In a series of groundbreaking rulings in early 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of Colombia set new precedents that significantly enhance protections for human rights defenders across Latin America.
In the face of multiple human rights crisis in the region, as well as significant political changes, defenders spoke at the Human Rights Council’s 55th session about the realities they have faced, calling for greater action and new mechanisms, and noting that political expediency shouldn't trump the objective assessment of the need for Council action on country situations.
Effectively realising human rights for everyone, everywhere is the pathway to free, fair and just communities and a more peaceful and sustainable world. This must remain our north star as we face the multiple and worsening crises and conflicts around the world.
At a Human Rights Council general debate on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, Racismo MX and ISHR delivered a joint statement on systemic racism and the invisibility of Afro-descendants and Indigenous peoples in Mexico.
In the context of increased repression in Venezuela, UN officials, experts and States call for the respect for human rights defenders, the release of those arbitrarily detained, fair elections and the unconditional return of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Effectively realising human rights for everyone, everywhere is the pathway to free, fair and just communities and a more peaceful and sustainable world. This must remain our north star as we face the multiple and worsening crises and conflicts around the world, write ISHR Director Phil Lynch and Board Chair Vrinda Grover.
The 55th UN Human Rights Council session will discuss the protection of human rights defenders, freedom of religion, human rights while countering terrorism, and rights to food and housing. It will also address grave human rights issues in countries like Sudan, Nicaragua, Venezuela, China, Syria, South Sudan, Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, Eritrea, and the Palestinian territories/Israel, amongst others.
ISHR joins 25 other NGOs in calling for the UN Human Rights Office's return to Venezuela and the release of political detainees, including Rocío San Miguel, amidst rising repression.
Over 300 organisations sent a joint letter to UN representatives calling on them to ensure live online modalities of participation for UN human rights bodies and mechanisms in light of concerns regarding access and participation of civil society in these spaces. Read the letter below.
On 21 November, ISHR celebrated the vital work of human rights defenders at a conference on 'The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Seventy-Five Years On: Achievements and Current Challenges.' A slightly shortened version of our speech is reproduced below.
