Human rights defenders | EEAS Website

Examples of human rights defenders (HRD) include journalists, bloggers, members of human rights NGOs, academics, lawyers, trade unionists, representatives of indigenous communities.

HRDs stand up for the rights of others, which is why it is so essential to protect them and their families. They often do so at great personal cost. In standing against human rights violations committed by States and non-state actors, HRDs are increasingly exposed to serious threats, including physical attacks, harassment, smear campaigns, arbitrary detention, torture and killings.

As laid out in the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, the EU is firmly committed to protect HRDs at risk by enhancing their visibility and recognition, and by publicly speaking out against the threats, they face.

Together with civil society organisations, the EU set up the Protect Defenders mechanism: a 24/7 hotline for HRDs that face immediate risk, which can finance a wide range of measures, including legal representation, medical costs and protection measures. The EU has a variety of tools that it can use to protect HRDs at risk, including trial observations or visits in detention, while using public and private diplomacy to raise individual cases of HRDs at risk.