Search Tips
sorted by
17 shown of 17 entities
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- During the 2004-2009 period, the mandate sent some 29 communications regarding threats and death threats against this group of defenders in sub-Saharan African countries. Half of these communications concerned those working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In this context, those regularly targeted included members of organizations working on women's rights issues, particularly impunity for sexual and other forms of violence against women in the context of the armed conflict, and their family members, along with wives and other female family members of male human rights defenders. The threats delivered included numerous death threats and often accompanied attacks or break-ins at the home of the defender in question. The sources of such threats were often armed individuals and members of the armed groups party to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including State forces and police. A similar pattern of threats against defenders working on women's rights, albeit less frequently reported, was notable in Zimbabwe, primarily women's rights defenders. Other communications were also sent to the Central African Republic, Kenya and Uganda.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 108
- Paragraph text
- According to statements that he heard at his first consultations in Geneva and at regional consultations, such attacks may take a variety of forms: personal threats or threats against members of defenders' families, smear campaigns, death threats, physical attacks, kidnapping, judicial harassment, murder and other forms of police harassment or intimidation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision and Working Methods of the Mandate 2014, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- Reprisals may take various forms, from threats against the defenders themselves or their families, defamation campaigns, death threats, physical violence, abductions, hounding by law enforcement, assassinations or various forms of harassment and intimidation by the police.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision and Working Methods of the Mandate 2014, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- All are frequently exposed to the same threats and attacks, but some of them are more exposed or more threatened, or are subject to particular forms of attack, notably denigration or intimidation campaigns, stigmatization, threats against their families, defamation, denunciation or mockery, or unfounded administrative complications.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- An alarming number of women human rights defenders and their relatives have paid the highest price for their work. During the 2004-2009 period, 39 communications were sent regarding killings of one or more defenders, their family members, or female relatives of male human rights defenders, along with thirty-five communications regarding attempted killings.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 105
- Paragraph text
- Six communications involved raids/searches of offices, confiscation of materials (including computers and paper files) and surveillance of defenders, their organizations, their homes and/or offices. Five communications included violations of psychological integrity including death threats, harassment by police, security forces and non-State actors and, in some cases, these actions targeted defenders' family members.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- It is worth noting that aside from non-State actors, a large proportion of reported threats and death threats in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa were attributed to State agents, including police and other authorities. In addition, other reported perpetrators of killings, attempted killings and physical attacks were unknown individuals, but also political activists and extremists, members of the community and family members.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
On the Declaration on human rights defenders 2011, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- In addition, community leaders and faith-based groups are increasingly resorting to the stigmatization of - and attacks against - defenders working on issues such as the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, violence against women and domestic violence. Also, women human rights defenders working in the area of domestic violence and other types of violence against women are often pressured by family members or threatened by the perpetrators to drop cases.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work in progress, challenges and the way forward 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has also initiated a series of regional consultations on the impunity enjoyed by those who attack defenders. All too often, the perpetrators of such attacks are not convicted. The distress of victims and families who seek justice and reparation meets with indifference and even hostility on the part of law enforcement and judicial officers. It is therefore important to have a sharper understanding of the situation and to better identify the factors behind impunity so that specific recommendations can be made to States and other actors involved.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Global trends in risks and threats facing human rights defenders 2015, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Lawyers are attacked and threatened both in their capacity as defenders and for the part they play in defending defenders. Their offices are ransacked, their communications are intercepted by the authorities or third parties, and they are sometimes victims of intimidation campaigns that may even include the withdrawal of their license to operate. These lawyers, and in some cases their families, also pointed out that they were regularly the object of attacks, harassment campaigns, arbitrary detention, or acts of torture. Lawyers working for defenders have been slandered and accused of treason or of having ties to terrorism. Their work is continually obstructed and there, too, defenders have to contend with the lack of an independent judiciary.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Defenders and their families are intimidated, harassed, subject to surveillance, threatened, attacked, arbitrarily arrested, criminalized, tortured and ill-treated in detention, subject to enforced disappearances, and sometimes killed. State and non-State actors are involved in the commission of these acts and impunity tends to prevail when it comes to attacks and violations against defenders. Investigations are excessively protracted, due process is not always guaranteed and perpetrators are often not held accountable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur remains gravely concerned that women defenders are subject to arrests, ill-treatment, torture, criminalization, unwarranted judicial proceedings, stigmatization, attacks, threats (including death threats), sexual violence and killings. Furthermore, in many cases, the family members of women defenders are also targeted. In comparison to male defenders, women defenders are more at risk of suffering certain forms of violence, as well as prejudice, exclusion and repudiation. This occurs because women defenders are often perceived as challenging accepted sociocultural norms, traditions, perceptions and stereotypes about femininity, sexual orientation, and the role and status of women in society.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- In doing this kind of work, women human rights defenders have been subjected to threats against their physical integrity including: killings, mostly in the Americas region (Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras); excessive use of force against them during protests (Brazil, India and Nepal); and attacks by armed assailants (Guatemala). They have also been subjected to threats and death threats (Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Philippines, Peru); and harassment and intimidation (Bahamas, Mexico, Peru), including against their families (Colombia).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- In Uzbekistan, to which 10 communications were sent regarding alleged threats and death threats, a wide range of women defenders were allegedly targeted as well as a significant number of family members. Among these, explicit death threats were common, along with others including threats of committal to psychiatric hospitals, threats of violence against family members, and threats of eviction. A further 14 communications were sent to other European countries, including four to Serbia and the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and two to Turkey.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- As pointed out by the former Special Representative in her 2002 report to the Commission on Human Rights, the violations faced by women defenders may themselves take a gender-specific form, ranging from verbal abuse based on their sex, to sexual abuse and rape. Cases of the latter are particularly prevalent in situations of conflict, which are often characterized by an environment of complete impunity for perpetrators. Further, in certain contexts, if a women human rights defender is subjected to rape or sexual abuse as a result of her work, she may be perceived by her extended family as having brought shame on both the family and the wider community. Indeed, even when no rape or sexual abuse has occurred, women defenders are often subjected to stigmatization and ostracism by community leaders, faith-based groups, families and communities who consider them to be jeopardizing religion, honour or culture through their work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues 2011, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- In this regard, the mandate holders have reiterated on several occasions that women defenders are more at risk of suffering certain forms of violence and other violations, prejudice, exclusion, and repudiation than their male counterparts. This is often due to the fact that women defenders are perceived as challenging accepted socio-cultural norms, traditions, perceptions and stereotypes about femininity, sexual orientation, and the role and status of women in society. Their work is often seen as challenging "traditional" notions of the family which can serve to normalize and perpetuate forms of violence and oppression of women. This can, in certain contexts, lead to hostility or lack of support from the general population, as well as the authorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violations committed against defenders by non-State actors 2010, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- In addition, the information received indicates that community leaders and faith-based groups are increasingly resorting to the stigmatization of, and attacks against, defenders working on issues such as the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (A/HRC/4/37/Add.2, para. 32), violence against women and domestic violence. In numerous instances, defenders have been threatened with ostracism or pressured to stop their work in defence of human rights. Furthermore, the information received shows that women human rights defenders working in the area of domestic violence and other types of violence against women are often pressured by the family members of victims or threatened by the perpetrators or their own family members to drop cases.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
17 shown of 17 entities