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Environmental human rights defenders 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The increased scale of acts of reprisal against environmental human rights defenders protesting against environmental harms caused by projects funded by international financial institutions is disquieting. The submissions received revealed large gaps between professed commitments to participation and accountability and the situation on the ground, pointing to an overwhelming failure by those institutions to assess risks and respond to reprisals effectively. One report documented case studies in Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Uganda and Uzbekistan of reprisals taking a variety of forms. The critics of projects funded by the World Bank Group were reportedly the target of threats, intimidation tactics and baseless criminal charges. Some women faced sexual harassment or gender-based threats, attacks, or insults when they spoke out. Security forces responded violently to peaceful protests, physically assaulting community members and arbitrarily arresting them. In other cases, critics or their family members were threatened with the loss of their jobs or livelihoods. In many countries, such reprisals often occurred within a broader effort to demonize critics as unpatriotic or "anti-development".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Environmental human rights defenders 2016, para. 102g
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Develop protection mechanisms for environmental human rights defenders, taking into account the intersectional dimensions of violations against women defenders, indigenous peoples and rural and marginalized communities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- 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. 87
- Paragraph text
- Two communications concerning women defenders working on land and environmental issues were sent to the African region namely to Angola and Nigeria.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- 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. 81
- Paragraph text
- Women human rights defenders working on land and environmental rights issues have been the subject of a number of communications (25) sent during the reporting period to countries in the Americas (17), Asia Pacific (6) and Africa (2).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- During her mandate, the Special Rapporteur has extensively focused on integrating a gender perspective throughout her work and has paid particular attention to the specificities of the environment in which women human rights defenders operate. She has addressed the heightened risks and challenges faced by women human rights defenders and those working on women's rights and gender issues; and highlighted the repercussions that such work may have on partners, spouses, and family members of defenders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- 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. 102
- Paragraph text
- All 60 cases raised by the mandate holder during the period reported related to violations against youth and student defenders working on a very wide range of issues, including torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, impunity, freedom of religion, minority rights, students' rights, youth rights, education, women's rights and gender issues, trade policies and other economic issues, environmental and land issues, peacebuilding and democracy promotion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- 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. 85
- Paragraph text
- As mentioned, the Americas region received most of the communications (17) sent by the mandate holder during the period concerning women defenders working on land and environmental issues, most of them related to killings and attempted killings. Other communications to this region dealt with threats and death threats (5) and harassment and intimidation (9). Alleged perpetrators in this region were mostly unidentified groups or individuals (12) followed by State and non-State actors.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- 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. 55
- Paragraph text
- In the African region, the type of activities carried out by journalists and media workers allegedly targeted were monitoring demonstrations; exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression; or working on impunity, corruption, women's rights, human rights violations committed by the State, environmental issues and democracy. In this region, the Democratic Republic of Congo received the highest number of communications (10).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Environmental human rights defenders 2016, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, women environmental human rights defenders face a number of challenges, including those related to exclusion from participation in the negotiation and decision-making processes; criminalization used as a political strategy to deter resistance and delegitimize their work; smear campaigns against them in the media; and discrimination and violence against them in their families, communities and human rights movements. Women rights defenders from indigenous communities, with ethnic or racial minority origins or with disabilities can also suffer multiple discrimination. Gender, indigenous status, rural location and other factors can intersect to isolate individuals, groups and communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Environmental human rights defenders 2016, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Many violations against environmental human rights defenders can be directly linked to patriarchy, sexism, racism, xenophobia and chauvinism. This is important in the case of women defenders, who may oppose large-scale development projects but also challenge the systemic power inequality and discrimination deeply rooted in societies. They usually question patriarchy or misogyny, sometimes within their own communities. As activists, they face the same threats as other defenders but they are more likely to face gender-specific violence. Reports have shown that sexual violence is used to silence women human rights defenders in particular. In Latin America, for example, women defenders are among the most threatened environmental human rights defenders owing to the nature of their human rights work and to their gender.