On 31 May 2024, Front Line Defenders announced the five winners of its top distinction, the 2024 Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, at a special ceremony in Dublin this morning. Laureates from each of the major global regions travelled to Ireland to accept the Award, including: Africa: Gamito dos Santos Carlos of AJOPAZ, the Youth Association for Peace (Mozambique) Americas: The Trans women collective Muñecas de Arcoíris (Honduras), represented by Jennifer Bexara Córdova Asia and the Pacific: Sammi Deen Baloch of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (Balochistan, Pakistan) Europe and ..read more

Front Line Defenders issues regularly urgent appeals on behalf of Human Rights Defenders. This case is just an example: on 29 May 2024 FLD called for action on behalf of woman human rights defender Jina Modares Gorji in Iran who was sentenced to twenty-one years in prison. Please get your own Front Line Defenders Appeals. By subscribing to this list [https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/secure/act-now.php] you will receive information on all cases that Front Line Defenders takes up on behalf of human rights defenders at risk. You will receive an average of 4 to 8 emails per week. On 24 May 2024 ..read more

Nina Alizadeh Marandi of HRW on 28 May 2024 said that German environmental activists are facing increasingly harsh rhetoric and legal action from authorities as they mobilize to confront the climate crisis. Last week, on 21 May, Germany’s efforts to curb environmental activism took a disturbing turn when authorities used an offence typically reserved for prosecutorial pursuit of serious organized crime to indict Letzte Generation (Last Generation), a climate activist group known for disruptive protests such as roadblocks and other acts of civil disobedience ..read more

Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov. Photo from personal Facebook page On 29 May 2024, IPHR (International Partnership for Human Rights – an independent, non-governmental organization founded in 2008 in Brussels) published an Op-ed about Human Rights Defender Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov. Tuesday marked the sad anniversary of the arrest of lawyer and human rights defender Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov in Tajikistan. First arrested on 28 May 2022, he has now spent two years behind bars, serving a 16-year-long prison sentence in retaliation for his human rights work.  The organisat ..read more

Sara Nabil is a human rights defender and artist from Afghanistan, forced into exile. She spoke to ISHR about her dream of one day seeing a ‘free democratic Afghanistan, where each human being [regardless of which] gender they are, man or woman, neutral or other genders, [would be] treated equally.’ ‘Since the Taliban came to power, Afghanistan [has become] the only country where we see that women don’t have any kind of rights.’ Learn more about Sara and other human rights defenders like her: https://ishr.ch/defender-stories/ see also: https://www.dw.com/en/art-in-exile-afghan-sara-nabil-figh ..read more

https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/05/27/i-swear-fulfill-duties-defense-lawyer-honestly-and-faithfully/politically#691383337 On 27 May 2024 Human Rights Watch published a major report on the politically motivated crackdown on Human Rights Lawyers in Belarus. Summary: In August 2020, peaceful protests in Belarus began with hundreds of thousands of people gathering in the streets of Minsk and across Belarus following the contested electoral victory of Aliaksandr Lukashenka, who had already served as president for more than 26 years. Belarusian authorities responded with unprecedented brutality, usi ..read more

Iranian hip-hop artist Toomaj Salehi, Uyghur poet and activist Tahir Hamut Izgil, and Venezuelan pianist and recording artist Gabriela Montero. On 22 May 2024) The Human Rights Foundation announced the recipients of the 2024 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent: Iranian hip-hop artist Toomaj Salehi, Uyghur poet and activist Tahir Hamut Izgil, and Venezuelan pianist and recording artist Gabriela Montero. “Their work stands as a testament to extraordinary bravery and ingenuity,” HRF Founder Thor Halvorssen said. This year’s laureates will be recognized during a ceremony on Tues ..read more

This week (20 May 2024), as the United Nations moves towards an international convention on the rights of older persons, Amnesty International is launching a new campaign: Age Loud! We demand a world where human rights last a lifetime, and where older voices are no longer ignored. [https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2024/05/three-activists-on-why-they-refuse-to-be-silent-in-older-age/] AI asked three older activists to reflect on their experiences, the changes they are campaigning for, and how being an older person gives them unique perspective and motivation. Cecile de Ryckel, 78, B ..read more

Mozilla is highlighting each year the work of 25 digital leaders using technology to amplify voices, effect change, and build new technologies globally through its Rise 25 Awards. On 13 May 2024 was the turn of Raphael Mimoun, a builder dedicated to making tools that empower journalists and human rights defenders. Aron Yohannes talked with Raphael about the launch of his app, Tella, combatting misinformation online, the future of social media platforms and more. Raphael Mimoun: So I never worked in tech per se and only developed a passion for technology as I was working in human rights ..read more

On 08 May 2024 the OHCHR published the address by Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the 2024 Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions Annual Conference: …The role that National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) can play in this era of global crises is more crucial than ever. An era of deepening divisions between our human family, where inequalities are widening, where poverty is at levels not witnessed in a generation. …It implies that everyone can – and must – be a partner in the human rights movement. Including the private sector. This conference will addre ..read more