During its 141st session, held in March 2011, the IACHR decided to create an Office of the Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, in view of the petitions it has received and in the interest of giving greater visibility to the important role human rights defenders and justice operators have in building a democratic society in which the rule of law is in full effect. As a result, the Unit has now been turned into the Office of the Rapporteur.
The website of the Rapporteurship on Human Rights Defenders is now online and accessible HERE: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/defenders/default.asp
Great news..
This support for the Inter-American Commission’s Unit on Human Rights Defenders has been lacking and needed for many years..
Hopefully the Commission will continue to strengthen work in this area, and also pay attention in particular to the extreme vulnerability of environmental defenders in the Americas, who are at even greater risk because of the nature of resource extraction conflicts they are confronting…