Brussels, 16 May 2013. Protection International (PI) is pleased to release a new version of FOCUS 2013. Public Policies for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders: the State of the Art. It includes a preface written by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Margaret Sekaggya.

According to Luis Enrique Eguren, President of the Board of PI, “Mrs. Sekaggya’s interest and strong support to the development of such public policies is a clear indication of the utility of these public policies to enhance the protection and legitimacy of the work of HRDs in the world”. PI is encouraged by the interest expressed by the Special Rapporteur, as well as several other relevant stakeholders in governments, international organizations, and NGOs, to continue exploring this area.

“We hope our FOCUS project will help these relevant stakeholders to develop and improve the design and tackle the shortcomings of existing public policies for the protection of HRDs. Moreover, we hope it spurs the discussion between civil society organizations and governments of countries where the protection of HRDs is far from assured so that public policies also address the key issue of impunity of those who attack human rights defenders”, Mr. Eguren said.