STAND UP FOR THE BRAVE
Together we can speak up for those who speak out for all of us
Brave women under fire
They are women young and old. Farmers, factory workers, teachers, tailors. They have regular jobs, high-powered jobs, cash-in-hand jobs, no jobs. Their identities are manifold and for many, the barriers even greater because of that. Still, they speak up and stand out.
Where they see wrong, they can’t help but want to make things right. Where they see unfairness, they want to make things equal. They’ve said #MeToo and called #TimesUp on violence and abuse against women. They act for social good, so that people can work without being assaulted, communities are free from racism, corruption is weeded out, lands are protected from pollution. They face danger, so we don’t have to.
Yet some government leaders vilify them. They cut funding to birth control clinics. Degrade women publicly. Promote profit over the environment. Target communities of colour. Roll back LGBTI rights. Where women defy the status quo they are increasingly abused – called whores and witches, terrorists and anti-nationalists. In this landscape poisoned by macho politics, women who resist are threatened, assaulted, raped, even killed.
But like a tide, these women still rise. They dare to have a voice and they use it. People call them brave. They say they’re doing what anyone would in their place. That they’re no different from the rest of us.
They’re right. These brave women are among us and are a part ofus. Now, we must join them to stamp out the fire that’s torching our hard-won rights. Now we, too, must be brave, and take a stand to defend the women who defend our rights.
My mother deserves justice and it’s imperative we shed light on the conspiracy that took place. It’s fundamental if we are to prevent further killing.
Bertha Zuñiga
Brave is an ordinary person with heart
Smears, Surveillance and Silencing dissent
People who speak out against injustice are under attack. Governments, companies, armed groups, groups advocating hate and discrimination and others in power are doing all they can to shut them up and close their work down.
They portray those who challenge them as criminals, terrorists, unpatriotic, corrupt or even “foreign agents”. Then the attack goes further – smearing reputations, locking people up and even using violence to silence dissent.
People in power portray those who challenge them as criminals, terrorists or even ‘foreign agents’.
At the same time, unions are disbanded and newspapers are closed down. Social media is banned. Digital activity is unlawfully monitored. And peaceful protestors are met with violence. Speaking out for human rights has become difficult and dangerous.
But that’s why we need human rights defenders more than ever. They’re brave enough to speak up for free speech. Challenge racism and sexism. Condemn torture. And ultimately hold our leaders to account.
I am always thinking about being killed or kidnapped. But I refuse to go into exile. I am a Human Rights Fighter and
Berta Cáceres, a human rights defender who was shot dead in Honduras in 2016.
I will not give up this fight.
Why protecting human rights defenders must be a priority for us all
By Guadalupe Marengo, Head of Human Rights Defenders and Global Relief Programme at Amnesty International
2024 has been a particularly difficult year for human rights, with many of those in power successfully promoting a discourse that threatens the most basic concepts of rights and justice.
Millions of people across the world experienced inequality, injustice, conflict and even genocide. Among them, brave human rights defenders have risked their own lives and safety to shine a light on abuses and fight for justice while governments have, at best, failed to take sufficient action to protect them and, at worst, attacked them.
Their stories would fill thousands of pages.
There is, for example, Zholia Parsi of the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women, who continues to campaign against gender persecution in Afghanistan even after having been detained, tortured and then forced into exile for protesting against the attempt to erase women in her country. Or Leonela Moncayo, a young woman from Ecuador, who is part of a community-led campaign to end toxic gas flaring near their homes, and who continues to fight despite facing intimidation and attacks.
The work of activists like them is essential not only to ensure human rights are respected but also, as the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders recently reminded states, to ensure development is sustainable, equitable and inclusive.
Protecting human rights activists, and their crucial work, was one of the reasons behind the development of the global Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in 1998. The document, agreed by states at the UN by consensus, urges those in power to develop robust systems to ensure we are all able speak out, organize, and hold those in power accountable, without fear of reprisals.
However, while the 1998 text was a crucial milestone, it has failed to translate into effective actions to truly protect human rights defenders from the constant attacks they endure, the multiple systems of oppression they face, and the diverse challenges posed by the struggles they engage in. I would encourage anyone to look at the HRD Memorial, an online database profilingthe thousands of defenders killed since the Declaration was adopted.
