International Human Rights Defender Day 2022

Today, we at the Centre for Applied Human Rights commemorate and stand in solidarity with human rights defenders around the world. International Human Rights Defender Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders – an international commitment to recognise and protect the right of all to defend and promote human rights. It is an occasion to celebrate human rights defenders – community leaders, journalists, students, lawyers, environmentalists, political activists, and so many others – who advocate to secure human rights for all, often risking their own rights, freedoms, and lives.

Visiting human rights defenders form the core of the Centre for Applied Human Rights’ work and today we would like to celebrate and remember some of those who have taken part in our protective fellowships and spent time here at the University of York.

We congratulate Nodjigoto Charbonnel who was recognised this year for his work to abolish torture in Chad. He and his organisation – Association Jeunesse pour la Paix et la Non-Violence – were awarded the Rafto Prize for fighting torture and defending the human rights of torture survivors. Congratulations, too, to all those nominated for the Defenders Coalition HRD Awards in Kenya and especially to York fellow Wanjeri Nderu who was nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award. Despite threats and attacks as a result of her activism, Wanjeri continues to use social media to fight for justice, and against corruption.

We are inspired by Roman, from the organisation Truth Hounds in Ukraine, who in the midst of conflict has been documenting war crimes in Ukraine. The work of the Truth Hounds began during the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 and today, Roman and the Truth Hounds continue their dangerous and painstaking work of collecting evidence of atrocities committed during the ongoing Russian invasion so that one day the perpetrators can face justice.

Many defenders are imprisoned for defending the rights of others, and we remain concerned for the welfare of our former fellow Mohamed El-Baker, human rights lawyer and director of Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms in Egypt. Baker was arrested on 29 September 2019 whilst acting as the lawyer for blogger and activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah. He spent over two years in pre-trial detention before being sentenced to four more years in prison.

Human rights defenders like Baker risk their own personal safety to fight injustice and to strengthen democracy around the world. Today, we stand in solidarity with Baker, and with all human rights defenders, whose beliefs and actions in the service of human rights place them at risk.