On the Human Rights Frontline: How the UK government can defend the defenders

Representatives of global civil society head to Parliament to demand UK Government effectively support and protect human rights defenders

Today a cross-regional group of human rights activists headed to Parliament to call on MPs to ensure the UK puts in place effective policies to support and protect environmental and human rights defenders.

Their visit came as 48 leading human rights organisations including Peace Brigades International (PBI), Amnesty, Bond, the Fund for Global Human Rights, the Law Society and Human Rights Watch published a new briefing paper urging all political parties to commit to making support, protection and engagement of civil society and human rights defenders a central pillar of their foreign policy.

“Ahead of an upcoming election, we’re urging all political parties to commit to prioritising strategic action to counter the closure of civic space and ensure human rights defenders globally see the UK as a trusted, outspoken partner”, said PBI UK Director Ben Leather.

The briefing paper makes the case for why engaging and protecting civil society and defenders has the potential to make other areas of foreign policy - such as combating poverty and promoting the rule of law - more impactful and cost-effective.

The UK has recognised the moral and strategic importance of supporting human rights defenders in its 2019 policy guidelines, but their implementation has been patchy, and the signatories to the briefing paper call for a more holistic approach.

Christina Challis, PBI UK Advocacy Officer, said “UK foreign and development policy will be more effective if a commitment to engage and protect civil society is at its core. Work to support defenders should be a cross-cutting theme across departments and areas to maximise impact across a number of government priorities”

Today, human defenders from countries including Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, Nepal, the Philippines and Zimbabwe, headed to Parliament to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They met tens of Parliamentarians to call for action on the issues they work on, but also for a holistic, properly resourced UK policy on human rights defenders.

They also discussed ways in which to tackle the root causes of human rights and environmental violations, including why the UK should legislate to make it mandatory for businesses to carry out environmental and human rights due diligence along their supply chains, as called for by a coalition of NGOs, as well as household brand companies, investors worth trillions, and four out of five Britons.

“We’re making the case that you can’t tackle the climate crisis, protect workers’ rights and uphold the rule of law without environmental activists, trade unions and human rights lawyers”, said Challis. “Therefore, the UK Government needs to develop a robust strategy to counter closing civic space and support human rights defenders, whilst ensuring effective regulation of business behaviour which can have a huge impact on rights and the environment, both at home and abroad”.

The new paper builds on the 2021 report On The Human Rights Front Line, which articulated a vision for a holistic UK policy on human rights defenders informed by interviews that Amnesty International carried out with 82 activists from around the world.

You can download the new briefing paper here.

PBI UK has published a Twitter (X) thread regarding the day’s engagements here, and an album of photos on Facebook here!

PBI UK has launched a page of policy resources here - please check them out and share them!