share information on human rights defenders, with special focus on human rights awards and laureates
Judi Aldalati is a Syrian journalist, a researcher and human rights defender. She told ISHR how seeing the early days of the Arab Spring led her to pursue the defence of human rights and shared her aspirations for the future of Syria amidst the uncertainty that has followed the collapse of the Assad regime.
https://ishr.ch/defender-stories/human-rights-defenders-story-judi-aldalati-from-syria
ISHR launched a new report that summarises and assesses progress and challenges over the past decade in relation to initiatives to protect human rights defenders in the context of business frameworks, guidance, initiatives and tools that have emerged at local, national and regional levels. The protection of human rights defenders in relation to business activities is vital.
Defenders play a crucial role in safeguarding human rights and environmental standards against adverse impacts of business operations globally. Despite their essential work, defenders frequently face severe risks, including threats, surveillance, legal and judicial harassment, and violence.
According to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), more than 6,400 attacks on defenders linked to business activities have been documented over the past decade, emphasising the urgency of addressing these challenges. While this situation is not new, and civil society organisations have constantly pushed for accountability for and prevention of these attacks, public awareness of the issue increased with early efforts to raise the visibility of defenders at the Human Rights Council and the adoption of key thematic resolutions, as well as raising defenders’ voices at other foras like the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights.
The report ‘Business Frameworks and Actions to Support Human Rights Defenders: a Retrospective and Recommendations’ takes stock of the frameworks, tools, and advocacy developed over the last decade to protect and support human rights defenders in the context of business activities and operations.
| The report examines how various standards have been operationalised through company policies, investor guidance, multi-stakeholder initiatives, legal reforms, and sector-specific commitments. At the same time, it highlights how despite these advancements, the actual implementation by businesses remains inadequate. Effective corporate action remains insufficient, highlighting a critical gap that must be urgently addressed to ensure defenders can safely carry out their vital work protecting human rights and environmental justice. In order to address this, drawing on case studies, civil society tracking tools, and policy analysis, the report identifies key barriers to effective protection and proposes targeted recommendations. |
Gladys Mbuya is a lawyer by profession, a human rights defender, and a peace crusader. She is the founder of the Liberal Law Office in Cameroon and serves as the president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers for Cameroon. She also holds a role as a traditional leader.
Her work centres on promoting the recognition and respect of human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls. She represents women and girls in court who cannot afford legal fees and actively advocates for the revision of laws that discriminate against them.
Gladys faced intimidation, threats, and even attempts at arrest for her activism, yet remains steadfast in her mission. She has defended numerous individuals – including prominent activists – in cases involving arbitrary detention and violations of free expression and assembly. She was part of the legal team that defended Mimi Mefo, Ndoki Michèle, and Agbor Balla, which led to their cases being dropped at the court.
‘Human rights defence work is a noble cause. The international community should continue standing by human rights defenders. They should increase the volume of political pressure on our governments for them to fulfil their obligations under all the international conventions they have ratified.’
Sixteen activists completed the 2025 Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme in Geneva to strengthen their advocacy skills. During the programme, they called for reforms to the UN human rights system, and helped secure the renewal of the expert mandate on sexual orientation and gender identity.
After two months of intensive online training, sixteen dedicated human rights defenders from across the globe came together to Geneva for the on-site part of ISHR’s 2025 Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme (HRDAP25). Through learning, dialogue, and direct engagement with UN mechanisms, they strengthened their advocacy skills and built lasting connections with peers, UN experts, diplomats, and civil society allies. [see https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/11/27/ishrs-training-for-human-rights-defenders-2025/]
Held from 9 to 20 June 2025, the on-site part of HRDAP25 took place during the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council. The programme blended online learning with face-to-face sessions in Geneva. Defenders explored UN human rights mechanisms such as the Human Rights Council, Special Procedures, Universal Periodic Review, and Treaty Bodies. They practiced advocacy techniques, developed strategic roadmaps, and engaged directly with mechanisms to push for real change at home.
It was intensive but very good. The platform is so user friendly, everyone can learn and take time to revisit, consult, see examples, and ask questions. The possibility to have online sessions and work in groups was very useful for me. Elena Petrovska, LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey, North Macedonia
Participants came from a wide range of regions and contexts, including Colombia, Guatemala, Nigeria, Indonesia, Tunisia, Lebanon, Nepal, India, Uganda, Cameroon, Syria, North Macedonia, Tibet and Sierra Leone. Their work focuses on LGBTIQ+ rights, environmental justice, transitional justice, gender equality, protection of migrants, business and human rights, and the protection of communities at risk.
Each day was filled with learning opportunities, advocacy and reflection. In April and May, the group enjoyed online training and coaching sessions which were then built upon with a packed in-person programme that gave participants the background preparation needed to engage with the various mechanisms and relevant stakeholders while in Geneva. They applied and practiced the knowledge and skills gained in a few different ways, which included: an NGO breakfast with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, where participants could ask very detailed and pertinent questions about the current situation; a brown bag lunch with experts from the Committee on Civil and Political Rights, where the group received first person tips on how to submit information and engage with Treaty Bodies; and meetings with UN Special Procedures (Business and human rights, Climate Change, Enforced Disappearances, Extreme Poverty) and their staff, were participants could start personal relationships with those experts and share their advocacy journey and plans.
