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– It is way too early to establish what difference the EU guidelines on human rights defenders are going to make. But it is not going to be yet another piece of paper in a filing cabinet, said the Netherlands Ambassador Erik Ader at the HRH Anniversary Conference 14 October. He said the EU will make handbooks to Embassies on how to support human rights defenders. (25-OCT-04) 
 

The security for defenders in Chechnya has deteriorated in 2003 and 2004, according to a new report from the International Helsinki Federation that was presented by Aage Borchgrevink at the HRH Anniversary Conference 13 October. (22-OCT-04)
 

– The apocalyptic Beslan tragedy was used by Putin as a chance to strengthen the power vertical and to have a free hand in pursuing the goal of consolidating his personal power, said Ida Kouklina from the Soldiers´ Mothers Committee in the Russian Federation, at the HRH Anniversary Conference 13 October 2004. (24-OCT-04)
 

– My own government, in its response to the despicable violence wrought  by hijacked planes three years ago, has fallen far short of its own best traditions and in contravention, bordering on contempt, of international law, said Gara LaMarche, Vice-President and Director of U.S. Programs, Open Society Institute, at the HRH Anniversary Conference 13 October. (22-OCT-04)
 

Use of violence in promoting human rights was a highly disputed issue in the drafting of the UN Declaration on human rights defenders in 1998, said Jan Helgesen, one of the key persons in this process. Helgesen spoke at the HRH conference 13 October. (22-OCT-04)
 

– Human Rights Houses can facilitate protection, said Norwegian MP Thorbørn Jagland, who spoke at the Opening of the HRH Anniversary Conference 13 October. (22-OCT-04)
 

– Human rights defenders working on the front line are the ones who bring about change. It is our job to try to keep them alive and contribute to creating the space for them to be able to carry out their legitimate activities without fear of persecution, said Mary Lawlor from Frontline at HRH´s Anniversary conference ´Activists under Attack. Defending the Right to be a Human Rights Defender. Frontline provides practical assistance to defenders at risk. (22-OCT-04)
 

– In two years, 46 trade unionisits, 6 journalists and 33 human rights defenders have been murdered in Colombia, said Carlos Ivan Lopera (picture) from Redepaz Peace Network, speaking at the HRH Anniversary Conference 13 October. Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world, not the least for human rights defenders. (21-OCT-04)
 

– Haven’t we done so, we should do it, said Norwegian Minister of Justice Odd Einar Dørum, when confronted with the fact that Norway – unlike the EU – still hasn’t developed a transparent, comprehensive policy on human rights defenders. (20-OCT-04)