On Human Rights Day, HURIDOCS hosted a webinar to showcase the critical role of documentation and technology in protecting defenders, advocating for the rights of those who are wrongfully detained and supporting those who are detained to claim their rights. This webinar featured four initiatives that recently collaborated with HURIDOCS to safeguard those who champion human rights:
The Observatory for Human Rights Defenders in Chiapas
SOS-Defenders
Detention Landscapes
Papuans Behind Bars
Welcoming remarks: Danna Ingleton, Executive Director, HURIDOCS Speakers:
Karla Jiménez Montoya, Movilidades Libres y Elegidas (CoLibres)
Giuseppe Scirocco, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
On Human Rights Day 2024, in the year of its 35th anniversary, the North-South Centre celebrated the invaluable contributions of young people to the promotion and protection of Human Rights. Over the years, youth have played important roles as experts, multipliers, representatives, and active participants in our initiatives.
Young people are essential stakeholders in any meaningful effort to protect and strengthen Human Rights. The new Human Rights Education for Youth (HEY) programme is a reflection of that approach. It seeks to contribute to an increased youth capacity to engage in Human Rights protection through further awareness about European and International standards, and how they can be used by young people to protect themselves and their communities.
HEY joins a series of initiatives by the North South Centre where young people lead the way in championing Human Rights. These include the Rule of Law Youth Network, and the many activities in the field of Global Education and Youth Cooperation, such as the Youth Summer Universities that have engaged thousands of young people from all over the world. The youth focus was also present at the 2024 North-South intercultural conference, which resulted in the Kotor Declaration, with recommendations on youth initiatives to combat racist and xenophobic acts through computer systems.
As the world marked Human Rights Day, Canada reiterated the importance of the protection and promotion of human rights defenders and their critical work. Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced $1.85 million in funding for two projects that support child human rights defenders and a free and independent media worldwide.
Canada is contributing $850,000 to a three-year project led by Child Rights Connect to empower, to protect and promote the rights of child human rights defenders, who are increasingly engaged in global human rights challenges, without the same legal protections as adults. This funding will help Child Rights Connect promote safe and sustainable human rights advocacy by child human rights defenders in Togo, Thailand, Moldova and Brazil.
Canada will also contribute an additional $1 million to the Global Media Defence Fund, bringing Canada’s total contribution to the fund to $4 million. Administered by UNESCO, the Global Media Defence Fund works to enhance the protection of journalists and media organizations so they can carry out their critical work without fear of violence, censorship or intimidation. The fund will also ensure public access to diverse and reliable sources of news and information. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/02/12/investigative-journalism-in-arab-states-the-threats-to-journalists/]
“In the face of growing challenges to human rights globally, the work of human rights defenders and the protection of media freedom are more important than ever. Canada stands unwavering in its commitment to working with partners to safeguard and expand the protection and promotion of human rights defenders and journalists around the world.” – Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders honors individuals and organizations who have shown exceptional commitment to defending human rights, despite the risks involved. The Martin Ennals Award aims to support the tireless struggles of these activists.[For more on the award and its laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/043F9D13-640A-412C-90E8-99952CA56DCE]
To qualify for the Award 2025, the nominees must:
Be currently active in the promotion and protection of human rights
Not employ or advocate violence
Not be self-nominated
Be in need of protection
We encourage nominations of activists under 30 years of age to reflect the growing number of young persons joining the human rights movements in their countries. Post-humous nominations are not eligible. The deadline for nominations is open ended for now. Nominees must also read and acknowledge the Martin Ennals Foundation Ethical Guidelines.
Nominate your human rights champion now by filling out the nomination form (available in ENGLISH, FRENCH) and send it to info@martinennalsaward.org.
The Martin Ennals Award is a unique collaboration between ten of the world’s leading human rights organizations, who form the independent Jury that selects winners of the Award. In the first half of each year, a nomination cycle takes place over several months, at the end of which the winners of the Martin Ennals Award — or Laureates — are selected by the Jury. The names of the Laureates will be publicly announced to the public shortly before the ceremony. Mark your calendar for the Award Ceremony 2025 which will take place in the third trimester of the year in Geneva.