In the two and a half decades since the HRD Declaration was passed at the UN, the challenges have only become more complex. When we organized the World Human Rights Defenders Summit in Paris in 2018, human rights defenders from across the world shared the the difficulties they faced in a context of deep socioeconomic inequality, discrimination and violence on the basis of gender and sexuality, colonialism, racism, forced migration and barriers to mobility. These struggles are taking place against a backdrop ofthe climate crisis and a plundered environment, ridden with conflicts, corruption, authoritarianism, and the challenges posed by new technologies.
Having a thriving and diverse community of human rights defenders with the necessary means, safety and space to call out those in power and develop alternative solutions to society’s problems is essential to secure a better future.
Guadalupe Marengo, Head of Human Rights Defenders and Global Relief Programme at Amnesty International.
At the summit defenders called on states to take concrete steps to protect human rights defenders.
To this day, their call remains largely unheeded.
Instead, in the last few years, the roll back on human rights and the assault on defenders has been accelerating. Meanwhile, the most basic and until now largely agreed upon ideas of justice are being constantly called into question.
I see this every time new laws further restrict freedom of expression, assembly and association. Every time defenders are assaulted, criminalized, and defamed. I also see it in more subtle ways, such as when funding and resources are used to stifle certain voices and amplify others, or when human rights struggles of discriminated and marginalized people are delegitimized and painted as dangerous or dubious, just because they are critical of those in power.
A world where human rights defenders are safe
Guadalupe Marengo
is a safer world for us all.
But that doesn’t mean that we won’t continue fighting.
Earlier this year, as a follow up to the Paris Summit, an international coalition of civil society organizations working alongside human rights defenders, including my team at Amnesty International, published the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders+25. It summarizes the decades of learning about the current challenges faced by defenders, and supplements the original declaration with guidelines grounded in progress made by human rights law and practice during the past 25 years. For example, it recommends that states put in place protection measures that consider the collective and intersectional aspects of human rights struggles, to put an end to the stigmatization and criminalization of defenders, and to tackle violations facilitated by technology. It also includes recommendations on how to protect those who are displaced and exiled, and on the roles and responsibilities of non-state actors, such as companies.
Having a thriving and diverse community of human rights defenders with the necessary means, safety and space to call out those in power and develop alternative solutions to society’s problems is essential to secure a better future.
2024 was a tough year, so my wish for 2025 is that states all around the world live up to their commitments, acknowledge the key role human rights defenders play in fighting injustice and ensure that they can do so without fear.
A world where human rights defenders are safe is a safer world for us all.
Human Rights Defender in Thailand
Human rights defenders faced intimidation and unlawful surveillance.
Amnesty International research revealed patterns of technology-facilitated gender-based violence against women and LGBTI human rights defenders, including targeted digital surveillance and online harassment, by state officials and non-state actors.
In June, five UN experts wrote to the government expressing concern about surveillance by Internal Security Operations Command agents of human rights defenders Angkhana Neelapaijit and Pranom Somwong. The concern related to an event in March to commemorate victims of enforced disappearance.
In November, the Bangkok Civil Court dismissed a case brought by pro-democracy activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa against NSO Group Technologies for its failure to prevent its Pegasus spyware being used to hack his mobile phone. The court found insufficient evidence to prove that Jatupat Boonpattararaksa’s mobile phone was infected with the spyware, contrary to the findings of forensic investigations by the research institute Citizen Lab and Amnesty International.
Let’s Stand with the Brave Worldwide
We want a world where people can speak out for what’s right without being attacked, threatened, jailed and more. Countries need to put laws in place which keep human rights defenders safe from harm, and scrap repressive laws, for example which attack free speech.
They need to release people who have been locked up just for challenging injustice. And they need to stop using spurious charges such as national security as an excuse to silence those who disagree with them.
Law makers, business leaders, government officials and other influential people should also make a public pledge to speak up for the brave, everywhere. By recognising human rights defenders as committed, courageous people creating a fairer society, we can protect them from further attacks.
