The Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (SouthernDefenders) convened its Extra-Ordinary General Assembly (EGA) on 17 and 18 November 2025 in South Africa. Delegates from Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, eSwatini, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe participated, alongside representatives from the...
A podcast series on African human rights defenders in exile “If you have to leave, leave. But refuse to keep quiet. Silencing you is what all oppressive regimes want. Don’t stop defending others because you are outside your country. Defending others is defending ourselves.” Interview with an...
Dear friends, As you know, I have left the UN mandate on human rights defenders on 1 May 2020. I had to devote the last weeks of my mandate to finalize a number of projects that had been postponed due to the COVID19 crisis. This is...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] A compilation of country studies examining the situation of human rights defenders in Africa has just been released by the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network (PAHRDN). The State of Human Rights Defenders 2016 explores challenges, restrictions, and protections on...