Learn more about the nomination process and our ethical guidelines here:
Each year the Rafto award goes to a person or an organization who stands up for human rights and democracy. Please make a nomination. Annual deadline is 1 February.
Each year we announce the recipient of the Rafto Prize in the end of September at a press conference at the Rafto House in Bergen. The announcement is live streamed on our website and on Facebook.
Questions?
For questions regarding nominations, please contact the Secretary of the Committee, Liv Unni Stuhaug, livunni.stuhaug@rafto.no
On International Human Rights Day, the Open Society Foundations reaffirmed their vision for a shared humanity where everyone can thrive, continuing the philanthropy’s role as the world’s largest private funder promoting rights, equity, and justice.
Under the leadership of Chair Alex Soros, the philanthropy is streamlining its programming to support new voices and approaches that align with today’s emerging forms of organizing and leadership. The Foundations will pursue targeted time-bound efforts, provide long-term institutional support, and retain the flexibility to respond to crises through rapid response funds.
Binaifer Nowrojee, president of the Open Society Foundations, said:
Across the world, we are seeing inspiring and powerful movements working to shape a future framed by human rights. Standing with them as allies, we will deepen, broaden, reimagine, and catalyze efforts to advance a new vision of human rights that is not bounded by historic double standards, exclusions, and inequities.
We are crafting and implementing thoughtful, future-focused strategies for change that will leverage gains made through key openings and convert them into wins. Our investments will aim to work with groups to build on and sustain these wins over time. We are committed to listening and to being informed by the needs of allies leading the fights for rights, equity, and justice.
The commitments include multiyear investments across a broad range of issues and geographies, including:
Rights protection: Supporting human rights advocacy as well as protection of rights defenders at risk, particularly environmental and women’s groups
Inclusion: Ensuring marginalized and vulnerable groups can fully exercise their rights without fear of violence or discrimination
Public safety: Promoting communities-centered approaches to tackling repressive or militarized responses to violence and public safety
Accountability: Supporting human rights–based litigation in national, regional, and international courts
Political participation: Supporting new champions and nonpartisan movements of inclusive and accountable democratic practice in specific countries and globally
Economic rights: Developing and promoting new state-led economic models for a green transformation to advance economic and social rights
In 2025, Open Society will be approving further programming to promote rights, equity, and justice.
Open Society has also approved funding across other areas, including ideas, impact investing, advocacy, and higher education.
The “Life is hanging on by a thread” campaign will shine a light on the countless stories of human rights defenders and environmentalists who risk their lives for their causes.
On September 14, Juan Antonio López, a city council member and environmental activist was murdered in Honduras. He was a member of the Mesoamerican Ecclesial Network and international organizations recognized his work. His assassination underscored the vulnerable situation of human rights defenders and leaders throughout Latin America.
In response, the Latin American Bishops’ Conference, together with the Platform for Peace, Democracy, and Human Rights and the Latin American Protection Community, is launching the campaign “Life is hanging on by a thread.”
The official launch of the campaign is scheduled for December 10, which will be held virtually to bring representatives from all over Latin America. It will coincide with events being held in Honduras to honour López.
The goal of the “Life is hanging on by a thread” campaign is to shine a light on symbolic cases of human rights and environmental defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean. Various testimonies of people defending human rights and indigenous peoples will come to light.
Promoters of the campaign stress its importance because “situations like the murder of Juan Antonio López are not isolated events, but part of a systematic pattern in Latin America, one of the deadliest regions for environmental and human rights defenders.” Global Witness, an international NGO, reports that 85% of environmental defenders who were killed in 2023 took place in Latin America. Specifically, in Honduras, 18 environmentalists were murdered last year. [see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/09/18/global-witness-2023-2024-annual-report-violent-erasure-of-land-and-environmental-defenders/]
Juan Antonio López was an environmentalist killed on September 14, 2024
The campaign will end on December 10, 2025, coinciding with the Jubilee of Hope.
