Silencing the Defenders - Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

Chapter IV
Defending the
Defenders: Key
Mechanisms
In recognition of the difficult
circumstances in which many human
rights defenders work and of the
important nature of the activities in
which they engage, there has been a
recent effort on the part of the
international community to create
mechanisms directed towards their
protection. The post of UN Special
Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights defenders was created
in 2000 with the broad mandate of
implementing the UN Declaration,
and subsequently regional bodies
and posts have been created with
similar mandates. At the national
level, National Human Rights
Institutions, while not created with
the specific mandate of assisting
human rights defenders, are
invaluably placed to offer protection
and to work together with human
rights defenders for the promotion of
human rights.
42 CHRI 2009 REPORT: SILENCING THE DEFENDERS •