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Environmental human rights defenders 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Many of these communities, particularly indigenous ones, hold the right to free, prior and informed consent, and all of them have the right to participate fully in consultations around proposed projects that may affect their lands and livelihoods. Despite their recognition in various international, regional and domestic laws, those rights are often not meaningfully implemented, or are simply ignored by companies, with the complicity of Governments. Some Governments strategically choose to deny the rights to peoples that have not been "officially" identified as indigenous. The consultation processes also regularly fail to address power inequalities within communities, leaving isolated such groups as women or ethnic groups owing to one-size-fits-all approaches.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Environmental human rights defenders 2016, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- In his 2013 report, the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (A/25/53) outlined human rights obligations relating to the environment drawn from international agreements and the bodies charged with interpreting them. The threefold duties include: (a) procedural obligations of States to assess environmental impacts on human rights and to make environmental information public; to facilitate participation in environmental decision-making; and to provide access to remedies for environmental harm; (b) substantive obligations of States to adopt legal and institutional frameworks that protect against environmental harm, including harm caused by private actors; and (c) non-discrimination and other obligations of States relating to the protection of groups in vulnerable situations, including women, children and indigenous peoples.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 124f
- Paragraph text
- [Member States should:] Pay particular attention to the most exposed groups: those who work for economic, social and cultural rights or minority rights; environmental defenders; defenders of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex rights; women defenders and those who work for women's rights; defenders who work in the area of business and human rights; those who work in an area exposed to internal conflict or a natural disaster; defenders living in isolated regions; and defenders working on past abuses, such as the families of victims of enforced disappearance;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- During his first consultations in Geneva and Brussels and the bilateral discussions that he held with representatives of regional networks of human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur was struck by the repeated statements drawing his attention to the groups that were most exposed: those working on economic, social and cultural rights and minority rights; environmental defenders; defenders of LGBTI rights; women defenders and those who work for women's rights; defenders who work in the area of business and human rights; those who work in an area exposed to internal conflict or a national disaster; defenders living in isolated regions; and those working on past abuses, such as the families of victims of enforced disappearance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Global trends in risks and threats facing human rights defenders 2015, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- During each regional consultation, discussions were held about the threats and challenges faced by certain specific groups of defenders. As requested on several occasions by the Human Rights Council (in its resolutions 13/3, 22/6 and 24/24), strategies and actions for providing them with better protection were also examined. Some defenders face threats purely because of their identity (for example, women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex persons, members of indigenous peoples, or defenders of persons suffering from albinism), others because of the issues they address (combating corruption, protecting the environment), or due to a particularly sensitive context (defenders working in conflict or post-conflict areas).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur regrets that, in many countries, there are no specific mechanisms in place to protect women defenders and those working on women's rights and gender issues. In countries where such mechanisms exist, they are often hampered by a lack of gender-sensitivity, implementation or political will. The Special Rapporteur strongly believes that women defenders need specific and enhanced protection and targeted and deliberate efforts to make the environment in which they operate a safer, more enabling and supporting one.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision and Working Methods of the Mandate 2014, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- In the course of the initial consultations held in Geneva and Brussels and the bilateral discussions which he has been able to have with representatives of regional networks of defenders, the Special Rapporteur has been struck, among other issues, by how frequently his attention has been drawn to the most exposed groups, such as those who are seeking to promote and protect economic, social and cultural rights or the rights of minorities; environmental defenders; defenders of the rights of lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transsexual and intersex persons, female defenders and those who strive for the rights of women; defenders who work on issues of companies and human rights; those who work in an area exposed to an internal conflict or a natural disaster; defenders living in isolated regions; or those who work on past violations, who are especially targeted.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Role of national human rights institutions in the promotion and protection of human rights and as protectors of human rights defenders 2013, para. 120g
- Paragraph text
- [To national human rights institutions:] Should establish a focal point or an entity dedicated to human rights defenders with specific attention to groups of defenders at particular risk such as women defenders and those working for women's rights and gender issues; those working on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities; defenders working on environmental and land issues; journalists; and lawyers. This entity must be adequately resourced in order to respond promptly to reported violations and to offer necessary protection;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- 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. 82
- Paragraph text
