WHO IS A HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER? There is no universal definition of a human rights defender, but the term is used to describe people who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights. Human rights defenders can address any human rights concerns - ranging from issues of arbitrary arrest and detention, to issues of employment, land and access to health care. Human rights defenders are active in every part of the world. The NHRF refers to all our grantees as human rights defenders due to the nature of your human rights work and the means you use in your struggle for justice while also recognizing the specific and unique risks taken by those who assume a public role as a human rights defender.
Non-violent methods of expression and demanding equal rights, such as protests, are central to human rights defense. Here, women human rights defenders from India are demanding justice. Photo credit: Thenmozhi Soundararajan.
The normative framework that we base our work on protection for and support to you as human rights defenders is the Declaration on the Rights and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1998) - often referred to as the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights Defenders https://bit.ly/2Qu73C0. It is the first UN instrument that affirms that everyone has the right to defend human rights and recognizes the importance and legitimacy of the work of human rights defenders, as well as their need for better protection. Although the Declaration is not legally binding, it draws together provisions from those legally binding instruments that are most relevant to human rights defenders, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESR). Moreover, the Declaration was adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly and thereby constitutes a clear commitment made by all UN member states to respect the rights of human rights defenders at the national and international levels. The Declaration does not create new rights. However, it articulates existing rights in a way that makes it easier to apply them to the practical role and situation of human rights defenders. The Declaration provides for specific protections to human rights defenders. Examples include the right to seek the protection and realisation of human rights at the national and international levels; to conduct human rights work individually and in association with others; to form associations and nongovernmental organisations; and to solicit, receive and utilise resources for the purpose of protecting human rights, including the receipt of funds from abroad.
Anne Lapapan Supamanta from NHRF grantee partner, Assembly of the Poor, is a human rights defender from Thailand supporting rights to land and natural resources for local communities
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