ODIHR launches project to promote protection of human rights defenders

A new project to promote the effective protection of human rights defenders through the development of recommendations for governments was launched by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) at a two-day expert meeting in Warsaw on 10 and 11 June 2013.

During the meeting 25 representatives of human rights and intergovernmental organizations defined the main focus areas of the recommendations. The recommendations will be designed to help the OSCE’s 57 participating States fulfill their commitments to protect human rights defenders.

“Protecting the individuals who are defending human rights is a key element of sustainable regional security,” said Snježana Bokulić, the Head of ODIHR’s Human Rights Department. “This is something that the OSCE participating States clearly committed to as far back as the 1994 Budapest Summit. Recommendations of this project will help them fulfill this commitment.”

Participants highlighted that the participating States had recognized the right of individuals to know and act upon their rights and duties as enshrined in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, but also noted that they nevertheless often face threats, including physical and legal harassment, in the course of their work.

The meeting was the first in a series of activities planned as part of the project and will be followed by consultations with human rights defenders working at the national level throughout the OSCE region.