This article is written by HRH / Ralph Pluimert. Picture: Eddie Adams
The report, which is highly thorough, gives a detailed account of the harassments that human rights defenders worldwide face and provides insight into legal and political trends, which influence the human rights and the work of human rights defenders. It witnesses that the increase of extraordinary measures taken on behalf of the fight against terrorism, the persistence of numerous violent conflicts, the resurgence of extremism and intolerance and the increasing economic inequality made defending human rights not easier in 2005.
Impunity
Apart from the 117 assassinations, FIDH counted in total 1,172 cases of oppression of human rights defenders and observed obstacles for freedom of association in no less than 90 countries. Colombia was among the countries where most cases of oppression took place. Apart from the 47 assassinations, 205 people received death threats in the South American country. The situation is especially difficult for trade union activists and human rights defenders that campaigned against impunity. Other countries where human rights defenders had faced harassment on a very large scale were the People´s Republic of China, Nepal, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tunisia. It should however be kept in mind that the report is far exhaustive given that in countries like Burma, Equatorial Guinea, North Korea and Qatar the oppression is so severe that human rights defenders cannot work there in a proper way.
Severe restrictions
The report also witnesses the adoption of very restrictive laws regarding freedom of association and expression in the Russian Federation, Belarus and Kazakhstan. These laws might have a severe impact on civil societies in these countries in 2006. The Human Rights House Network has experienced this development in the Russian Federation, where the Human Rights House in under severe pressure of the authorities. In Belarus amendments were made to the law on public associations, which forbids any activity within a non-registered organisation and which makes it an offence to transmit to a foreign state or organisation “information on the political, economic, military or international situation in Belarus.” This makes cooperation with our partners in Belarus extremely difficult. The report also witnesses that in some countries leaders use the state owned media to marginalize NGO’s by starting smear campaign against them. This has happened in, amongst other countries, in Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, Tunisia and Colombia.
You can download the report here