Human rights defenders’ contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals:
Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
Amnesty International submits this document in response to the call for contributions to inform the next report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders on contributions made by human rights defenders to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the challenges they face in this work to be presented to the General Assembly in October 2024.
Role of HRDs in delivering the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development
Human rights defenders are fundamental actors in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as has been repeatedly recognized by the UN. This Agenda is grounded in international human rights law, social justice and inclusivity. By standing up for human rights and sustainable development, human rights defenders play a key role in both helping deliver the SDGs and in holding states accountable for their commitments.
Their contribution is also key because human rights defenders understand that human rights are universal and interdependent, and they often ground their work in the principles of social justice, intersectionality and sustainability.
Social justice movement Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) in South Africa (see their joint submission with Amnesty International South Africa) contributes to Goal 11 as they defend the rights shack dwellers, but they also contribute to a wide range of other SDGs, including on issues related to health, education, access to water, food, inequality, and accountability. They do this by advocating for housing, an end to forced evictions, access to education, and the provision of water, electricity, sanitation, health care, and refuse removal. They also speak out against corruption, xenophobia in communities, and provide analysis and criticism of government policies on these issues and their impact on the human rights of people who are poor and marginalized. AbM also educates people on their housing rights, uses the courts to resist forced evictions, and has established community development projects, such as crèches, communal shops, farms, gardens, kitchens, sewing collectives, and providing support for people living with HIV and those orphaned by AIDS in some settlements. One of their communes recently won an award from Southern African Defenders. AbM show that by defending human rights they have been able to embody the SDGs and show how a sustainable future that leaves no one behind might look like.
Here some further examples of how human rights defenders play a key role in ensuring that the SDG are achieved.
Sexual and Reproductive Rights Defenders (SDG 3 & 5)
Defending access to reproductive and sexual health and rights contributes to a range of SDGs, particularly in relation to health (specifically goal 3.2 and 3.7), gender equality (specifically goal 5.1 and 5.6). However, access to sexual and reproductive rights, is not just a matter of health, sexuality, identity and bodily autonomy, but also of social justice, as those facing the strongest barriers are those who are marginalized, discriminated and poor. As such access to sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) for all is highly relevant for a future that “leaves no one behind”. The debates and activism led by WHRDs working on SRR have shone a light on the indivisibility and interdependency of human rights and the need to use an intersectional lens in human rights work. For example, the concept of reproductive justice, coined by Black women using a feminist, anti-racist and intersectional lens,is rooted in the belief that individuals and communities have the right to the resources and power to make sustainable and free decisions about their bodies, genders, sexualities, and lives. This means expanding the focus from protecting individual rights and choices, to addressing broader, underlying socio-economic factors that affect and constrain individuals’ reproductive rights, actions and decisions and impact their lives. In this way, debates around SRR are connected not just to gender, but also to other forms of discrimination and inequality, including those based on identity, race, class, disability, and income, amongst others. Individuals, groups and movements defending and promoting SRR and reproductive justice are therefore essential actors in defending all human rights for all people and inclusive development.
Amnesty International recently published a report on the issue of SRR defenders, focusing on those who work on abortion rights. The report shows that around the world, those defending abortion rights are under attack, including activists, advocates, educators, clinic escorts, accompaniers, doulas. They are exposed to stigmatization, physical and verbal attacks, intimidation and threats, and are criminalized through unjust prosecutions, investigations and arrests. They are targeted not just because they defend SRR and abortion rights, which continue to be criminalized and contested in far too many countries around the world, but also because as WHRDs, they are targeted by actors that oppose gender equality and want to impose a patriarchal, heteronormative vision of society.
Amongst these defenders are also healthcare workers who defend access to SRR and abortion as part of their professional responsibilities. However, the high level of stigmatization, criminalization and general hostility around abortion means that many of them “do more than just their job”. They purposefully enable access to a range of human rights undermined and threatened by the denial of the right to abortion. By doing so, they are active human rights defenders. Some of the healthcare workers interviewed for this report, see abortion provision as part of their professional duties and the duty to “do no harm”, but also as contributing to a non-discriminatory, rights-based approach to providing essential health services for all. Like other SRR defenders, healthcare workers often find themselves isolated, unsupported, and not recognised as human rights defenders. All too often they face criminalization, harassment, stigmatization, verbal threats, and actual violence, as well as ostracization and burnout in the workplace.
