NEW! Download the official conference report, published December 2009 (pdf 28kb)

No peace without human rights defenders

The First International Conference on Security and Protection For Human Rights Defenders, held in London on 28 and 29 April 2009, brought together experienecd human rights defenders from Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe, as well as diplomats, decision makers and experts from a wide spectrum of disciplines, with the goal of improving the protection of human rights defenders at risk worldwide.

Organised by Peace Brigades International, the Human Rights and Social Justice Institute at London Metropolitan University, and the All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group, the conference aimed to identify the threats faced by human rights defenders worldwide, to review the protection mechanisms and policies in place, and to consider how their shortcomings could be addressed.

A second, follow-up day at the Houses of Parliament directly involved Foreign Office officials in discussion and working groups based on the key messages and findings from Day One.

The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, Mrs Margaret Sekaggya, said in her key-note speech that the conference was especially significant at a time in which the global situation was generating ever greater challenges to the human rights community. “The security and protection of human rights defenders is a subject that we cannot talk enough about,” she said.

The event’s true success will be judged in the real world, with its hoped-for translation into better protection of more defenders through improved systems and coordination between states and other actors. And there can be no doubt about the global importance of the undertaking: if the conference had a catchphrase it was this quote, repeated by several speakers:

    “There can be no peace without democracy, and there can be no democracy without peace. And there can be no peace without human rights... And there can be no human rights without human rights defenders.”

Download the conference programme

NEW! Download the official conference report, published December 2009 (pdf 28kb)