Civic Space and Activists
We collaborate with local, regional, and international partners to hold governments accountable, create lasting legal change, and foster an environment allowing individual and collective actors to speak out, participate in public affairs, organize, protest, and otherwise freely exercise and enjoy their human rights. Through strategic litigation and targeted advocacy, we foster collaboration and dialogue between civil society and key actors and promote cross-pollination of the most protective legal standards and innovative approaches to legal issues. Our partnership model builds on the work of local organizations on the ground by jointly strategizing and litigating cases, supporting their litigation through filing Amicus briefs, and working together to assess, advise, and build their technical capacity. From litigating landmark cases, such as the first case on lethal violence against journalists before the Inter-American Court on Human Rights or a case on the protection for peaceful assembly before the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights, to developing an innovative tool that maps key ongoing judicial cases worldwide, we are committed to protecting and defending civic space and democracy around the world.
114
Countries with serious civic space restrictions
88%
Rate of impunity for crimes of violence against journalists
44 of 180
U.S. ranking in World Press Freedom Index
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5 Things to Know About the Paul Rusesabagina Case
Tags Share July 27, Carine Kanimba, the youngest daughter of Hotel Rwanda hero Paul Rusesabagina, testified before the U.S. House Intelligence Committee about a malware attack on her phone allegedly carried out by the Paul Kagame-led Rwandan government which has prosecuted and jailed her father over trumped-up allegations of terrorism. Here’s what you need to
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Western Sahara: Joint Submission for Universal Periodic Review Documenting Human Rights Violations Committed by the Kingdom of Morocco
Tags Share As the United Nations Human Rights Council prepares to conduct its fourth cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Kingdom of Morocco, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and our partners, the Sahrawi Organ against the Moroccan Occupation (ISACOM), the Nushatta Foundation for Media and Human Rights, and Right Livelihood, have submitted the following
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The US Must Help Fight the Criminalization of Activism in Central America, Not Make It Worse
Tags Share By Rachel Margolis Latin America is one of the world’s most dangerous regions for human rights activists, and the criminalization of human rights defenders and civil society actors — loosely defined as the misuse of criminal law to impede their work — is on the rise. President Joe Biden’s administration recently launched an
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Twitter: From Microblogging to a Human Right
Tags Share Over the last several years, social media platforms have evolved from mere communication applications to consequential social impact drivers used by about 4.6 billion subscribers globally including everyday people, traditional media, businesses, politicians, governments, civil society, and even terrorists. Courts around the world have even classified social media as integral to the exercise
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Bangladesh: UN Rights Chief Should Raise Concerns
Tags Share UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet should publicly call for an immediate end to serious abuses including extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances during her upcoming visit to Bangladesh, nine human rights organizations said today. Bachelet will visit Bangladesh from August 14-18, 2022. During the trip, she will meet with government
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Organizaciones internacionales rechazamos la criminalización del prominente periodista José Rubén Zamora y denunciamos enérgicamente la persecución de voces críticas en Guatemala
Tags Share 3 de agosto de 2022 Las organizaciones internacionales que promovemos la defensa y protección de los derechos humanos y en particular la libertad de expresión, condenamos la detención arbitraria con fines políticos del prominente periodista José Rubén Zamora, fundador y presidente del diario elPeriódico, quien está siendo perseguido en represalia por su trabajo
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Egypt: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Welcomes the Release of Ahmed Samir Santawy
Tags Share Egyptian researcher Ahmed Samir Santawy was finally released from prison on July 30, 2022 after a presidential pardon was issued. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights is elated to see Santawy finally released, although he should have never been imprisoned and convicted in the first place. This pardon comes after an Egyptian State Security
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Myanmar: We Condemn The Executions of Pro-Democracy Activists
Tags Share Myanmar’s military junta announced July 25 it had executed four pro-democracy activists: Kyaw Min Yu (also known as Ko Jimmy), Phyo Zeya Thaw, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw. These are the first executions in Myanmar in more than three decades. Their executions follow a series of politically motivated trials in secretive
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Nigeria #TwitterBan: RFKHR, SERAP host Twitter Spaces on ECOWAS court ruling
Tags Share On July 15, Nigerians on social media converged on a Twitter Spaces conversation organized by the Social Economic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP) and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights to discuss details of a ruling by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice that declared last summer’s Twitter ban
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Victory for Online Expression in Nigeria
Tags Share In a victory for freedom of expression, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice delivered a pivotal decision in the cases filed by the Social Economic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP) & other organizations including Media Rights Agenda and Media Defence challenging the Nigerian government’s Twitter ban. The suit
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New Amicus Brief on Freedom of Expression and Association in Brazil
Tags Share On July 13, 2022, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, in partnership with Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, Odhikar, the National Union of Institutions for Social Action Work (UNITAS), Kazakhstan International Bureau For Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR), the International Service for Human Rights, Institute for Human Rights and Development
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