• Defending victims of Human Rights violations.

FIDH is first
and foremost an NGO for the protection of Human
Rights, particularly at this time of widespread and
oftentimes arbitrary restrictions on freedom. Its
reactivity and capacity for intervention to support its
local partners and members will be developed to keep
pace with its expanding network. Enquiries, trial
observations and research need to be designed to
serve a common objective effectively, that of helping
to restore victims’ rights to truth, justice and redress.

• Supporting local NGOs’ capacity for action.

This function is
intrinsic to the federative nature of FIDH, but also
reflects its statutory mandate of working to prevent
Human Rights violations. Experience confirms the key
preventive role of an independent, structured, credible
civil society. FIDH will step up its action to strengthen
its member organizations and their local partners,
notably by consolidating the synergetic and
complementary potential existing between local and
international NGOs.

• Mobilizing the community of states.

FIDH will play a more
substantial role in intergovernmental organizations
(IGOs), especially regionally (Organisation of American
States, League of Arab States, the Gulf Co-operation
Council, ASEAN, ASEM, etc.). Within IGOs, FIDH will
continue to advocate drafting standards and
implementing mechanisms and inspection procedures,
so that they can be utilised whenever the need arises.
It will continue assisting its local partners within IGOs
and help them incorporate international means of
redress and time limits in their national strategy.

• Informing, alerting, bearing witness.

FIDH will further
develop its public communications tools. Its aim is
threefold: to publicise FIDH analyses and eyewitness
accounts, strengthen its capacity to mobilize and raise
awareness and promote respect for Human Rights
among the public.

FIVE PRIORITY THEMES

Since they were approved at the 35th FIDH Congress,
five priority themes will be specifically implemented in
the framework of the statutory priorities.

• For a world order founded on law, the fight against terrorism
  must be founded on Human Rights!
  Respect of the law and
  rights must regain a central position in relations
  among states, as in domestic policymaking. However
  vital the fight against the perpetrators of terrorist
  acts, States cannot disregard the universal standards
  for the protection of people without playing into the
  hands of those they claim to combat. FIDH believes on
  the contrary that there is an ever greater need for
  stronger mobilization to protect civil, political,
  economic, social and cultural rights.

It will strive to expose the opportunism with which
the antiterrorist struggle has been exploited for
domestic ends of political repression, restrictions on
freedom of information or the right to a private life.
It will also advocate instituting international and
regional guarantees against arbitrary infringements
of fundamental freedoms. It will step up its actions for
the right to an equitable trial before an independent
jurisdiction and against the death penalty. It will
expand its campaign against forced disappearances,
by supporting such efforts as the draft Convention
formulated at the United Nations.

• For the right to defend endangered Human Rights! In almost
  half of the world’s states, those who defend Human
  Rights expose themselves to repression. Freedom of
  association and of expression are often the first to be
  sacrificed, and the situation has only worsened since
  11 September 2001, in the name of the fight against
  terrorism. Increasingly, people who defend economic,
  social and cultural rights are targeted. Women
  defending Human Rights are particularly exposed.
  FIDH will pursue its efforts to have the United Nations
  Declaration on Human Rights Defenders implemented,
  with special emphasis on the Observatory for the
  Protection of Human Rights Defenders, its programme
  to alert and mobilize decision-making bodies
  (established with the World Organisation Against
  Torture). FIDH will help mobilize public opinion
  world-wide through the social forum process and by
  other means and push for greater involvement of
  independent Human Rights defence NGOs in
  intergovernmental organizations.

• For the protection of women’s rights as fundamental Human
  Rights! Nearly ten years after the World Conference on
  Women in Beijing in 1995, de facto and legal
  inequality between women and men is still blatant
  today. International mobilization has subsided and the
  rarely mentioned victories are all too few and far
  between, following a fate similar to that of the right
  of individual complaint before the United Nations
  Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of
  Discriminations Against Women. The secondary status
  assigned to women in nearly all societies and the
  flagrant persistence of gender-based discrimination
  necessitate even greater mobilization. Women play a
  key role in the development process which has to be
  upheld, and women’s rights as fundamental Human
  Rights must be more strongly protected. The Action
  Group for Women’s Rights, launched at the FIDH
  Congress, will be co-ordinated by Shirin Ebadi, winner
  of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. Its brief will be to give
  FIDH’s partners renewed incentive and revive the
  alliances between NGOs defending women’s rights and Human Rights. The main thrust of the movement will
  be to work towards the practical implementation of
  the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of
  All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
  (withdrawal of reservations, inclusion in domestic
  rights, acceptance of the right to individual
  communication).

• For economic globalization founded on respect for Human Rights!
  The Human Rights violations stemming from
  globalization of financial and commercial exchanges
  are particularly numerous and complex. They have led
  to greater inequality and fragility among the most
  vulnerable sectors of the population - migrant
  workers, indigenous peoples, minorities, deeply
  impoverished groups, people suffering from disease.
  In addition, lead players in the economy enjoy
  substantial impunity and private interests hold sway
  over the public interest. FIDH will continue to speak
  out for the pre-eminence of Human Rights over
  international trade, for accountability in economic,
  social and cultural rights, and for the legal
  responsibility of economic bodies, particularly
  multinationals. To promote those goals, it will
  continue to support the emergence of legal standards
  and corresponding inspection mechanisms, which
  materialize the corporate duty to respect universal
  standards for protection of Human Rights. FIDH will
  support efforts to implement the system stemming
  from the International Convention on the Rights of All
  Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. It will
  also work on establishing the right to cultural
  diversity, promoted through a Convention adopted by
  Unesco. Finally, it will advocate reforming the public
  institutions that regulate globalization to introduce
  greater transparency, responsibility and opportunities
  for civil society to participate.

• For criminal proceedings against perpetrators of international
  crimes: no impunity! Impunity remains one of the leading
  causes of recurring conflicts, the failure of transition
  processes, growing inequality, and violations of civil,
  political, economic, social and cultural rights. Putting
  an end to impunity has clearly become an absolute
  and urgent necessity. FIDH will again strive to have
  the perpetrators of international crimes, whatever
  their title, position or economic role, brought before a
  fair court of justice to answer for their crimes. The
  right of victims to effective and enforceable remedy is
  considered by FIDH one of the essential conditions for
  genuine protection of Human Rights. It will make an
  even stronger commitment, alongside victims, to have
  that right prevail. To do so, FIDH will intervene even
  more actively in both national and international
  jurisdictions, and first of all at the International
  Criminal Court, through its Legal Action Group (GAJ).
  It will rely more particularly on its Permanent
  Delegation, opened with the ICC in early 2004, and
  pursue its work to strengthen the Court: ratification,
  passage of domestic incorporation laws and recourse
  by victims before the ICC.