Here a few highlights for this year from UN and NGOs sources:
While commemorating the 76th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “human rights are under assault”. “Whether economic, social, civic, cultural or political, when one right is undermined, all rights are undermined,” Guterres said in a post on X. “Let’s protect, defend and uphold all human rights for all people,” he added. In a video message, The UN secretary-general said “we must stand up for all rights — always.”
..As we mark Human Rights Day 2024, we are reminded that human rights are not abstract ideals. They are vital tools for addressing these pressing challenges and advancing dignity and justice for all.
… the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works to support human rights solutions that strengthen accountability, protect communities and foster peace, recovery, and stability. This includes partnering with National Human Rights Institutions, which often represent the frontline defenders of human rights. … Local initiatives also remain key. That includes women in Somalia who are being supported to lead peace efforts including assisting those facing violence, discrimination, and injustice. “I have resolved numerous local disputes…I feel motivated when I see I have been able to change people’s lives positively,” says Fatuma who led a local Peace Working Group.
As the accelerating climate emergency threatens the ability of current and future generations to enjoy their right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, UNDP is focusing on access to justice, working with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and OHCHR to help communities claim their rights. …The private sector also has a pivotal role to play. UNDP supports the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights including to advance sustainable practices that protect the environment. Indeed, technology offers both risks and opportunities to advance human rights. The Global Digital Compact aims to create an inclusive, open, safe, and secure digital space that respects, protects and promotes human rights. Tech-enabled UNDP tools like iVerify and eMonitor+ deployed in over 25 countries to monitor and address false narratives and hate speech show the potential. It is now crucial to adopt a rights-based approach to technologies like A.I., addressing ethical challenges, protecting data, and tackling biases to mitigate risks today and unlock immense benefits for the generations to come. [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/09/27/united-nations-adopts-ground-breaking-pact-for-the-future-to-transform-global-governance/]
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The NGO Index on Censorship spotlights four people standing up for human rights around the world:
Despite the declaration, all around the world human rights are being challenged, degraded and attacked. That is why this year, on Human Rights Day, we pay tribute to five human rights defenders who have worked tirelessly to defend people’s rights and have been persecuted as a result.
Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO at Index on Censorship said: “In this increasingly polarised and authoritarian world these people stand out as beacons of hope and light. It’s depressing to think that over 75 years since the Declaration, we still need a day like this but that should not detract from the bravery and fortitude of these people. May their example show us all how we can all better fight injustice.”
Marfa Rabkova (Belarus) Marfa Rabkova is a human rights defender who has been behind bars since 17 September 2020. She has long been targeted by the Belarusian authorities as a result of her civic activism. Marfa became head of the volunteer service at the Human Rights Centre Viasna in 2019. During the 2020 presidential election, she joined the “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” campaign, which registered over 1,500 election observers. When peaceful protests began to take place after the election, she helped document evidence of torture and violence against demonstrators. Marfa was indicted on a long list of charges, including inciting social hostility to the government and leading a criminal organisation. She was sentenced to 14 years and 9 months in prison in September 2022, after nearly two years of pre-trial detention. Index on Censorship calls for her immediate and unconditional release. See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2021/03/22/belarus-end-reprisals-against-human-rights-defenders/
The Turkish government has refused to respond to allegations of systematic repression against individuals allegedly affiliated with the Gülen movement made by United Nations special rapporteurs, according to official documents published on Friday by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In a joint letter dated October 7, 2024, seven UN special rapporteurs asked the Turkish government about alleged measures of “systematic repression against persons ostensibly affiliated with the Gülen Movement through the misuse of counter-terrorism legislation, and the concomitant impact on civil society, human rights defenders, political dissidents, and journalists.”
The allegations center on Turkey’s treatment of people allegedly associated with the faith-based Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen.
