International Human Rights Defenders Day: Renewed commitment towards better protection

Warsaw, December 9, 2010. The third « inter-mechanisms » meeting organised by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders[1] and hosted by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) ended today in Warsaw, coinciding with the international human rights defenders day. On this occasion, international and regional mechanisms and programmes for the protection of human rights defenders (within the United Nations, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Council of Europe, European Union, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, ODIHR, joined by the International Organisation of the Francophonie) shared their respective experiences, and identified best practices and ways to increase their efficiency. Action-oriented discussions focused on the treatment of individual cases and their follow-up, preventive actions and emergency protection measures, information sharing on country visits and trial observations, as well as the publicity of their actions.

Participants also discussed the increasing involvement of non-state actors in the harassment and attacks against human rights defenders. Future cooperation with the newly-established United Nations Special Procedure on freedoms of association and assembly was also considered. These issues will be further discussed during the next inter-mechanisms meeting to be organised by the Observatory within the coming months.

The latest information on the human rights defenders’ activities is available at: http://www.humanrights-defenders.org/

For more information, please contact :

• FIDH : Karine Appy : + 33 1 43 55 25 18
• OMCT : Seynabou Benga : + 41 22 809 49 39