Amnesty International’s report “An unstoppable movement” includes the cases of several defenders, including the stories of Justyna Wydrzyńska, Vanessa Mendoza, Vannesa Rosales, Miranda Ruiz who have been criminalized for their work on abortion rights. Many of the individuals interviewed remained anonymous due to the risk they faced in their communities and workplaces.
Anti-corruption Defenders (SDG 16)
Although corruption is only mentioned in Goal 16, it is an issue that can have deleterious effects on sustainable development, the rule of law and human rights and can thus seriously interfere with the delivery of all SDGs. Corruption impedes the effective enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, particularly of poor and marginalized groups, by restricting their access to essential facilities, goods and services (such as education, food, health, water, electricity, housing), by exposing them to health harms, food insecurity, forced evictions, land dispossession, while facilitating the discriminatory access to public services of those able to pay bribes and influence decisions. Instead of delivering vital resources that could enhance the availability and quality of essential services, corruption means that funds are embezzled and diverted away from social budgets. In addition, when there are high levels of corruption this may deter foreign direct investments and business investments, thus depriving states muchneeded financing necessary for the realization of human rights.
Anti-corruption defenders are therefore essential actors in the delivery of the sustainable development agenda.
As highlighted by the Special Rapporteur, anti-corruption face risks and attacks across the world. In our report 2023 “Anti-corruption fight in peril” Amnesty International looks into the situation of these defenders in West and Central Africa and provides a range of examples. Their situation is of particular relevance since they work in a context of severe restrictions on human rights and civic space, including on the right to protest, and on the right to freedom of association and expression. Numerous examples of the work they do, as well as the risks and attacks they face, are available in the report.
Environmental Defenders (SDG 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15)
Environmental human rights defenders contribute directly to the delivery of a range of SDGs related to the preservation of a healthy environment, climate change, sustainable livelihoods and methods of production and sustainable cities as discussed in SDGs 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. In addition, these defenders have elaborated the principles of environmental and climate justice which focus on the structural causes of the environmental and climate crisis and the ways in which this situation is the result of and reinforces inequalities between and within countries. This means that their work also often contributes to address inequality and injustice. Their demands around gender, race, class, ethnic, disability and intergenerational justice are essential to achieving the principle of inclusivity and leaving no one behind.
The challenges faced by these defenders (particularly Indigenous and racialized people, WHRDs, people living in rural communities and other discriminated defenders) have been recognised and well documented over the years. Despite this, their work and successes show there is an alternative, more sustainable and inclusive path to development. Amnesty International 2023 report “No future without courage” also shows how their struggles are achieving success. For example, the case of the Federation of Artisanal, Environmental and Tourist Fisherfolk of the Department of Santander, Colombia, shows how defenders with this organization are confronting oil companies polluting water, protecting and monitoring water resources and biodiversity, and making a living out of sustainable fishing and tourism. Repressing these defenders, or ignoring and excluding them from the planning, designing and delivery of national strategies for sustainable development means undermining the entire project.
Conclusion
Much like the human rights project, the Agenda for Sustainable Development cannot be delivered by states alone and cannot be imposed from above. Without the scrutiny, active participation and contribution of human rights defenders and the dialogue with the communities they represent, the SDGs run the risk to become an ineffective and perhaps even harmful exercise.
We call on the Special Rapporteur on HRDs to remind States of their obligation to recognise the legitimate role HRDs have in the protection of human rights and delivery of sustainable development and to provide them with a safe and enabling environment.
However, this is not enough. HRDs continue to be excluded from the actual planning and delivery of policies relating to climate, sustainable development and human rights. For example, in Amnesty International’s joint submission with CIEL, we point out how climate activists have been routinely excluded and silenced at successive UNFCCC COP meetings.
We therefore call on States and multilateral organizations involved in the delivery of SDGs to ensure the right to information and participation for all impacted communities and HRDs without discrimination, and create meaningful and inclusive consultation processes so that any plans of action truly reflect the interests and rights of all people concerned, in all their diversity.