In its response via a diplomatic note dated October 30, the Turkish government refrained from answering the allegations brought up by the special rapporteurs and instead listed their accusations against the Gülen movement and requested the “Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council not to allow FETÖ and its members to abuse these mechanisms, and to dismiss their allegations.”
FETÖ is a derogatory acronym used to refer to the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been pursuing followers of the Gülen movement since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-Prime Minister Erdoğan and some members of his family and his inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch in 2016 that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement has strongly denied involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
The rapporteurs outlined practices they say violate international human rights laws, including arbitrary arrests, torture, transnational renditions and surveillance abuses.
The UN Rapporteurs said these individuals face intensified crackdowns involving mass detentions, forced disappearances and unjust prosecutions under vague anti-terrorism laws. Between June 2023 and June 2024, more than 8,800 people were detained and 1,500 were charged with terrorism offenses, they said.
Among the rapporteurs’ chief concerns was the treatment of children detained as part of these operations. In May 2024, 16 children were arrested in İstanbul and allegedly subjected to psychological pressure, physical torture and denial of legal counsel. The UN rapporteurs described these actions as clear violations of international protections for children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The rapporteurs also criticized Turkey’s use of public “grey lists,” wanted lists where individuals — ranging from journalists to human rights defenders — are labeled as terrorists, often without evidence or due process. These lists, which include photos and personal details, are made public alongside monetary rewards for information leading to their capture. This practice, according to the rapporteurs, endangers lives, undermines freedoms and creates a “hitman economy.”
Another key concern involved transnational renditions. The rapporteurs alleged that Turkey has systematically abducted and forcibly returned suspected Gülen affiliates from other countries under vague bilateral security agreements. Victims were reportedly detained in secret, subjected to torture and coerced into confessions used in prosecutions.
The misuse of surveillance powers also drew heavy criticism. Turkey’s intelligence agency was accused of fabricating evidence from the ByLock messaging app to convict thousands of people on tenuous charges of affiliation with the Gülen movement. The UN noted that such actions lack due process and violate privacy rights under international law.
The rapporteurs called on Turkey to address these alleged violations, halt ongoing abuses and ensure compliance with international human rights standards. They expressed particular concern about the government’s expansive interpretation of anti-terrorism laws, which they argue target legitimate political activity, dissent and human rights advocacy.
The letter was authored by seven UN special rapporteurs and a UN expert, including Mary Lawlor, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Alice Jill Edwards, special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism. Other contributors included Gabriella Citroni, chair-rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and Irene Khan, special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression.
On 4 December 2024, Aytan Farhadova in OC media reported that human rights defender Rufat Safarov was detained in Azerbaijan a week before he was set to be awarded the Human Rights Defender of the Year award by US State Secretary Antony Blinken. That day, Safarov’s lawyer, Elchin Sadigov, posted on Facebook that Safarov was accused of hooliganism and fraud resulting in major damage.
Sadigov later posted a message written by Safarov, in which he explained that he was planning to visit the US two days after receiving his visa in order to accept the Global Human Rights Defender Award from Blinken. [not totally clear which award is referred to – ed]
‘So I was awarded as a strong human rights defender of the year. Because the United States initially nominated me, I express my deep gratitude to [Mark] Libby, the US Ambassador in Azerbaijan, and Mr Blinken, US Secretary of State, who supported my candidacy.’
State Department’s Deputy Spokesperson, Vedant Patel, during a press briefing on Tuesday, said: We’re deeply concerned by reports that human rights defender Rufat Safarov has been detained in Azerbaijan’, Patel said, adding that they were ‘closely monitoring the case.’
Frank Schwabe, the head of the German delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), criticised Safaravo’s arrest, saying that PACE will ‘respond to this in January’.
Safarov, a former prosecutor’s office official who spoke out against human rights abuses by the government, was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of bribery, fraud, and human rights violations in 2016. He was released from prison alongside almost 400 others after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued an amnesty to mark Novruz in 2019.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 