In pictures: The long struggle for land rights in Las Pavas (Colombia)
Defending territory is one activity that generates risk for human rights defenders in Colombia; during 2013 alone, 37 human rights defenders were murdered, and at least 30% of these deaths were related to land restitution. The majority of these assassinations are the responsibility of paramilitary groups, now named the “anti-land restitution army”, which operate in […]
Regional Meeting of Protection Desks Guatemala & Colombia
The Protection Desks (PDs) are part of the overall strategy of Protection International (PI) to protect human rights defenders in the world. Working closely with local defenders and their organisations, PDs are designed to provide training and capacity-building on security issues, promote public policies for their protection, and conduct research on related topics. On 5-9 August 2013, […]
Protection International Participates in Project to Promote the Protection of Defenders in Osce/odihr Countries
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has recently embarked on an ambitious project to promote the effective protection of human rights defenders (HRDs) in its 57 participating States from Europe, Central Asia and North America. Protection International (PI) was invited along with 24 other […]
Protection Desk Guatemala – Aj Noj Supports the Mesoamerican Women Human Rights Defenders Initiative
In Central America, insecurity and violence have been on the rise in recent years. In this context, women’s rights are increasingly at risk. In Honduras alone, gender-based violence is the second highest cause of death for women of reproductive age. In Mexico and Guatemala, the levels of violence against women continue to escalate. Moreover, women human […]
06 MARCH 2013: SCREENING OF THE LAW OF THE STRONGEST IN GENEVA
On March 6, Protection International will present its latest documentary, The Law of the Strongest, in the office of the International Service for Human Rights (from 3pm to 5pm – Rue de Varembé, 1 – Geneva). The documentary, which is available online, proposes an account of the work of Honduran human rights defenders, both in rural […]
On the International Day of Human Rights, Civil Society Demands Greater Coherence in EU Foreign Policy
Brussels, Tuesday, 10 December 2013. On International Human Rights Day, civil society networks Alop, Cifca, Grupo Sur, Oidhaco, and Protection International urge the EU to make respect for human rights the guiding principle in its trade relations with Latin America. The European Parliament ratified trade agreements with Colombia, Peru, and Central America in December 2012. […]
Guatemala: PI and Udefegua Support Victims and Witnesses of the Rios Montt Genocide Trial
During Rios Montt’s trial, the evidence provided by witnesses, survivors, and relatives of victims placed them at great risk. Some received threats or were harassed. Thanks to an alliance of several human rights organizations (among them Aj Noj-Protection Desk Guatemala and our partner UDEFEGUA), their protection was enhanced, allowing them to testify on several crimes […]
Protection against the threats of the 21st century (2009)
One of the challenges we deal with is how to prevent attacks against defenders in rural and semi-rural communities. At the time of publication, existing protection models mainly focused on urban areas. Through the seminar ”Protegiéndonos ante las amenazas del siglo XXI y su sistematización” the publication produced by PI’s Aj Noj Protection Desk aims to develop a […]
[Spanish] Criminalization against Human Rights Defenders: Reflection about protection mechanisms
The criminalization does not allow us to face the origin and the nature of the conflict and it has become a daily fact for peoples from Latin America. Instead of develop actions and policies in order to face the social problems, it has been usual to see how it is started political persecution, when every […]
[Spanish] Guide for human rigths defenders against the criminalisation
This “Guide for human rigths defenders against the criminalisation” contains best practices and mechanisms for coping the processes aimed against HRDs, their organizations and communities. Available in Spanish. UDEFEGUA, through the Aj Noj Protection Desk Program and in partnership with Protection Intenational, is pleased to introduce the Guide for human rigths defenders against the criminalisation. […]