While often the best solution to mitigate risk to an HRD, temporary relocation poses significant challenges. As a staff member of anorganization that supports temporary relocation put it, Any temporary relocation initiative must put the defenders at the center, give them contextualized, close, personal, and humane attention, and they must be able to listen.. As a result, the Uganda police force set up toll free help lines for survivors of violence to call for support and many other actors set up emergency response services., The Funds support has been a crucial resource during the pandemic, says Tina. The mapping, while non-exhaustive, helped the team to ensure geographical and thematic representation, as well as to capture a diversity of services and programs. Shelter City does not coordinate relocation with the HRDs organization, but with the HRD directly; the HRD decides what course of action she or he wants to take. Depending on where the HRD is relocated, those salaries are often inadequate to new costs of living and other additional expenses exile can entail. Share this via LinkedIn Ineffective justice systems fly in the face of formal protection mechanisms offered by the State. Meanwhile, many smaller grassroots human rights organizations were not familiar with internal and external relocation support and assistance services for HRDs at all. To this end, they are connecting with other groups serving Indigenous communities to help maximize complementary grassroots COVID-19 responses and speaking out via the media about the need for greater transparency in how aid and emergency resources are distributed throughout Honduras. By the end of June, the Action Group Legal Helplines project had intervened in more than 100 cases involving unlawful arrests like Glorys, physical assaults, domestic violence, and even murder. And despite promised government reforms and an influx of international funding, conditions remain exceedingly poor for hundreds of thousands of migrants in Morocco and protections are woefully limited. According to human rights organizations, in 2020, Latin America was the most dangerous continent in the world for human rights defenders, accounting for more than three-quarters of all murders of HRDs worldwide.1 The pressure that accompanies HRDs work can push them beyond limits of physical and psychosocial safety. Based on the information collected, Freedom House produced the assessment report. Children in many countries experienced obstacles to education under pandemic-related restrictions. If relocation is warranted, it is a decision taken together with the HRD. Each case study was the product of a literature review and a consultative process consisting of interviews with key informants, including HRDs, a specific survey applied to Venezuelan and Nicaraguan HRDs exiled in Colombia and Costa Rica, and focus groups of Nicaraguan HRDs in Costa Rica.12. 3 According to the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Latin America and the . Today, we maintain close relationships with our Latin American partners who stand with the poor and the excluded of the region. In the arena of international legal protection, the discussion centers around the question of how effective precautionary measures1 While OFRANEH has successfully pivoted to provide much-needed immediate support to their communities, they continue to address and advocate against the systemic inequality and corruption that makes Garifuna people, and other minority groups, more vulnerable to the effects of a pandemic in the first place. These HRDs recommend that support for this element should be incorporated in any temporary relocation initiative. HRDs who work with CSOs that have already established relationships or partnerships with similar organizations in the host country or internationally are better able to continue their work from exile. There is a need to expand legal assistance and services to HRDs at the community level as well. In lieu of offering direct support to beneficiaries, some exiled HRDs have deployed technology and social media to continue their work from abroad. Local activists accuse corporate interests and the national government of colluding to seize and exploit their territory. Share this via Telegram Across Honduras, corrupt officials and corporations are developing huge extractive projects that pollute Indigenous lands and harm local communities. Latin American and the Caribbean Courses; DIPL 6801: U.S. Foreign Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean: DIPL 6803: Politics and Society in Latin America and the Caribbean: DIPL 6806: Political Economy of Latin America and the Caribbean: DIPL 6809: Cuba Seminar: DIPL 6001: Politics of Cultural and Ethnic Pluralism** DIPL 6121 The Fund stood with us at this difficult time and checked in with us to know how we were doing. The Team thanks the key informants for their time and for sharing valuable insights. In 1998, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protection Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (commonly known as the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders).1 Colombia as well as Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, where security forces committed serious abuses against protesters in recent years has yet to take meaningful steps to reform its police force or a legal framework to ensure accountability for these human rights violations. In many countries, demand for legal services by CSOs and HRDs exceeds supply. For example: This assessment also sought to offer an initial analysis of the adequacy and effectiveness of existing assistance for HRDs at risk in Latin America. Yet, the definition of what makes someone a HRD remains elusive and varies from country to country. CSOs interviewed for the assessment highlighted the pattern of defining security as only the absence of threats and risks. Shortly after the Nigerian government ordered a lockdown, Victoria says, the country began to record a rapid increase