Human Rights Defenders Under Threat

                  This post is a summary of a report published with the incomplete title above at https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act30/6011/2017/en/

                   While are increasingly the toxic narratives of fear and division, those who dare to make a stand against injustice and defend human rights are under attack. This report is part of Amnesty International's Global Campaign: "Brave", launched to combat measures by the powerful to threaten and attack human rights defenders (HRD). It provides an overview of the dangers human rights defenders face and calls on those in power to take immediate measures to ensure that human rights defenders are recognized, protected and equipped to conduct their work without fear of attack in a safe environment.  Across the world, toxic narratives of "us versus them" are being used. Those who dare to make a stand for human rights are coming under attack in more and more places, on an alarming scale. They are facing an onslaught of harassment, intimidation, smear campaigns, ill-treatment, and unlawful detention. They are even being killed, just for standing up for what is right. What we are witnessing today is a full-frontal assault by governments, armed groups, corporations and others on the right to defend human rights. Human rights defenders come from all walks of life. They are students, community leaders, journalists, lawyers, victims of abuses, health professionals, teachers, whistle-blowers, environment activists, and more. They are people challenging abuse of power, protecting the environment, defending minorities, standing up against abusive labour conditions. In the face of injustice, discrimination and abuse, they get in the way. The nature of the threat is insidious. The whole ecosystem of protest is being corroded. By taking away their right to protest, putting them under surveillance, and either directly targeting them or failing to protect them from harassment and threats, governments are cutting the oxygen supply to those defending human rights. It is now almost two decades since the international community gathered at the U.N. and adopted the Declaration to protect human rights defenders and recognize them as agents of change, crucial in promoting and protecting human rights. In backing the Declaration, governments promised to support human rights defenders and enable them to work without fear of reprisals. Governments in many countries are adopting policies which make the work of human rights defenders riskier and more difficult. From allow for mass surveillance, to banning access to foreign funding or imposing stringent requirements to register organizations, the space to stand up for human rights is increasingly tight. Meanwhile, human rights defenders are labelled as criminals, undesirables. they are called "foreign agents", "anti-nationals", "terrorists". They are painted as a threat to security, development or traditional values. However, in spite of the assault on peaceful protest, people will not simply roll over and accept injustice. Our spirit of justice is strong and it will not be suppressed. Now more than ever, we need people standing up against injustice and those who undermine human rights. In 1998, 50 years after the adoption of the UDHR, the UN General Assembly reaffirmed the principles of freedom and justice by adopting by consensus the UN Declaration on the Right of Individuals, Groups and Organs to Promote and Protect Human Rights (referred to as the HR Defenders Declaration). Crucially, it places the responsibility on states to implement and respect all of its provisions, particularly the duty to protect HR defenders from harm as a consequence of their work. Today, however, HRDs and the civic space they work is being targeted instead of supported and protected in line with the requirements of the HRDs Declaration. This report explores the measures used to silence them. They range from threats, beatings and even killings to the use of legislation to criminalize human rights-related activities; methods of surveillance and attacks on HRDs' capacity to communicate as well as restrictions on their freedom of movement. It concludes with a series of recommendations to state and non-state actors, as well as regional and international bodies, which must be urgently addressed in order to reverse the ongoing attempts to shrink the space in which HRDs and civil society operate. HRDs are often subjected to personal attacks by governments or non-state actors as a way to deter them from carrying out their work. Whether committed by state or non-state actors, these actions aim to put an end to human rights activities and to send a message to others that they should refrain from defending human rights. Rarely a day goes by without reports of attacks against of HRDs. According to Front Line Defenders, an NGO founded to protect HRDs at risk, 156 HRDs were killed in 2015 and 281 in 2016. Over half of those killings in 2015 and more than three quarters in 2016 were in the Americas region. In Colombia, 10 HRDs were killed in January 2017 alone, nearly double the monthly average for 2016. NGOs and families often strive for years to bring perpetrators to account for their crimes and their attempts to obtain justice or even to find the truth about a killing can place them and others in danger and result in further threats and killings. HRDs are frequently subjected to criminal proceedings on unfounded charges. Arbitrary detention is being employed as a way to interfere with their ability to defend and promote human rights. Criminal prosecutions can have the effect of stigmatizing HRDs regardless of whether they are convicted or not. The situation is compounded by the fact that judicial proceedings exhaust HRDs' energy and resources. Whistle-blower Edward Snowden is facing a 30-years prison sentence in the US for disclosing information. The former NSA subcontractor shared intelligence documents with journalists in June 2013, revealing the alarming extent of unlawful mass surveillance operated by the US and UK governments. His actions sparked a global debate which led to a change in laws that helped to better protect the right to privacy. Edward Snowden said he acted "to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them". Senior US officials have condemned him without a trial and flouted his right to the presumption of innocence. His case raises questions as to where he would receive a fair trail in the US since he could be prevented from presenting a public interest defence for his actions.