OSCE seeks to improve protection of human rights defenders

VIENNA, 22 October 2001 (OSCE) - At a special two-day OSCE meeting which opened today, more than 150 government representatives, international experts and human rights activists from 55 OSCE countries are discussing ways to better protect and support human rights defenders.

"While human rights defenders receive more and more words of praise by international institutions [], governments continue to thwart their activities", said Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, who gave the key note speech at the opening today. "Some of our colleagues have even been murdered at the hands of state institutions, their organizations have been threatened, denied official registration and obstructed from receiving support."

The meeting will focus on the challenges faced by non-governmental human rights groups in their relations with the authorities and international organizations. It will particularly look at human rights advocacy and defence in the context of armed conflict or internal tensions - one of the situations where the role of human rights defenders is most crucial, but where their situation is also most unstable.

The meeting, organized by the OSCE Chairmanship-in Office in co-operation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), will develop concrete recommendations for further action based on best practice across the OSCE region.