Latest updates

ISHR and 37 other human rights organisations in Latin America issue a joint statement condemning the United States military attack against Venezuela and expressing concern about the serious human rights situation in the country. Any solution to the crisis facing the country must be democratic, peaceful and negotiated, centred on respect for human rights, and prioritising the participation and decision-making power of Venezuelan society over its future.

In a landmark ruling against Burundi, the UN Committee against Torture has set a precedent on the protection of lawyers and human rights defenders engaging with UN mechanisms, affirming that reprisals for cooperating with the UN violate the Convention Against Torture.

As States race to agree on the UN’s reformed 2026 budget, draft proposals threaten to gut the UN’s capacity to respond to escalating human rights crises. With negotiations entering a decisive final stretch, disproportionate cuts to the human rights pillar risk turning reform into retreat.

UN human rights mechanisms examined the situation in Guatemala regarding the right to adequate housing and racial discrimination, calling for an end to forced evictions against Indigenous communities and for the protection of land defenders, including Indigenous Peoples.

Led by Chile, 41 countries warned that proposed budget cuts under the UN80 initiative would severely weaken an already underfunded UN human rights pillar. As negotiations kick off in New York, ISHR urges States to prevent disproportionate cuts to human rights and ensure the international human rights system remains credible, effective and responsive.

From 24-26 November, the 14th Forum on Business and Human Rights took place in Geneva. ISHR participated in various activities together with human rights defenders working on corporate accountability.

Are you a human rights defender working on democratic backsliding and/or racial justice, keen to use the UN to push for change at home? If so, apply for the 2026 edition of ISHR’s flagship training, the Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme (HRDAP)!

ISHR delivered a statement during the organisational meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on 8 December 2025. Read the full statement below.

A big thanks to everyone who is getting behind our fundraising appeal and investing in a better world by supporting human rights defenders!

The UN Committee against Torture reviewed Bahrain’s fourth periodic report during its 83rd session in Geneva in November 2025. The dialogue focused heavily on the situation of human rights defenders, torture, accountability, and conditions of detention.

As the genocide in Gaza exposes deep corporate complicity, experts and human rights defenders convened in Geneva to discuss urgent paths toward accountability. This discussion unpacked how businesses, investors, and States must act now to end profiteering from atrocity crimes.

On 26 November 2025, ISHR organised, in partnership with Development Dynamics, a legislative advocacy dialogue on the Nigerian Bill of Human Rights Defenders Protection.