For implementation of international standards to be effective, it is essential that human rights defenders know and understand their rights.

The Rights of Defenders project promotes and builds understanding of international standards and provides clear, accessible, and targeted insight into the standards and the context that surrounds them.

As part of the project, HRHF has developed tools and resources for defenders to disseminate standards nationally, engage with authorities and hold them accountable to the commitments they make internationally, and initiate national conversations on the importance of defenders and their work.

For the implementation of international standards to be effective, it is essential that human rights defenders know and understand their rights.

The Rights of Defenders resources – developed by Human Rights Houses and HRHF – promote and build an understanding of international standards and provide clear, accessible, and targeted insight into the standards and the context that surrounds them.

The aim is to provide resources to help defenders to disseminate standards nationally, engage with authorities and hold them accountable to the commitments they make internationally, and initiate national conversations on the importance of defenders and their work.

Languages

These resources are currently available in Armenian, English, Crimean Tatar, Croatian, Georgian, Russian and Ukrainian. Human Rights Houses and HRHF are in the process of translating the booklet and other related materials into other languages.

Materials

The Rights of Defenders booklet is divided into 16 standards, inspired by the strong content of landmark resolutions on human rights defenders and their work, adopted at the United Nations and Council of Europe. It condenses the main points of each standard as outlined in the resolutions.

The standards confer both positive and negative obligations – whether it is action or refraining from an action. They are illustrated in red or green respectively to illustrate these obligations.

The booklet also provides analysis to inform the interpretation and implementation of these standards. This is inspired by the commentary of experts such as UN Special Rapporteurs and by the experience of HRHF and Human Rights Houses in Western and Eastern Europe, Balkans, and the Caucasus.

Further, to give context, the booklet outlines the trends affecting each standard and provides recommendations for their implementation.

Download the Rights of Defenders booklet.

Download the Rights of Defenders booklet (Russian)

Voting records on international standards

An essential aspect of promoting international human rights standards is to recall the obligations of States and hold them accountable to their commitments. The Rights of Defenders booklet includes a concise reference table of countries’ voting records, showing how countries acted internationally with regards to the most important resolutions on human rights defenders.

This overview helps defenders remind States of their international positions – on whether they co-sponsored, voted in favour, abstained, or voted against resolutions on human rights defenders.

Download the Rights of Defenders booklet.

Download the Rights of Defenders booklet (Russian)

References and sources

In most cases, defenders may only need the main points of each standard together with analysis and context, as provided in the booklet. Yet there may be other occasions that require more detailed information. Our companion document provides sources and in-depth referencing to the full language of the resolutions.

Download the Rights of Defenders companion document of references and sources.

Poster

The Rights of Defenders poster promotes the 16 international standards outlined in the booklet. It aims to help promote and raise awareness of these standards.

Download the Rights of Defenders poster

Postcards

The Rights of Defenders postcards are a tool to promote and raise awareness of the standards that are most relevant to a particularly country or situation. They are designed to be printed A6, but also work at other sizes. Postcards with five of the most prominent standards are available to download below, though on request we can provide postcards for any of the 16 standards featured in the booklet.

Download postcards for:

• Don’t criminalise defending human rights
• End all forms of reprisals
• End restrictions on NGO funding
• Publicly support human rights defenders
• Respect NGO independence

In 2018, several events and activities took place around the network of Human Rights Houses linked to Rights of Defenders and marking the 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

In Exile for Defending Human Rights

“I remembered how we made the decision to leave the occupied territories of Crimea,” recalled Tetyana Bondarenko, an attendee of an exhibition featuring seven suitcases containing the belongings of human rights defenders forced to leave their homes.

Promoting Human Rights Defenders in Georgia

Promoting the importance of human rights defenders and their work in Georgia, Human Rights House Tbilisi (HRHT), on behalf of its member organisations, organised the first celebration of International Human Rights Defenders Day in Georgia.

Defending Rights in Croatia

Human Rights House Zagreb organised the public debate “Human Rights Defenders” to mark the 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Rights of Defenders on agenda of Committee of Ministers

During a rare engagement between the Council of Europe’s decision-making body and civil society, human rights defenders and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted the need to support human rights defenders and raise awareness of their work in society.