Press Releases

Front Line is delighted to announce that the prestigious, Irish Life WMB Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2008 has just been given to Mary Lawlor Co-Founder and Executive Director of the organisation. The Award was announced at the annual O2 WMB Conference and Awards Ceremony which took place today in Dublin's Shelbourne Hotel.  

Today, Front Line the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders will be joined by actor and campaigner Mr Martin Sheen and former Taoiseach ( Prime Minister) of Ireland, Mr Bertie Ahern TD, at a special lunch held at the United Nations in New York. The event is to celebrate the awarding of the 2008 Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk to Anwar al-Bunni of Syria.  

Today in Dublin, Front Line was joined in the Royal College of Physicians by Irish parliamentarians, Simon Coveney TD, Mary O'Rourke TD, Ciaran Cuffe Td, Roisin Shortall TD and Noeline Blackwell, Director of FLAC (Free Legal Aid Centre) to announce the nominations for the Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders Ar Risk 2008.  

Front Line, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, together with The Body Shop Ireland, launches action campaign “ Protect One, Empower a Thousand” to end the harassment of human rights defenders. On Monday 19 November at 1 pm at The Body Shop on Grafton Street, Front Line and The Body Shop launch their joint national campaign to secure the protection of human rights defenders. Senator David Norris will speak at the launch highlighting how human rights defenders, including gay rights activists, put their lives on the line on a daily basis in defence of the rights of others.  

Media Alert

Embargoed 8 May 2007

On Tuesday 8 May 2007 the Chairman of the Board of the King Baudouin Foundation in Brussels will present the 2007 King Baudouin International Development Prize to Front Line, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human rights Defenders which is based in Dublin. The Prize will be awarded in the presence of Their Majesties H.M. King Albert, H.M. Queen Paola and H.M. Queen Fabiola

The prize, worth €150,000, will be awarded at a ceremony in the Royal Palace in Brussels. This is the first time that this Prize has ever been awarded to an organisation working on behalf of human rights defenders, and it is the first time that an Irish NGO has even made it onto the short list.

395 organisations were nominated . After a rigorous scrutiny this was narrowed down to a short list of five and finally awarded to Front Line. The Prize is awarded on the basis of the impact and effectiveness of the work of Front Line .  

Akifa Aliyeva, Gégé Katana, Jackeline Rojas, Radhia Nasraoui, Riza Fanilag

Front Line is pleased to announce the short list of nominees for the 2007 Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk. Bono will present the award on 01 May 2007 at a breakfast ceremony in Dublin’s City Hall.  

Front Line marked the 8th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders on Saturday 9 December, by hosting a talk by three leading human rights defenders. Kasinather Sivapalan, a lawyer and human rights defender from Sri Lanka, Abdujalil Boymatov, a human rights defender from Uzbekistan and Claudia Samayao, a human rights defender from Guatemala and author of a new Front Line report on Guatemala gave their personal testimonies of working at risk in hostile environments.

28 October

We the participants of the 3rd Front Line International Platform, taking into consideration the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, demand the immediate and unconditional release of the following human rights defenders, who are detained as a result of their peaceful and legitimate activities in the promotion and protection of human rights and expressing their views and opinions freely.

Afganistan:

Ali-Muhaqiq Nasab, Chief Editor of Hooq-e- Zan

China:

Zheng Enchong, lawyer Yang Youren, leader of a group of displaced farmers, Heibei,Province (currently under house arrest)

Colombia:

Isidro Alarcon Bohorquez, Laura Cristina Canonico, Ana Elba Galvis – Asamblea Permanente Morales Hernando Hernandez, FENSUAGRO, Envera Chami,Indigenous activist Jose Vicente Murillo Tabo; Martha Elvira Osorio, Caropresse; Samuel Morales; Maria Raquel Castro; Jose Guillermo Larios, CREHOS Oscar Arturo Correa, Comite Permanente Derechos Humanos and Comite Presos Politicos,