United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders
Who is a Human Rights Defender? What can the Special Rapporteur do?Official Statements
Greece: smears & threats against human rights defender Iasonas Apostolopoulos (joint communication)
Official Letters and Statements
The following is based on a communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN…
Latest Information Received
Statement on Jailed Human Rights Defender Abdulhadi Al Khawaja
Latest InformationHuman Rights Defender Abdulhadi Al Khawaja is now in the 12th year of…
Global update from Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights highlights risks for HRDs
Latest InformationOn 12 September 2022, the UN Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada…
UN disability rights committee reports reprisals against HRDs in China and Singapore
Latest InformationOn 9 September 2022, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with…
More “Information received” does not necessarily reflect the views of the Special Rapporteur or the United Nations.
Human Rights Defenders
Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) are people who act peacefully to promote or protect human rights in accordance with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
“Human rights defenders are ordinary people who do extraordinary things. They work peacefully for the rights of others and help build civil and just societies based on the rule of law.”
Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of HRDs
Violations committed against HRDs Submit Information on HRDs at risk