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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Joint UN Petition Calls for Journalist Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur’s Release
Tags Share Mogadishu, Somalia and Washington, DC — On July 27, 2020, the Somali Journalists Syndicate, the Somali Media Association, lawyer Daahir Ali and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights jointly submitted a petition to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of detained journalist, Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur. Mr. Nuur, a Somali human
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IACHR Grants Protective Measures for Maury Carrero
Tags Share On July 17, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted precautionary measures to Maury Carolina Carrero Mendoza, who had been arbitrarily detained on April 2 in Venezuela for her alleged connection to an advisor to National Assembly President Juan Guaido. Carrero was arrested at her home by members of the counterintelligence division
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Defending Human Rights During COVID-19
States must address the underlying conditions threatening the work of human rights defenders, not just the symptoms.
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NGOs Urge Secretary Pompeo to Call Myanmar’s Crimes Genocide
Tags Share Dear Secretary Pompeo, We write to urge the U.S. Department of State to publicly determine that the state of Myanmar has committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya people. The evidence of genocide and crimes against humanity is clear and convincing and has been amply documented. In making such a determination,
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El Estado colombiano debe acoger las recomendaciones de la CIDH en materia de líderes sociales incluso durante la pandemia COVID-19
Tags Share En su informe reciente, la CIDH destaca de manera crucial la importancia de reconocer el derecho a defender derechos y el rol fundamental de líderes y lideresas sociales en Colombia, especialmente en el contexto actual de emergencia generalizada El informe Personas Defensoras de Derechos Humanos y Líderes Sociales en Colombia, presentado recientemente por
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Colombia Should Implement the IACHR’s Recommedations for Protecting Civic Space
The work of human rights defenders and social leaders is essential and constitutes an indispensable pillar for the strengthening and consolidation of democracy.
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We Condemn China’s Crackdown on Civic Space in Hong Kong
Tags Share (July 2, 2020, Washington D.C.) – Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights strongly condemns the draconian national security law imposed by China to crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong and those who express dissent against the Chinese government and Communist Party. The law severely curtails civic space in Hong Kong, and strips the
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CNN: Forced Disappearances are Increasing in Venezuela
In Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro's security forces have used disappeareances to silence prominent political opponents and instill fear.
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Bangladesh Must Fully Implement UN Recommendations Against Torture
Tags Share A Joint Statement by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Asian Human Rights Commission, International Federation for Human Rights, Odhikar, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and World Organisation Against Torture on the occasion of International Day in Support of Victims of Torture 2020 Manila/Hong Kong/Paris/Dhaka/Washington, D.C./Geneva, 25 June 2020: On the occasion of
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11 años De Impunidad Castrense Ilustran El Impacto De La Militarización De La Seguridad en México
Tags Share Washington D.C y Tlapa de Comonfort, Guerrero – El 20 de junio de 2009, fue ejecutado extrajudicialmente en un retén militar el joven nahua Bonfilio Rubio Villegas por elementos del ejército mexicano. Su caso, como muchos otros en el país, se vio fuertemente marcado por un contexto de pobreza, desigualdad, militarización e impunidad.
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11 Years of Impunity Show the Impact of Militarization in Mexico
In June 2009, Bonfilio Rubio Villegas was extrajudicially executed at a military checkpoint. His case, like so many others, was characterized by a context of poverty, inequality, militarization, and impunity.
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Venezuela Profiles: Stories of the Disappeared
The Bolivarian regime has found a sinister way to keep dissidents in check: kidnapping their loved ones to scare them into submission and silence.
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