Photo: ISHR
Defenders also participated in a powerful public side event about the reform of the UN human rights system. They shared lived experiences and challenges with over 30 States, calling for deeper access, stronger accountability, and genuine inclusion in the ongoing UN80 reform process. Laura Restrepo from Colombia reflected: ‘The UN must look inward and acknowledge its own colonial legacies — in who speaks, who decides, and whose knowledge counts. It must shift power toward grassroots and frontline communities.’
Throughout the programme, defenders stood up for key causes. Several participants joined the global campaign to #RenewIESOGI, advocating for the continuation of the UN mandate on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Their voices contributed to a successful outcome: the Human Rights Council renewed the mandate for three more years, reaffirming its importance as a tool to combat discrimination and protect LGBTIQ+ communities.
Photo: ISHR
The sense of care and community ran deep. HRDAP helped participants’ work grounded in the values of solidarity and justice, and built their confidence to keep advocating at all levels. HRDAP25 not only provided skills and relevant exposure but also created a space for collaboration and resilience. Speaking during the public side event on UN reform, Pooja Patel, ISHR’s Deputy Executive Director, reminded States: ‘Human rights defenders are not only on the front lines of crises, they are on the front lines of solutions.’
Angélique is a Malagasy environmental and community rights defender who founded the Razany Vohibola Association in 2016. She represents over 3,000 villagers from four communities near the Vohibola Forest and leads efforts to preserve one of Madagascar’s last remaining primary forests.
Under her leadership, and in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment, villagers have formed patrols to monitor and protect the forest against illegal logging, poaching, and the growing impacts of climate change. Angélique and her community face ongoing threats, including direct intimidation and violence from the authorities. One of her colleagues, patrol officer Mick, was killed for speaking out against illegal land grabbing, yet his death remains unpunished by local authorities.
Despite these grave risks, Angélique continues to advocate for justice and environmental protection. She also calls for structural change, urging the Malagasy government to pass a law that protects human rights defenders and holds public officials accountable.
There is currently no law to protect human rights defenders in Madagascar. We need this law to pass. The army and the gendarmes must be trained to understand who we are so they can become our allies.
‘What we need first is peace. (…) The international community, the UN, has the ability to end what’s happening in eastern RDC – what is happening today in the East is truly alarming.’
Judith Maroy is a Congolese journalist and human rights defender from Bukavu, in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Judith began her advocacy work through LUCHA, a youth-led citizen movement demanding social justice, democratic governance, and equality. She later became a journalist with La Prunelle RDC and co-founded a local organisation advocating for the rights of women, youth, and Indigenous communities.
She is calling for a just, peaceful Congo where young people have opportunities, women’s voices are heard, and no one is displaced in their own country.
On 30 June 2025, ISHR launched its updated Reprisals Handbook in four languages (English, Simplified Chinese, Uyghur and Tibetan), an essential resource for all stakeholders concerned about intimidation and reprisals against those cooperating with international or regional human rights systems.
The UN as well as regional human rights bodies are often the last space where human rights defenders, rights holders, victims and witnesses can denounce violations and abuses. They must be free and safe to cooperate with and give evidence and testimony to these human rights bodies. They must be protected against any form of intimidation or reprisal in association with this engagement.
This handbook is aimed first and foremost at human rights defenders who engage with regional and international human rights systems. The focus is in particular on the United Nations (UN) human rights system, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
The handbook highlights the risks that defenders can face from interacting with those systems, and suggests ways in which defenders can leverage the weight of the UN and regional human rights mechanisms to provide some degree of protection against those risks. In doing so, it does not aim to provide a fully comprehensive protection solution. In all cases, defenders should consider which option might be best, based on the context and particulars of a case.
ISHR also aims at diversifying the formats available for defenders to access relevant content, including by publishing a Reprisals Toolkit and a video in the languages mentioned above.
For more information on how to use the UN bodies and mechanisms referred to throughout this handbook, visit the ISHR Academy, which provides free courses in English, Spanish and French.
https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/new-ishr-handbook-on-reprisals-for-human-rights-defenders
ISHR and the Colectivo 46/2 condemn the assassination of opposition leader Samcam Ruìz by the Nicaraguan Government.
In the joint letter published on 23 June 2025 The 46/2 Collective denounces to the international community the assassination of retired Nicaraguan Army Major Roberto Samcam Ruíz, which took place on 19 June in his home in San José, Costa Rica.
Samcam Ruíz was a strong voice of denunciation against the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship, denouncing the Nicaraguan army and pointing it out as a participant in the repression and extrajudicial executions committed since 2018. He had also denounced an espionage network against opposition refugees in Costa Rica.