in human rights violations. Building on a long-standing tradition of communal eating borne of economic hardship and scarcity, the community pots are a collective solution to a common problem. Moreover, in some instances, State officials have even been involved in perpetrating the threats and attacks against HRDs. Some organizations that support internal and external relocation of HRDs also help secure safe transportation and food assistance. There have been some limited, promising developments. However, what little we have, we share.. Thanks to HRDs increasinginvolvement in protection strategies, temporary relocation providers, national protection organizations, and HRDs are more frequently raising the notion of holistic protection or integral security, which go beyond physical or traditional security to include initiatives such as medical, psychosocial and psycho-emotional support. Colombia remained the world's most lethal country for human rights defenders, with 138 killings, followed by Mexico and Brazil. Community members have sewed fabric masks, made and distributed hand sanitizer, educated people on how to protect themselves from the virus, and provided medicinal tea and information on herbs and nutrition that can help boost the immune system. With the Funds support, Tina and CEDOVIP have been able to help at least 300 survivors like Makela access the emergency services they need, including medical care and legal support. WOLA Human Rights Award 2022: Meet the Honorees Latin America | The Fund for Global Human Rights Russia's Wagner Group: Where is it active? - DW - 06/25/2023 Protection is the treatment for insecurity, and this assessment revealed that, like the definition of an HRD, the definition of protection is evolving. Given the hardening of authoritarian rule in Venezuela and Nicaragua, a large number of HRDs and democracy activists have been forced to flee to Colombia and Costa Rica, and many have set operations to continue their work in exile. This was true feminist sisterhood that kept us motivated.. Well stay focused on this mandate, during and beyond the COVID era.. Although Nigeria has eased its lockdownand SARS has been disbandedVictoria is worried that many restrictions could become permanent and abuses will continue. Facts and figures: Human rights in the Americas in 2020-21 Nevertheless, internal relocation of an HRD still requires accompaniment from a CSO or other protection body, significant resources, and a thorough assessment of each HRDs particular context and the conditions elsewhere in the country. While some examples of collective protection experiences exist in places like Honduras and Mexico, many of these processes are not being led by civil society or local authorities, but rather by external actors. For example, some HRDs have continued to support their communities by providing advice and accompaniment via WhatsApp, phone calls and email. If that happens, how can we survive it? The Fund is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization (Federal Tax ID 75-3029336) and a UK registered charity (Charity Number 1151043 and Company Number 08357053). When Aminita*, a 25-year-old Fula migrant living in Agadir, Morocco, was pregnant, she had no idea how to obtain a birth certificate for her baby. But when people speak uplike Erasmo, a farmer in southern Hondurastheyre arrested, charged with bogus offenses, and intimidated into silence. However, these nascent efforts to design more comprehensive approaches to HRD protection have only begun to fill gaps and leverage opportunities available to protect and defend HRDs more effectively. But despite these great strides, the pandemic looms large in Myanmar and some fear that the worst may lie ahead. In Brazil, police killed 6,400 people in 2020, the highest number on record. A US-based quasi-governmental entity that provides research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America; Organizations Working on the State & the Law. This has facilitated more effective communication with CSOs on the ground, allowing consistent and more systematic meetings that can inform more appropriate assistance. We help local activists and organizations hold perpetrators to account and defend their hard-won freedoms. Second, in Colombia and Costa Rica there is already some scattered and anecdotal evidence of the challenges HRDs face, and approaches being implemented to support and protect them in exile. But through times of crises, visionary leaders like Miriam work untiringly to ensure their communities have continued access to resources, relief, and their fundamental rights. Receive regular updates from us and the grassroots activists we support. Victoria sent a team of lawyers to secure her release. HRDs overwhelmingly hope that relocation abroad will be temporary and aspire to return to their home countries when possible. For HRDs relocated in host countries or under temporary relocation initiatives that do provide additional support in relocation beyond emergency funds, HRDs have provided that support to their home communities at their own expense and of their own volition. The Fund is proud to provide Miriam and OFRANEH with the critical support they need to succeed. Job stability should be included as a key component of security. With the support of the Fund, ALECMA works to improve access to basic social services, elevate their voices to influence policies that affect them, and provide vocational and other training to help them thrive in a new country and culture. Freedom House supported the selection process for the interviews with informants and stakeholders, which included individuals with a vast array of experiences and expertise (HRDs, researchers, academics, representatives from international protections organizations, temporary relocation providers and shelters, legal services providers, donors, and CSO representatives). as a form of protection. Below is a brief description of three examples, please refer to Annex 4 for more detailed information.