Maximum Alert – Ongoing Murder of the Indigenous Community in Cauca, Colombia

[Bogotá, Colombia] 25 January 2022 – With profound concern and pain, we have received information about the armed attack against the Nasa Indigenous community in Cauca, Colombia, during which Albeiro Camayo Güeito—former Regional Coordinator of the Indigenous Guard—was murdered. The incidents appear to have been retaliation after the expulsion of the Jaime Martínez armed Columna […]
International Civil Society Organizations on Alert for the Humanitarian Situation and the Violation of Human Rights in Arauca, Colombia

[Bogota, Colombia] 24 January 2022 – The international civil society organizations signed on to this statement are alerting to the serious humanitarian and human rights crisis affecting the civilians of Arauca in Colombia. The crisis has exacerbated in recent days, but social organizations have been denouncing the situation in the region for several years now. […]
Peaceful protest is not a crime, release the 13 LUCHA human rights defenders detained in Beni, North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.

JOINT PUBLIC STATEMENT [Goma (RD Congo)] 21 January 2022. We, the 35 signatory organizations, urge the Congolese authorities to release the 13 human rights defenders (HRDs) of LUCHA, arbitrarily detained in the town of Beni after having organized a peaceful demonstration denouncing the killings of civilians in this part of the Province of North Kivu. […]
Urgent request to ensure a gender-responsive and effective legislation on human rights and environmental due diligence and corporate accountability

[Brussels] November 29, 2021 Urgent request to ensure gender-responsive and effective legislation on human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) and corporate accountability Dear President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Dear Vice-President Vera Jourová, Dear Commissioner Thierry Breton, Dear Commissioner Helena Dalli, Dear Commissioner Didier Reynders, Dear Members of Parliament, Dear Council […]
Put Human Rights at the Centre of Environmental Policy

More than 150 civil society and indigenous organisations, and academics, from more than 50 countries, published an open letter calling on world leaders to put human rights at the centre of environmental policy. Respecting and protecting human rights and protecting the environment are inextricably linked. Yet while Heads of State from 88 countries have called […]
Support from the International Community is Crucial for the Peace Agreement in Colombia

[Brussels] 10 November 2021 The organizations that have signed this press release celebrate the fact that 24 November 2021 marks the fifth anniversary of the Peace Agreement between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP), which put an end to an internal armed conflict that left more than […]
Protection of the Right to Defend Human Rights of Migrant Workers in Thailand

Concern regarding Seven Migrant Workers Arrested at Ministry of Labour Despite Thailand Government’s Decision on Amnesty pending Regularization and Demand for Protection of the Right to Defend Human Rights of Migrant Workers Joint open letter to the Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Minister of Labour in Thailand, the Minister of Interior in Thailand, the National […]
Increased Risk to Human Rights Defenders and the Humanitarian Crisis in Chocó

Oidhaco and the Undersigned Organisations Express Concern about the Increased Risk to Human Rights Defenders and the Humanitarian Crisis in Chocó Brussels, 25 October 2021. The undersigned organisations alert the international community to the escalating armed conflict, killings and mass displacements currently taking place in the region of Chocó, Colombia: a geo-strategic region bordering Panama […]
Belarus: International Human Rights Groups Demand Release of Viasna Members on First Anniversary of Crackdown

[17 September 2021] On the first anniversary of the unprecedented crackdown on the Human Rights Center Viasna (“Viasna”) in Belarus, 23 international and Belarusian human rights organizations are launching a campaign to demand the release of seven detained Viasna members, and highlight the plight of hundreds of others, who have been prosecuted and jailed solely […]
Restrain the Use of Surveillance Technologies against Human Rights Defenders

Protection International Signs Joint Open Letter to Restrain the Use of Surveillance Technologies against Human Rights Defenders Protection International joins 145 civil society organizations and 28 independent experts to call on states to implement an immediate moratorium on the sale, transfer, and use of surveillance technology. The Pegasus Project investigations revealed that many governments have […]