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Human Rights are guaranteed under international law but working to ensure that they are realised and taking up the cases of those who have had their rights violated can be a dangerous business in countries all around the world. Human Rights Defenders are often the only force standing between ordinary people and the unbridled power of the state. They are vital to the development of democratic processes and institutions, ending impunity and the promotion and protection of human rights.
Human Rights Defenders often face harassment, detention, torture, defamation, suspension from their employment, denial of freedom of movement and difficulty in obtaining legal recognition for their associations. In some countries they are killed or “disappeared.”
Over the last few years, general awareness has increased of the enormous risk human rights defenders face in their work. The risk is easy to identify when defenders work in hostile situations, for instance, if a country’s laws penalise people who do certain types of human rights work. Defenders are also at risk when the law fully sanctions human rights work on the one hand, but fails to punish those who threaten or attack defenders on the other. In armed conflict situations, the risk becomes even higher.
Apart from a few chaotic situations during which a defender’s life may be in the hands of soldiers at a checkpoint, the violence committed against defenders can’t be called indiscriminate. In most cases, violent attacks are a deliberate and well-planned response to defenders’ work, and linked to a clear political or military agenda.
These challenges require human rights defenders to implement comprehensive and dynamic security strategies in their day to day work. Giving defenders well-meant advice or recommending that they “take care” is not enough. Better security management is key. This manual does not offer tailor-made solutions ready to be applied to any scenario. However, it does try to provide a set of strategies aimed at improving defenders’ security management.
The most effective security lessons come from defenders themselves - from their daily experiences and the tactics and strategies they develop over time in order to protect others and their own working environments. This manual must therefore be understood as a work in progress which will need to be updated and adapted as we gather more input from human rights defenders working on the front line.
There are also lessons to be learned from international humanitarian NGOs, who have recently started to develop their own rules and procedures to maintain staff security.
It is important to be aware that the main risk for defenders is that threats often materialise into actual attacks. Aggressors have the will, the means and the impunity to put threats into action. The best tool for protecting defenders is therefore political action to address the one, big, remaining issue: The need for governments and civil society to put pressure on and act against those who day after day threaten, harass and kill defenders. The advice given in this manual is in no way intended to replace the due responsibility of each and all governments to protect human rights defenders.
That said, defenders can significantly improve their security by following a few tried and tested rules and procedures.
This manual is a humble contribution to an aim shared by many different organisations: To preserve the invaluable work that human rights defenders do. They are the ones on the front line, and they are also the main characters of this manual.
The purpose of this manual is to provide human rights defenders with additional knowledge and some tools that may be useful for improving their understanding of security and protection. It is hoped that the manual will support training on security and protection and will help defenders to undertake their own risk assessments and define security rules and procedures which suit their particular situation.
This manual is the result of a long term project by PBI on field protection for defenders. We have had the opportunity to learn from and share experiences and knowledge with hundreds of defenders in the field, as well as in workshops, meetings and discussions about security. Most of the manual’s contents have already been applied in practice, either in protection work or in training workshops with defenders. This manual is the fruit of all these exchanges, and we owe the defenders involved a huge thanks for their input.
Security and protection are difficult areas. They are based around structured knowledge, but also influenced by individual attitudes and organisational behaviour. One of the key messages in this manual is to give the issue of security the time, space and energy it deserves, despite overloaded work agendas and the severe stress and fear all defenders and their organisations are under. This means going beyond people’s individual knowledge about security and moving towards an organisational culture in which security is inherent.
Knowing enough about a conflict scenario and understanding the local political logic are also key to proper management of defenders’ security. This manual contains an overall framework as well as a step by step approach for managing security. It also includes some reflections on basic concepts like risk, vulnerability and threat, and a few suggestions for how to improve and develop security for defenders in their day to day work. We hope that the topics covered will allow NGOs and defenders to plan for and cope with the increasing security challenges involved in human rights work. This said, the first thing we wish to remind all of us is that defenders risk their well-being and their lives, and this is serious stuff. Sometimes the only way to save a life is just going into hiding and then fleeing. We want to leave it very clear that all the techniques and suggestions in this manual are not, by any means, the only way to think about security issues for defenders. The manual has been written in good faith but sadly offers no guarantee of success.
Let’s improve this Manual…
The manual is a work in progress, and will need to be developed, improved and refined over time. Your feedback as a defender on any aspect of this manual will be invaluable: Please send any comments and opinions - particularly in terms of your experiences of using the manual in your work. With your help, we can make this manual an increasingly useful tool for defenders all over the world.
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“Human rights defender” is a term used to describe people who, individually or with others, take action to promote or protect human rights. Human rights defenders are identified above all by what they do, and the term can therefore best be explained by describing their actions and some of the contexts they work in. In 1998 the United National General Assembly approved the “Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms” (Hereafter the “UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders”). In other words, fifty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and after twenty years of negotiations on a draft declaration on human rights defenders, the United Nations finally recognized what is a reality: that thousands of people were promoting and contributing to the protection of human rights throughout the world. This is an inclusive Declaration that honours the amount and variety of people engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders is mandated "to seek, receive examine and respond to information on the situation and the rights of anyone, acting individually or in association with others, to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms." Front Line defines a human rights defender as "a person who works, non-violently, for any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Front Line seeks to promote the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders stresses that the state is primarily responsible for protecting human rights defenders. It also acknowledges “the valuable work of individuals, groups and associations in contributing to the effective elimination of all violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms” and “the relationship between international peace and security and the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms”.
But according to Hina Jilani, Special Representative of the UN General Secretary on Human Rights Defenders, “exposing human rights violations and seeking redress for them is largely dependent on the degree of security enjoyed by human rights defenders” . A look at any report on human rights defenders throughout the world reveals stories of torture, disappearances, killings, threats, robbery, break-ins to offices, harassment, illegal detentions, being subjected to intelligence and surveillance activities, etc. Unfortunately, this is the rule and not the exception for defenders.
To find out more about human rights defenders, visit:
To learn more about existing international legal instruments and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, visit :