellinika Hoaxes – Greece
  • El Nadim Center against Violence and Torture
  • EuroMed Rights
  • FactCheck Georgia
  • FactReview 
  • FairSquare
  • Fareq Platform
  • Full Fact
  • Global Voices
  • Gohoud to Support Human Rights Defenders
  • Greece Fact Check
  • Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
  • Hibrid.info
  • Hounna Feminist Platform
  • Human Rights Watch
  • HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
  • INSM
  • International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
  • International Fact-Checking Network
  • International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
  • Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms
  • Kawaakibi Foundation
  • Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF)
  • Mada Masr 
  • Medical Dialofuss
  • MENA Rights Group
  • Muwatin Media Network
  • Najda Human Rights
  • Newtral
  • OCCRP
  • Pagella Politica / Facta news
  • PEN Lebanon 
  • Press Trust of India
  • Project Kontinuum
  • PolitiFact
  • Politiken
  • Raseef22
  • Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE)
  • Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
  • Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center
  • REDWORD for Human Rights & Freedom of Expression
  • Samir Kassir Foundation
  • Share3 Media 
  • Sinai Foundation for Human Rights 
  • SMEX
  • Start Point Organization
  • Syria Justice and Accountability Center
  • Syrian Journalists Association (SJA)
  • Taafi initiative
  • Tafnied for Fact-Checking
  • Tech4Peace 
  • The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession (ACIJLP)
  • The Checker – Iraq
  • The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
  • The Public Source 
  • The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)
  • Women for Justice Foundation
  • Verificat 
  • Verify 

https://menarights.org/en/articles/ngos-call-release-entire-newsroom-egyptian-investigative-journalism-platform-matsadaash

https://www.icj.org/egypts-matsda2sh-case-end-the-crackdown-on-media-workers-with-fake-terrorism-charges

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