Back from a short (Orthodox) holiday I resume my efforts to keep you abreast of developments relevant to Human Rights Defenders. The first item is that the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has finally come into force. It enables people to seek justice through individual complaints when their rights to, for example, food, adequate housing, education or health are violated. “Egregious violations of economic, social and cultural rights are occurring, often unnoticed, on a daily basis, which in the area of civil and political rights would have been immediately condemned. This Protocol will help to address this imbalance,” High Commissioner Navi Pillay said. Read the rest of this entry »
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 