International Federation
for Human Rights

In a series of videos produced on the occasion of the world day against the death penalty, human rights defenders express themselves against capital punishment in Africa

Central African Republic: UN considers sending peacekeepers
Through its fact-finding activities and its advocacy, FIDH contributed substantially to the 10 October 2013 adoption by the U.N. Security Council of a resolution condemning the serious violations of human rights in Central African Republic (CAR) and considering the possibility of sending peacekeepers to protect the civilian population.

Belarus: Ales Bialiatski awarded Václav Havel human rights prize
Imprisoned human rights defender Ales Bialiatski is the first to receive this prestigious human rights award from the Council of Europe.
Founder of Viasna Human Rights Centre, Ales has dedicated the past twenty years to the defence of human rights not only in Belarus but also abroad. The 38th FIDH Congress which was held in May 2013 in Istanbul demonstrated its support and faith in Ales and re-elected him Vice President of FIDH.

Awards: FIDH members honoured
The spotlight was on Bahrain and Palestine on the 26th of September as two FIDH member organisations were awarded international prizes. Raji Sourani, director of the NGO Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) received the Right Livelihood Award “for his unwavering dedication to the rule of law and human rights under exceptionally difficult circumstances” and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) was awarded the Rafto Prize for its efforts to defend human rights in the Golf Region. BCHR president and FIDH Deputy Secretary, Nabeel Rajab, is currently serving a two-year sentence at the central prison of Bahrain for calling for peaceful demonstrations.

Death Penalty: Just and modern societies cannot be founded on killing: abolish the death penalty!
An open editorial co-signed by Robert Badinter, Former Justice Minister (France), Florence Bellivier, President of the World Coalition Against Death Penalty and Karim Lahidji, FIDH President was published in Dawn and numerous international media to mark the World Day against the Death Penalty on October 10th.
On this occasion, the FIDH published both a report on the death penalty in the United States and a special dossier.

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Political Transitions from a Human Rights Perspective: Experiences and Challenges
The FIDH movement convened in Congress last May in Istanbul, identified courses of action addressing the challenges posed by political transitions during its Forum "Political Transitions from a Human Rights Perspective: Experiences and Challenges". The Forum brought together over 400 participants, representing FIDH member organizations from all regions of the world, experts in the field of human rights, members of the diplomatic community and representatives of Turkish civil society.