Human Rights Day: A call to action - No implementation of human rights in the Universal Human Rights Declaration without human rights defenders

On this Day,the OMCT, the largest alliance of human rights defenders fighting againsttorture, and a leading human rights defenders protection organisation, invitesall of us to not lower our guard and renews its commitment to human dignity andhuman rights.

The OMCTwith a coalition of human rights organization calls for states to turnstatements into action and to endorse and implement the Action Plan that was adopted by participants ofthe Human Rights Defenders World Summit2018,held in Paris on 29, 30, 31 October 2018. At the heart of the action plan is the recognition of human rightsdefenders across the world for their communities, for social justice and manyother causes including the fundamental fight against torture. The UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights, landmark and inspirational document adopted 70years, is as valid as ever, but without human rights defenders it would riskbeing deprived of meaning and means.

Over these 20 years, we have seen asignificant growth of international mechanisms as well as the adoption ofnational human rights defenders’ policies in some countries. However, thesepast years also witnessed a very dramatic backsliding inthe actual protection of defenders. There are an ever-growing number ofthreats, attacks, killings, detentions and defamation campaigns across allregions of the world. States, increasingly also in Europe and North America,are passive when it comes to concrete protection for defenders, and continue toengage in acts or omissions which encroach on the dignity and personalintegrity of human rights defenders. This Human Rights Day reminds us that thestruggle for human rights matters, maybe more than ever, and it needs more and moresupport to succeed. The adoption of the UN Declaration on Human RightsDefenders 20 years ago was a promise of recognition and protection. It stillremains an unfulfilled promise.

“In this Anniversary, to pay a tribute to all these achievements and tothe work of Human Rights Defenders (HRD) we urge states to recommit to humanrights and to the protection of human rights defenders”, stressed Hina Jilani, OMCT President and firstUN Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on the Situation of HumanRights Defenders.

This day is a callto all of us to continue our work to protect and support defenders, to reaffirm that States must fulfil theirobligations under international human rights law and guarantee the right tofreedom of action for human rights defenders to accomplish their workeverywhere.

We often neglect that the human rightsmovement is more global, more diverse and more vibrant than it has ever been. Weneed to pay tribute to human rights defenders worldwide and what they areachieving every day: a better world with less discrimination, marginalization,torture, disappearances, less arbitrariness and more social justice, andultimately less conflict and more peace, security and development.

This is what some members of OMCT Executive Council andfellow human rights defenders say on this special Anniversary:

“We started toforget what our grandfathers were fighting for and the idea of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Ithink it is still time to remember and to act […] ” - Olga Sadosvkaya, Russia.

"20 yearsafter the adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, this Anniversaryreminds today the crucial role they play worldwide, at a time when the spacefor civil society organizations and defenders continues to shrink throughvarious legislative manoeuvres and various forms of repression, especially inthe Arab world. Those men and women, in Yemen, in Saudi Arabia, or in Egypt,are threatened, sentenced, sometimes even forced into exile, for defendingtirelessly rights and freedoms, particularly in the context of the fightagainst terrorism or under the pretext of it " - Mokhtar Trifi, Vice-President of the OMCT,Tunisia.

“Thousands of women and men, at the risk oftheir lives, mobilize in a network for a common ideal: respect for humanrights. Today, it is even more important than ever tocelebrate this tireless work of dedicated advocates so that the oppressed donot feel lonely” - Aminata Dieye,Senegal.

"Human rights defenders sustain peace and democracy all over theworld regardless of reprisals and stigmatisation they face. The work of our forefathers and foremotherssustain our dream for a world where human rights are a reality, not anaspiration. As we celebrate achievements of the past 20 years, we can only hopethat Generations to come will be able to continue the struggle for freedom,democracy, difference, diversity, development, respect for the Mother Natureand above all peace in a safer environment” - Claudia Samayoa, Guatemala.

“We are in a world today where some States, democracies or not,favouring cronyism, have absorbed democracies and civic spaces with their abuseof power and authority. On this 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration on HumanRights Defenders, unfortunately we have moved several steps backwards when itcomes to freedoms of expression, assembly and association. Dissent is thebackbone of any democracy. Yet today dissent, which is a symbol of free speechand expression, is criminalised and the dissenter jailed, killed andpersecuted. Today, it is a moment to remind the work of thousands of defendersacross the world and to pay tribute to thousands who have left their legacies,thoughts and inspirations behind them" - Henri Tiphagne, India.

For more information, please contact DelphineReculeau, Director; dr@omct.org or Laura Parisotto, project officer and communication; lpa@omct.org

Background information

Created in 1985, the World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT) is the main coalition of non-governmental organisations(NGO) fighting against torture, summary executions, enforced disappearances andall other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. With more than 200 affiliatedorganisations in its SOS-Torture Network, OMCT aims at accompanying,reinforcing and protecting anti-torture organisations in particular in erosiveenvironments and provides a comprehensive system of support and protection forhuman rights defenders around the world.