Protection International (PI) strives to empower human rights defenders (HRDs) in ensuring their own security, rather than fostering a reliance on external actors and emergency interventions. PI has evolved and grown significantly over the years, starting from just a few inspired activists with a vision, to now a global organisation
For the right to defend human rights. Our freedoms, our rights, our societies depend on people who take a stand in their defence. In other words, human rights need defenders. Human rights defenders take personal risks to make a safer, more equal, more inclusive and more just world for us all. Yet,
The Beni military court annuls the sentence for the 13 LUCHA human rights defenders Protection International (PI) and Protection International Africa (PIA) welcome the decision of the military court of North Kivu, DR Congo, to annul the sentence of 13 human rights defenders (HRDs) of the citizen movement Lutte pour
Nairobi, 4 April 2022 We, the undersigned pan-African and international human rights organisations, are deeply concerned about the latest attacks against human rights defenders (HRDs) in Nigeria, and Africa. On the night of 28 March 2022, five armed men forcibly entered the home of Mr Olanrewaju Suraju, the Chairman of
JOINT STATEMENT 01 April 2022 We, the signatory organizations, deplore the unfounded and unjust condemnation of the thirteen human rights defenders (HRDs) of the LUCHA by the Beni Garrison Military Court. Today, 1 April 2022, 13 human rights defenders from the LUCHA movement were sentenced to 12 months in prison
9 March 2022 – We, the undersigned organizations, express our dismay that the Beni Garrison Military Tribunal has not yet announced a verdict in the case of the 13 LUCHA human rights defenders (HRDs) from Beni, North Kivu. According to legal statutes, this verdict was due within 30 days of
By Ephrem Chiruza “We will not stop until all human rights defenders enjoy their right to defend human rights by creating an enabling environment for this work to continue,” said Susan Muriungi, Protection International (PI) Africa Regional Director during the celebration of Women Human Rights Defenders Day held at the
JOINT PUBLIC STATEMENT [Goma (RD Congo)] 21 January 2022. We, the 35 signatory organizations, urge the Congolese authorities to release the 13 human rights defenders (HRDs) of LUCHA, arbitrarily detained in the town of Beni after having organized a peaceful demonstration denouncing the killings of civilians in this part of
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), especially in the eastern part of the country, over two decades of armed conflict and political instability have deteriorated the working conditions for human rights defenders. In 2020, the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) documented 7,909 human rights violations and
(Kinshasa, April 29, 2021) – The Democratic Republic of Congo’s newly appointed government should adopt a clear strategy for holding those suspected of criminal responsibility for grave human rights violations accountable, a coalition of 50 Congolese and international nongovernmental groups said today. President Felix Tshisekedi’s new government, led by Prime
