News Archive
Page 19 of 134 (1332 articles)
Joint Statement Urging More Aid, Solidarity and Attention to Sudan Crisis
Sudan: Global Leaders Warn of Inaction in Face of Atrocities Joint Statement by the leaders of over 50 international human rights and humanitarian organisations, urging more aid, solidarity, attention to the crisis (New York, September 13, 2023) – We, the heads of over 50 human rights and humanitarian organizations are coming together to sound the […]
DefendDefenders’ oral statements at HRC54
Oral statements delivered during the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council (11 September-13 October 2023) Item 2: Interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s oral update on Sudan (12 September 2023) Mr. President, Mr. High Commissioner, We thank you for your update. We salute the work of the Designated Expert and encourage him to […]
Sudan: the Human Rights Council should establish an independent mechanism
Today, over 110 NGOs reiterated a call on the UN Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism on Sudan. The initial civil society call, issued after armed conflict broke out in Khartoum in April 2023, was on the Council to hold an emergency session (which it did) and to request the UN High […]
Human Rights Defender of the month: Veronica Almedom
Veronica Almedom is a poster child of successful immigration. A duo Eritrean and Swiss citizen, she was born in Italy, and grew up in Switzerland where she permanently resides. Her parents are some of the earliest victims of Eritrea’s cycles of violence. When Eritrea’s war of independence peaked in the early 1980s, they escaped the country as unaccompanied minors, wandering through Sudan, Saudi Arabia, before making the hazard journey across the Mediterranean into Europe. There, they crossed first to Italy, and finally, to Switzerland, where they settled first as refugees, and later, as permanent residents.
Burundi: Extend the Special Rapporteur’s mandate and ensure adequate funding for his work
Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council’s 54th session (HRC54, 11 September-13 October 2023), dozens of Burundian, African, and international NGOs call on the Council to adopt a new resolution on Burundi. “As serious human rights violations persist in Burundi and the government has failed to hold perpetrators accountable or take the concerns raised by […]
Annual Report 2022
2022 was the first full year of resumption of normal operations since the outbreak of Covid-19 three years ago. We were glad to resume full in-person engagements and restore many of our programs disrupted by the pandemic, and we are grateful to the millions of health professionals and volunteers around the world who made this […]
Updates from July 2023
Dear friends, Like the past few months, July barely brought better fortunes for the human rights situation not just in the East and Horn of Africa, but on the continent. On 26 July, the military in Niger overthrew the country’s democratically elected government in a coup, making it the 5th military coup in the Sahel […]
Human Rights Defender of the month: Omar Faruk Osman
Omar Faruk’s career, and the passion that drove it, were the product of his circumstances. He was born in 1976, in the first of strong man Mohamed Siad Barre’s two-decade rule over Somalia, which was characterized by gross rights abuses and barely existent civic space. He came of age in the 90s when those abuses and rights violations were peaking, as his country was engulfed by a ruinous civil war following the collapse of the Siad Barre dictatorship.
CONSULTATION MEETING WITH SUDANESE EXILED HRDs COMMUNIQUE
Consultation Meeting with Sudanese Exiled HRDs by DefendDefenders and Framework Mechanism at Mestil Hotels and Residences, Kampala, Uganda  FINAL COMMUNIQUE From 10 to 11 August 2023, DefendDefenders and the Framework Mechanism convened a two-day consultation meeting for exiled Sudanese human rights defenders (HRDs) in Kampala, Uganda, to among other things, identify gaps and challenges […]
Reflections on the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council
Another session, another 30 resolutions. The conclusion of the Human Rights Council’s 53rd session (HRC53) once again raised the question of the Council’s overloaded agenda. If important resolutions addressing human rights crises were adopted, including on Belarus, Eritrea, Myanmar, Syria, and Ukraine, observers can but wonder why states keep adding debates and reports to the […]