Dublin, February 1, 2012. This report underlines the crucial role played by human rights defenders in standing up for the rights of others, challenging oppression and speaking out for those who have no voice said Front Line Defenders' Executive Director Mary Lawlor speaking in Dublin today.

The 2012 Front Line Defenders Annual Report highlights the fact that while international media and public attention were largely focused on the dramatic events unfolding across the Middle East, elsewhere repressive governments continued to respond to any challenge to their power and privileges with violent repression.

The fact that authoritarian and repressive governments around the world continue to focus repression on human rights defenders is a tribute to their importance in the struggle for justice and accountability. That is why Front Line Defenders dedicates itself solely to the security and protection of human rights defenders at risk. They are the key agents of social change and need our support and protection. They are the future” added Ms Lawlor.

In many countries human rights defenders who spoke out on behalf of the rights of others were identified as the focus of dissent and were a particular target in a consistent pattern of attack across all the regions:

Draconian security laws used to target HRDs working on issues viewed as controversial or political by the authorities.

Human rights defenders attacked in their homes or at their offices Human rights groups subjected to intensified surveillance in the run-up to elections Bloggers and media activists using the internet to raise human rights awareness or expose abuses harassed, arrested and under heavy surveillance Continued impunity for the killing of human rights defenders Human rights defenders subjected to smear campaigns or labelled as terrorists or rebels LGBTI rights defenders faced harassment and strong opposition to their work.

Inspired by the Arab Spring and exasperated by decades of corrupt authoritarian government, civil society mobilised in many countries in other regions of the world, particularly in Africa. Protests, either linked to elections or to high commodity prices, erupted in Angola, Malawi, Swaziland, and Uganda.

In Uganda LGBTI human rights defender David Kato was murdered in his home in January 2011. In Zimbabwe, 46 people, including trade unionists, student activists and political activists, were charged with treason in February for watching videos of the protests in Tunisia and Egypt;

Malawi once considered a country where civil society could express itself freely descended into a spiral of authoritarianism. In Cuba the media remained tightly controlled and laws against anti-government speech carried hefty penalties for those who did not acquiesce.

Though protests did not develop as intensely in other regions, regimes in Asia were worried enough to restrict their laws and regulations. Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Malaysia were in the process of passing new restrictive legislation.

The Arab Spring provided the Chinese Government with both the motive and the opportunity to launch a crackdown on HRDs working in a variety of different areas. With the attention of the world elsewhere, and partly in response to anonymous online calls for a 'Jasmine Revolution' to take place in China, the authorities took the chance to target scores of HRDs who had been at the forefront of human rights defence in China.

Instances of the violent dispersal of protests and the refusal of permission to hold assemblies also occurred in many countries in Europe and Central Asia, including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Serbia, and Uzbekistan.

The human rights situation in Eastern Europe and Central Asia did not show signs of improvement in 2011. Absence of the rule of law, centralisation of powers on the executive, and a weak judiciary remained common characteristics across the region. In Belarus after the wave of violence that followed the presidential election of December 2010, the human rights situation deteriorated rapidly. The human rights community was branded as politically motivated, accused of being the conduit of western funding to domestic radical opposition and subjected to repression on an unprecedented scale.

Virtually all abuses against human rights defenders were committed in a climate of absolute impunity, across all countries and regions.

In Russia, two years after the killing of human rights defenders Natalya Estemirova, Zarema Sadulaeva and her husband Alik Dzhabrailov, no effective investigation has been carried out. Similarly, no justice has been delivered in Burundi for the murder of Ernest Manirumwa in 2009, despite an intense national campaign and the involvement of foreign experts in the investigation.

A similar situation prevailed in Indonesia for the 2004 murder of Munir Tahib. Those who remained engaged in campaigning for justice in these murders were targeted and harassed. In Colombia, organisations have raised concerns regarding the lack of effective investigations into filed complaints, where the authorities failed to link multiple complaints or identify patterns of threat.

“It is an international scandal that human rights defenders whose only crime is to show the courage of their convictions by defending the rights of others are targeted in so many countries. Their daily courage reminds us of the urgent need for the protection of human rights defenders at risk to be made a priority of international foreign policy” said Mary Lawlor.

People like Dilmurod Sayid suffering from tuberculosis and sentenced to 12.5 years in prison in Uzbekistanwrote to Front Line Defenders 'it was not only me who became a victim of the courts of justice, but also my family. I have lost the people dear to me, and my innocent 5-year-old daughter. I have become “guilty”, though I am blameless. I am not afraid of death – I live awaiting it. I lived, worked and walked along the path of justice, caring for those around me. In spite of everything, I have always and always will be convinced that my work is right”.

The full text of the Annual Report is available below in PDF format

For further Information please contact:

Jim Loughran - Head of Communications - Front Line Defenders

Email jimloughran@frontlinedefenders.org

Tel +353 1 212 37 50 – Mob +353 1 (0)87 9377586