CHAPTER-1 HRD – A BRIEF INTRODUCTION 1 Who is a defender? “Human rights defender” is a term used to describe people who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights. HRDs are identified above all by what they do and it is through a description of their actions (section A below) and of some of the contexts in which they work (section B below) that the term can be best explained. The examples given of the activities of HRDs are not an exhaustive list. A. What do HRDs do? 1. All human rights for all To be a HRD, a person can act to address any human right (or rights) violation on behalf of individuals or groups. HRDs seek the promotion and protection of civil and political rights as well as the promotion, protection and realization of economic, social and cultural rights. HRDs address any human rights concerns, which can be as varied as, summary executions, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, female genital mutilation, discrimination, employment issues, forced evictions, access to healthcare, and toxic waste and its impact on the environment. Defenders are active in support of human rights as diverse as the rights to life, to food and water, to the highest attainable standard of health, to adequate housing, to a name and a nationality, to education, to freedom of movement and to non-discrimination. They sometimes address the rights of categories of persons, for example women’s rights, children’s rights, the rights of indigenous persons, the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons, and the rights of national, linguistic or sexual minorities. 1 www.ohchr.org 1