Campaign Launch: Stand 4 Human Rights Defenders

The EU has pledged to make the protection of human rights defenders at risk one of its key priorities. It must renew and reinvigorate this commitment with concrete actions: more high profile political leadership, a consistent strategy that prioritises the protection of human rights defenders across all policy areas, and sustained practical support to those under attack on the front line in third countries and within the EU.

The EU has pledged to make the protection of human rights defenders at risk one of its key priorities. It must renew and reinvigorate this commitment with concrete actions: more high profile political leadership, a consistent strategy that prioritises the protection of human rights defenders across all policy areas, and sustained practical support to those under attack on the front line in third countries and within the EU.

The EU and its member states must give, at this crucial political moment, the highest possible priority and resources to enable space for human rights defenders and civil society even as other states work to close it down. As a community based on rule of law and shared values, the EU must stand at the forefront to act and speak out for human rights defenders who are silenced, attacked, harassed and put behind bars. The Stand 4 Human Rights Defenders campaign calls on the EU and its member states to address this issue vigorously and strategically at the highest political level, both inside and outside the EU.

The EU has adopted a range of tools that guide its work on HRDs. In July EU Foreign Ministers approved a revised Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy that included specific action points on EU support to HRDs. The EU and its 28 Member States now have to apply these pledges and commitments to real situations and take explicit measures to reinforce and step up their action in support of human rights defenders and civil society worldwide. It is also imperative that the European Parliament and EU national parliaments hold the EU institutions even more closely to account for their action on HRDs.

The Stand 4 Human Rights Defenders Campaign will promote constructive dialogue between civil society organisations and EU actors so as to jointly identify practical actions that could be implemented by the EU in order to improve the effectiveness of its work on HRDs. Moreover, the campaign will press for several key outcomes to give true impetus to EU commitments to HRDs, including:

#Stand4HRDS

Contact
Emma Achilli: [email protected] 
Claire Ivers: [email protected]
Website: www.stand4humanrightsdefenders.eu