Recognizing that human rights defenders play an essential role in bringing about lasting social change, we promote policies and provide recommendations to the U.S. Government and international community to protect and promote human rights defenders worldwide. Our work encourages the development of an environment where human rights defenders can operate openly and freely. In furtherance of these goals, we have recently advocated the U.S. Government to adopt guidelines for engagement with human rights defenders similar to those adopted by Norway and the European Union. We also assist human rights defenders in conveying their messages to their domestic government, U.S. Government, and the international community as demonstrated by our recent work in Bahrain.
Advocacy
Russian Court to Activist: You’re Crazy
In a decision reminiscent of old Soviet practices, the Russian government is trying to force activist Maxim Efimov to undergo…
5-15-2012
Al Khawaja Should Be Released, Not Force Fed
Sadly, Bahrain is looking more and more like Northern Ireland of the late 1960s, when the government there refused to…
5-2-2012
Scenes from a Bahraini “Courtroom”
There they sit, squeezed onto two benches in Bahrain’s criminal court: the 20 medics who were tortured into making false…
3-16-2012
Egyptian Women Remain Strong in the Face of “Virginity Tests” Acquittal
On Sunday, Egyptian women activists encountered another setback in their efforts to hold their abusers accountable. An army doctor on…
3-13-2012
U.S. Must Support Human Rights Defenders in China
Last February, Chinese social media was abuzz with calls for a “Jasmine Revolution”—for an uprising styled after the Arab Spring. …
3-9-2012







