Human rights defenders in Italy: Findings and recommendations of ODIHR’s assessment visit

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) will hold a multi-stakeholder online event to discuss the key findings of ODIHR’s 2019 assessment visit to Italy, focusing on the situation of human rights defenders. The event will also provide a platform to discuss recommendations and possible ways forward for their implementation.

Participants

The meeting will gather around 60 participants, including representatives of state bodies and civil society organizations from Italy. Other participants will include representatives of the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Office of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders will deliver a keynote speech during the meeting.

Objectives

This event aims to provide a forum for dialogue among different stakeholders - including state authorities and civil society organizations - on addressing identified gaps and challenges in the protection of human rights defenders in Italy. Other objectives include discussing the follow-up to ODIHR’s assessment visit and how to implement recommendations in a gender-sensitive, inclusive and sustainable manner.

Mandate and background

This initiative is in line with ODIHR’s mandate to monitor the implementation of OSCE participating States’ human dimension commitments (Helsinki 1992; Budapest 1994; Oslo 1998; Maastricht 2003).

In 2018, ODIHR launched its first country-specific assessment cycle focusing on the situation of human rights defenders. In this framework, from 10 to 18 February 2019, ODIHR conducted an assessment visit to Italy. This was in order to examine aspects such as gaps and challenges in the protection of human rights defenders, as well as good practices in this area.

Alongside Italy, between 2018 and 2019, ODIHR also conducted assessment visits to the Czech Republic, Georgia, Mongolia and Montenegro.

The online event will be the second out of five country-specific discussions taking place in the last quarter of 2020. By the end of 2020, ODIHR will also issue the final assessment - and public - report on the situation of human rights defenders. This document will provide an overview and analysis of findings from all country visits included in the first assessment cycle.