Newsletters Archive
Page 5 of 8 (94 newsletters)
Updates from October 2021
The final quarter of the year is one of the busiest periods at DefendDefenders. This is also heightened by the deteriorating situation in Sudan and Ethiopia that continues to destabilize an already delicate region.
Updates from September 2021
September has been quite a busy month for us. Through our office in Geneva, we have since 13 September, been actively engaged in the 48th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC48) which runs until 8 October. You can read our oral statements to the council here.
Updates from August 2021
After a difficult past month in which the second wave of COVID19 peaked in several of our focus countries, August brought with it some much needed reprieve in form of declined infections. As countries scale up vaccination efforts, it is our hope that this pandemic will soon be behind us, and that brighter days lie on the horizon.
Updates from July 2021
July was a bittersweet month for us at DefendDefenders. Like everywhere else, COVID19 continued to wreck our lives. On the evening of 26 July, we tragically lost one of us – Mariam Nakibuuka, to the pandemic. Mariam was a valued member of our team, who, until her passing, served as a senior protection associate with our protection and security department.
Updates from June 2021
Dear friends and colleagues, Throughout June, we continued to prioritise wellbeing by initiating activities that focus on mental health and promote welfare of human rights defenders (HRDs). As renowned public health physician Gary Kaplan noted, “Physiologically, psychological issues are not separate from pain issues. They are the same thing manifesting differently.” The Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect the […]
Updates from May 2021
Dear friends and colleagues, The month of May is internationally recognised as the mental health awareness month. I would like to reflect on the importance of ensuring wellbeing for human rights defenders (HRDs), particularly in this precarious time as the continent grapples with a second wave of the pandemic. Added to the numerous challenges HRDs […]
Updates from April 2021
Dear friends and colleagues, This month we participated in the 68th virtual ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission). Despite, setbacks of the Covid 19 pandemic, the Commission’s sessions continue to offer a space to discuss the human rights situation on the continent and develop strategies to promote and […]
Updates from February 2021
Dear friends and colleagues, Defending human rights is associated with various risks including: intimidation, harassment, physical threats, stress, depression or burn-out. Women human rights defenders (WHRDs), defined as female HRDs or HRDs of any gender working in defence of women or gender issues, are often confronted with stigma, smear campaigns, threats to their families or […]
Updates from January 2021
Dear friends and colleagues, Internet shutdowns are becoming increasingly wide-spread tools of oppression in the East and Horn of Africa. Cutting access to the internet violates a multitude of human rights, including rights to freedom of expression, access to information, association, peaceful assembly, political participation, health, and education. Internet shutdowns impede development and can have […]
Updates from December 2020
Dear friends and colleagues, Happy new year! As we leave 2020 behind us, I wish to reflect on our activities and events that had an impact on the situation of human rights defenders (HRDs) in the East and Horn of Africa sub-region in December of last year. Together with the National Coalition of Human Rights […]
End of year statement 2020
Dear friends and colleagues, This year was overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected our normal way of operating. With offices closed, our technology set up allowed us to rethink and adapt quickly to the restrictive pandemic measures. We always made it clear that while it is legitimate to weigh public health concerns against the protection of fundamental rights, any such restriction must be temporary, lawful, non-discriminatory, strictly necessary, and […]
Updates from November 2020
Dear friends and colleagues, Governments have a monopoly on the use of force so as to protect a social contract with its people. This monopoly, however, does not legitimise police brutality. Beatings, racial abuse, unlawful killings, torture, or indiscriminate use of riot control agents at protests are in violation of binding international human rights law. This year has been filled with a lot of police brutality: […]