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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RFK Human Rights Mexico Delegation Meets With Indigenous Communities in Guerrero
The series of meetings with local advocates, incoming government officials, and victims of human rights abuses brought new attention to the issues indigenous communities in Guerrero have long grappled with.
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RFK Human Rights Submit Amicus Brief on Gómez Virula Case
The brief highlights the dire situation faced by labor unionists like Gómez in Guatemala, as well as the state’s failure to prevent Gómez’s forced disappearance and murder 23 years ago.
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Statement on the Murder of Guillermo Cano
Tags Share Statement from the Cano Busquets family and the organizations working on the case on the murder of Guillermo Cano / Comunicado de la familia Cano Busquets y organizaciones por el caso del asesinato de Guillermo Cano Guillermo Cano was a journalist and director of the Colombian newspaper El Espectador who was killed in
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Human Rights Organizations Demand Respect for Judicial Independence in Guatemala
Tags Share The Americas, September 6, 2018.- On September 4, it was made public that the President of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, had decided to prohibit Commissioner Iván Velásquez Gómez from entering the country. This was in accordance with a recommendation of the National Security Council, which indicated that the head of the International Commission against
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ICC Has Jurisdiction Over Crimes Against Rohingya
Tags Share (September 6, 2018 | Washington, DC) Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights welcomes the decision by Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) finding that the Court has jurisdiction to investigate certain Crimes Against Humanity committed against the Rohingya population of Myanmar. Although Myanmar is not a State Party to the Rome
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UN: Western Sahara Media Worker was Arbitrarily Detained
Tags Share The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (“Working Group”) has determined that Mohamed al-Bambary, a Sahrawi media activist serving six years in prison as a result of his journalism, is being arbitrarily detained in Morocco. Freedom Now and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights announce today that on June 29, 2018, the Working
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Burmese Security Forces Sanctioned for Serious Human Rights Abuses
Tags Share (Washington, D.C. | August 21, 2018) Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights welcomed new sanctions against Commanders and Units of the Burmese Security Forces who were responsible for perpetrating serious human rights abuses against ethnic minorities, including the Rohingya in Rakhine State. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) announced on Friday
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Call for Release of Dr. Shahidul Alam and Students in Bangladesh
Tags Share Two weeks ago in Bangladesh, high school students came out in the streets to register their spontaneous protest about the death of two school-going students caused by speeding buses. They demanded their right to road safety, rule of law and justice. Credible reports in the global print and electronic media reported that these
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The Bonfilio Rubio Villegas Case
An example of the relationship between military checkpoints and gross human rights violations in Mexico.
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Joint Letter: Secretary Pompeo Must Prioritize Human Rights During Mexico Visit
The signing organizations expressed deep concern over the closing of space for human rights defenders and journalists to carry out their work without threats to their life.
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Mexico’s Presidential Election is a Critical Moment for Human Rights
The new leader of Mexico will inherit the country in a state of crisis. His agenda must prioritize tackling the widespread violence and human rights abuses occurring throughout the country.
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