OHCHR | Report on the killings of human right defenders

Report on the killings of human right defenders

Published

24 December 2020

Author

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders

Presented

To the HRC at its 46^th session, March 2021

Link

A/HRC/46/35

Background

Twice a year, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders calls for inputs to inform thematic studies to be presented at the Human Rights Council in its March session and at the General Assembly in October.

Summary

In this report, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, analyses the situation of the killing of human rights defenders. The Special Rapporteur raises the alarm about the prevalence of killings in many parts of the world, and considers the issue of death threats that often precede the killing of human rights defenders. The report includes examples of threats to and killings of human rights defenders. The Special Rapporteur makes recommendations to relevant stakeholders to halt this trend, and calls for compliance with existing legal norms and standards. The report includes suggestions for ways to protect and support defenders to prevent future killings.

Inputs received

The concept note and questionnaires can be downloaded below in English (original language), French, Spanish, and Russian (unofficial translation).

Concept note: EN (Word, PDF); FR (Word, PDF), RU (Word), SP (Word, PDF), AR (Word)
Questionnaires for:
- Member States: EN (Word, PDF), FR (Word, PDF), RU (Word), SP (Word, PDF), AR (Word)
- National Human Rights Institutions and International and Inter-Governmental Organizations: EN (Word, PDF), FR (Word, PDF), SP (Word, PDF), AR (Word)
- Businesses: EN (Word, PDF), FR (Word, PDF), RU (Word), SP (Word, PDF), AR (Word)
- International Financial Institutions: EN (Word, PDF), FR (Word, PDF), RU (Word), SP (Word, PDF), AR (Word)
- Civil Society: EN (Word, PDF), FR (Word, PDF), RU, (Word), SP (Word, PDF), AR (Word)