English PDF - East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders ...

Conference Report: Resources and Proceedings 39The EU mechanismThe European Union has issued Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders providing practicalsuggestions for enhancing EU action in relation to the protection of human rights defenders. TheGuidelines can be used in contact with third countries at all levels as well as in multilateralhuman rights fora, in order to support and strengthen ongoing efforts by the Union to promoteand encourage respect for the right to defend human rights. The Guidelines also provide forinterventions by the Union for human rights defenders at risk and suggest practical means tosupport and assist human rights defenders. An important element of the Guidelines is to supportthe Special Procedures of the UN Commission on Human Rights, including the UN SpecialRepresentative on Human Rights Defenders and appropriate regional mechanisms to protecthuman rights defenders. The Guidelines will assist EU Missions (Embassies and Consulates ofEU Member States and European Commission Delegations) in their approach to human rightsdefenders.The operational part of the Guidelines is to identify ways and means to effectively work towardsthe promotion and protection of human rights defenders in third countries. Heads of Mission arerequested to provide periodic reports on the human rights situation in their countries ofaccreditation. They are sought to adopt a proactive policy towards human rights defenders. TheEU’s objective is to influence third countries to carry out their obligations to respect the rights ofhuman rights defenders and to protect them from attacks and threats from non-state actors. Theoverall objective should be to bring about an environment where human rights defenders canoperate freely. The EU will make its objectives known as an integral part of its human rightspolicy and will stress the importance it attaches to the protection of human rights defenders.The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders ProjectDespite the existing mechanisms of protection, the situation of human rights defenders has notsignificantly improved. Civil society has not yet taken advantage of the content of theDeclaration. Promoting the implementation of the Declaration at national level is still a majorchallenge. Africa needs a human rights protection strategy that will offer greater protection,visibility and legitimacy to human rights defenders on the continent, so that they can moreeffectively carryout their human rights work, and by so doing expand the environment in whichhuman rights defenders are able to exercise their right to defend human rights.In follow up of recommendations made by Canadian civil society groups including AmnestyInternational-Canada, the establishment of the African Human Rights Defenders Project at theCentre for Refugee Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada was processed. The first stage ofthe project was carried out through field trips to Africa between March and May 2004, whichinvolved extensive consultations with a wide range of human rights defenders as well as severalpublic officers. A sub-regional coordination project – the East and Horn of Africa Human RightsDefenders Project (EHAHRDP) was conceived as the result of a set of recommendations putforward by the first and exploratory stage of the African Human Rights Defenders Project whichidentified the most pressing needs of human rights defenders there, especially regarding personalsecurity and effectiveness, and addressed the question of the kind of assistance that can beprovided from outside Africa, particularly from North America and Europe.The Project is Secretariat to the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network thatrepresents more than 45 members, i.e. Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) and their organisationsfrom Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Somaliland, Sudan including SouthernSudan, Tanzania including Zanzibar, and Uganda. It envisions a region in which the human rights