- These women defenders were active in negotiations with local authorities to resolve land conflicts (900 women in Brazil, Colombia Guatemala, India) and denouncing land-grabbing (China); working for reparations for indigenous people (India, Nepal and Peru) and denouncing encroachments on their lands (India, Nepal); organizing community events (Colombia); campaigning against nuclear power plants (Philippines 2); campaigning against the development of a gated community and marina development (Bahamas); working for the rights of field workers (Honduras); protesting against the creation of a residential and leisure complex (Mexico); filming a documentary on the harmful impact of oil production (Nigeria); campaigning for water rights and against the construction of a dam (India); and campaigning against mining projects (Peru).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- 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. 64
- Paragraph text
- Between December 2006 and May 2011, a large number of communications sent during the reporting period (106) concerned alleged violations against defenders and activists working on land and environmental issues. According to the information received, this group is thoroughly heterogeneous. It includes defenders carrying out a vast range of activities related to land and environmental rights, including those working on issues related to extractive industries, and construction and development projects; those working for the rights of indigenous and minority communities; women human rights defenders; and journalists.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- 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. 23
- Paragraph text
- In 2008, the Special Rapporteur presented her first report to the General Assembly (A/63/288), in which she laid down her vision for the mandate. In that report, she indicated that she would maintain and strengthen the focus of the mandate on those groups of defenders most exposed to risks. At that stage, she also identified several groups of defenders particularly targeted for their activities, including women human rights defenders; those working to promote economic, social and cultural rights, including land and environmental issues; and those defenders working for the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- 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. 103
- Paragraph text
- It should be noted that the various risks and challenges outlined above to which women human rights defenders and those working on women's rights or gender issues are exposed in attempting to carry out their legitimate and peaceful human rights activities cannot be conceived as of separate from the political, social, economic, environmental, and other systemic factors which produce and reproduce conflict, displacement, inequality, violence, patriarchal attitudes and practices which are at the root of these challenges. The security of such defenders is inherently linked to the security of their communities and can only be fully achieved in the context of a holistic approach which includes the deepening of democracy, the fight against impunity, the reduction of economic inequalities, and striving for social and environmental justice, among others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- 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. 65
- Paragraph text
- Women human rights defenders and those working on women's rights or gender issues in the Americas appear to be most at risk of being killed or having an attempt made on their lives. The largest number of these communications was sent to Colombia (12 regarding killings, 11 regarding attempted killings), while other cases were reported in Brazil (two regarding killings, four regarding attempted killings); Guatemala (two regarding killings, two regarding attempted killings); and Honduras (two regarding killings, two regarding attempted killings); with attempted killings also being reported in Mexico (two), Chile (two), Ecuador (two), and Peru (two). Those most at risk appear to be women trade unionists and women labour rights activists, particularly in Colombia and Guatemala; women indigenous rights activists, particularly in Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Guatemala; and women environmental and land rights activists, particularly in Brazil and Colombia, along with family members and associates of all the aforementioned defenders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- 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. 53
- Paragraph text
- A related group of women defenders are those working on environmental issues, including access to land, were the subject of 33 communications sent by the mandate during this period, a large majority of which were sent to countries in the Americas. The work carried out by these women typically includes advocating the preservation of lands and communities which may be threatened by large-scale industrial projects, generally relating to the extractive and energy-related industries, such as mines, hydroelectric dams, and pipelines.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- 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. 79
- Paragraph text
- During the 2004-2009 period, 28 communications were sent regarding arrests and detentions of women human rights defenders and those working on women's rights or gender issues in the Americas, along with 22 concerning further criminalization of human rights defenders. Regarding arrests and detentions, those most at risk appear to be women activists for indigenous rights, particularly in Chile along with other women community leaders, campesino and rural activists, environmentalists, and lawyers. Similarly, indigenous activists appear to be at risk, particularly in the Chilean context. During 2004-2009, the mandate sent six communications regarding the criminalization of women working on indigenous issues in Chile. Such criminalization usually involved charges and trials based on supposed public order offences related to the right of assembly, and, on occasion, terrorism-related charges.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
On the Declaration on human rights defenders 2011, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Violations suffered by defenders as a consequence of their participation in protests range from threats following demonstrations to arbitrary arrest and detention, intimidation, ill-treatment, torture and excessive use of force by authorities. A cause for concern is the number of peaceful protesters who have been injured or killed during violent crackdowns by the authorities. The mandate holder has also identified specific protection needs concerning some groups of protestors, including women defenders and defenders working on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights; student activists; trade unionists; and defenders monitoring and reporting on demonstrations. Defenders engaged in protests linked to demands for democratic reforms; the anti-globalization movement; election processes; peace demonstrations; and land rights, natural resources and environmental claims are often in need of specific protection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
26 shown of 26 entities