"Corruption is often written off as inevitable, harmless, or a victimless crime, but it is none of those things", reported the Special Rapporteur on the situation of HRDs. She called for the recognition of the important work of HRDs on anti-corruption.
On 14 April, ISHR delivered a statement on the situation of human rights in Africa, with a particular focus on the criminalisation and arrest of defenders in countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, the Republic of Congo or Burundi.
ISHR and its partner Rencontre pour la Paix et les Droits de l’Homme (RPDH) are pleased that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted recommendations urging Congo Brazzaville to adopt a legislation to protect women human rights defenders.
Results of the Human Rights Council elections emphasise the importance of holding competitive elections and the need for States to strongly consider candidates’ human rights records when voting.
Reacting to a report by UN experts exposing ongoing threats and attacks against human rights defenders across the globe, ISHR calls on States to work together and cooperate with the UN to protect civil society.
The recently appointed high-level UN official mandated to combat acts of intimidation or reprisals should ensure that he is visible and accessible to victims and rights holders and active in pursuing accountability for perpetrators, ISHR told the Human Rights Council today.
Update 5 October 2018: CONGRATULATIONS to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize 2018 today! Both laureates were awarded for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.
Dr Denis Mukwege is a surgeon and one of the most prominent human and women’s rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ISHR spoke with him during his visit to Geneva.
After a number of years working with human rights organisations, Jean-Pierre Okenda has taken his own route toward improving human rights impacts of extractives projects in his country.
ISHR interview with Soraya Aziz Souleymane, a business and human rights defender, Deputy Field Office Director in charge of The Carter Center’s Mining Governance Program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Prominent human rights defender and Executive Director of La Voix des Sans Voix (the Voice of the Voiceless) Dolly Ibefo Mbunga, reflects on the situation for human rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the on-going and significant threat of reprisals. The conversation with ISHR took place at the regional consultations in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, which were facilitated by the office of the African Commission’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, the Côte d’Ivoire Human Rights Defenders Network and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defender Project and ISHR.
