Human rights defenders faced with increasing efforts to stifle their actions

/19 June 2008/ A report on human rights is warning that human rights defenders around the world are facing increasing efforts to stifle their actions. That includes in China, where authorities are clamping down on dissent before the Olympics.

A report by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders paints a mixed picture of the fight for fundamental freedom around the world. It says that while the number of human rights defenders is growing - such as lawyers, judges or woman's rights activists - so are government efforts to curb their actions.
The report, which looks at human rights abuses in 100 countries around the world, was jointly authored by the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organization against Torture in Geneva.

The human rights groups are urging the world community to do more to protect those defending human rights in 2008, which marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Source: “VoA”)