The Escazú Agreement is the first legally binding instrument in the world to include provisions on environmental human rights defenders. Environmental defenders of Latin America and the Caribbean have just concluded the first official meeting to define how to realize those promises made to enable and protect their work.
On Thursday 10 November, India’s human rights record came under scrutiny at the UN in the context of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The Guidelines on the protection of all persons against enforced disappearances is the first, legal and enforce reference instrument that all stakeholders should take ownership of to ensure the protection of all persons against enforced disappearances in Africa.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (‘the African Commission’) examined the periodic report of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire covering the period 2016-2019, during its public session held from 20 to 30 October 2022 in Banjul, The Gambia. The report presents the progress made by Côte d'Ivoire regarding the state of human rights since its last review by the Commission.
ISHR accompanied defenders during the negotiations at the UN on the elaboration of an international legally binding treaty that seeks to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations.
On 24 October, ISHR delivered a statement on the situation of human rights in Africa, with a particular focus on the worsening human rights situation in Egypt ahead of the COP27, the shrinking civic space in Zimbabwe and the brutal murder of members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) mouvement in South Africa.
In their Interactive Dialogues with States during the Third Committee of the General Assembly, Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change and on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment emphasised the critical role of defenders in addressing the environment and climate crises, urging States and non State actors to take measures to protect them.
At the NGO Forum ahead of the 73rd session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), representatives of UN mechanisms and of civil society gathered to discuss the potential impacts of the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area for climate change, food security, and the human rights of the citizens of its signatory States.
The climate crisis is among the most critical and complex issues our planet and its people face. Human rights and defenders must be at the centre.
During HRC51 General Debate Item 8, ISHR, Abahlali baseMjondolo, delivered a joint statement supported by 47 organisations, denouncing the killings of human rights defenders in South Africa, particularly those working to defend land, housing and environmental rights, as well as anti-corruption activists.
