01/11/2018 – Protection International presented two exhibitions at the Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018 in Paris (29-31 October 2018). Two different projects, from two different continents, but both advocating for peace, justice, and the right to defend human rights.
WE’RE LIKE YOU
The invisible fighting for land and life
We’re Like You is an artistic project aiming to rebuild the collective memory of five Colombian peasant communities – El Guayabo, Bella Unión, Nueva Esperanza, Las Pavas, and El Garzal – that have been strongly affected by the armed conflict and fighting for their lands for more than 20 years.
This project, which calls for peace and for the recognition of the legitimacy of defending human rights, is a joint initiative between these five peasant communities, Protection International (PI), its Colombian partner Pensamiento y Acción Social (PAS), and the Spanish artist Ze Carrión.
Discover more about the exhibition here:
#ColombiaSomosComoTu #CommunitiesareHRDs
“I was tremendously fortunate to live with five communities of the Colombian region of Magdalena Medio as one of them, and to share with them my passion and artistic experience as a means for them to portray their concerns, struggles and stories as well as their hopes”
Ze Carrión, artist
FOR THOSE WHO DIED TRYING
For Those Who Died Trying is a project aiming to expose the criminalisation and violence suffered by HRDs in Thailand, and support their legitimate quest for justice, initially carried out by Protection International and Luke Duggleby.
In the last 20 years, more than 61 Thai environmental activists and HRDs have been murdered or have been abducted. Very few charges have ever been laid against the perpetrators of any of these crimes.
FTWDT presents 35 photographs of 37 murdered or abducted HRDs who died trying to defend human rights and protect the environment in Thailand, by placing a portrait of the victim when possible at the exact place where they were murdered or went missing.
#ThaiHRDs #music4HRDs #music4justice #CommunitiesareHRDs
“It is vital, for the victims and the families, that their fight and their death should not be forgotten and left unrecognized. Ultimately, those that abuse their power with impunity must not go unpunished; the HRDs recognition and administration of justice are steps on the path to end these killing”
Luke Duggleby, photographer
The Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018 is taking place on 29, 30, and 31 October in Paris: It aims to celebrate HRDs’ work and the progress made in the last 2 decades, raise awareness about the threats HRDs are facing, and create a platform to build the strategies for an effective protection and a more enabling environment for human rights around the world in the next decades.