The retired major was one of the 94 Nicaraguans denationalised in February 2023 by the dictatorship and since 11 July 2018 had been a refugee in Costa Rica due to persecution and criminalisation by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. He obtained Spanish nationality on 26 July 2023.
The assassination of the former retired military officer is not the first attack against opponents on Costa Rican soil. In 2023, opposition member Joao Maldonado and his wife were shot at with the clear intention of killing them. Maldonado had already suffered another attack in 2021, also in San José, Costa Rica. In 2022, the Nicaraguan opposition leader Rodolfo Rojas was found dead in Honduras. According to relatives, he had been lured to Honduras from Costa Rica, where he had gone into exile. To the list must be added the murder of another refugee, Jaime Luis Ortega, in 2024, in Upala, a canton on the border with Nicaragua. Following these events, Roberto Samcam had spoken to the press, pointing out the direct involvement of the Ortega Murillo regime and indicating that he knew that his life was at risk.
Although the investigations into Samcam’s murder are ongoing, the circumstances of the murder and the profile of the victim raise strong suspicions that it may be a political crime with possible transnational links. This murder takes place in a context in which various human rights organisations have been documenting a sustained pattern of surveillance, threats, harassment and acts of intimidation directed against Nicaraguans in exile in the region, especially in Costa Rica.
We consider that this crime should be analysed and investigated as part of a broader strategy of transnational repression promoted by the Nicaraguan regime to persecute and silence dissent outside its borders, in open violation of the human rights of refugees and exiles. This transnational repression has been documented by the Group of Experts on Human Rights in Nicaragua (GHREN), who have pointed out that ‘The Government’s repressive actions transcend the country’s borders and affect people who are opponents or perceived as such abroad. The government has also continued to target family members of opponents inside Nicaragua, including children, by mere association, as a way of punishing opponents and/or deterring them from speaking out wherever they are’.
Given the gravity of this crime and the sustained pattern of transnational repression against exiled Nicaraguans, we urgently call on the international community to demand that the Nicaraguan State immediately cease all forms of persecution, surveillance and violence against dissidents in exile. We also request that the international community strengthen political, technical and financial support for the protection mechanisms for human rights defenders in exile. We also urge the establishment of bilateral or multilateral channels of communication with the host countries of Nicaraguans in order to assess the security situation and articulate preventive responses to possible acts of transnational persecution. Finally, we call on international human rights bodies to urgently follow up on these cases as part of a systematic pattern of cross-border repression, and to ensure justice and truth for the victims.
Signatories:
Additional information:
The 46/2 Collective is a coalition of 19 international, regional and Nicaraguan human rights organisations that regularly informs the international community about the lack of action by the Nicaraguan regime to meet its international human rights obligations.
Watch a recording of the statement at an interactive dialogue on the annual report of the High Commissioner by ISHR Executive Director Phil Lynch
High Commissioner, this statement addresses four themes from your update.
First, the work of human rights defenders is essential for the realisation of all human rights. We deplore the criminalisation and arbitrary detention of defenders in all regions. We call for the release of Eduardo Torres in Venezuela, Ibrahim Metwally in Egypt, Mahmoud Khalil in the US, and Sophia Huang Xueqin in China, among thousands of defenders imprisoned globally for their work for freedom and justice.
Second, principled respect for international law protects us from tyranny. The failure of States with influence to end Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, and the double standards of States which fail to condemn Russia’s atrocity crimes in Ukraine, erode the foundations of peace, security and development everywhere.
Third, impunity for atrocity crimes denies justice to victims and fuels violations. This Council should mandate investigative mechanisms on Afghanistan and China. All States should respect international courts and sanction authorities – including US officials – who seek to pervert international justice.
Finally, no business, however efficient, can survive when customers don’t pay their bills. States which don’t pay their UN dues in full or on time, especially the US and China, benefit from the system while causing a liquidity crisis, with devastating human rights impacts. They should lose the right to vote at the General Assembly and the Security Council until they pay their dues. Humanity’s future depends on all States increasing their human rights investment.
Thank you.
This event will take place on 16 June 2025, from 1:00PM – 2:00PM CEST, in Room XXV, of the Palais des Nations in Geneva Add to calendar pdf Download event flyer
In the face of the triple planetary environmental crisis, of conflict, genocide and apartheid, of the consolidation of authoritarian ideologies and narratives around the globe, and the erosion of the rule of law as well as the closing of civic space, never have we needed a robust international human rights system so badly.
But the UN human rights system is in crisis. As essential users and actors of the system, human rights defenders’ views are valuable. The event provides a space to be hearing directly from them not only about why they need an effective, efficient, responsive UN human rights system to support their activism especially in the current context, but also about the ways in which the UN system needs to grow, evolve, adapt and reform itself to deal with the crisis of credibility and legitimacy it is currently facing.
Panelists:
Moderator: Pooja Patel, Deputy Director, ISHR
RSVP Needed: no – Location: Physical
https://ishr.ch/events/defenders-voices-on-reforming-the-un-human-rights-system
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 