 | |
| Founded | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-profit NGO |
| Location |
|
| Services | Protecting human rights |
| Website | frontlinedefenders |
Front Line Defenders, or The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, is an Irish-based human rights organisation founded in Dublin, Ireland in 2001 to protect those who work non-violently to uphold the human rights of others as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The organisation was founded by Mary Lawlor, former director of the Irish Section of Amnesty International with a US$3 million donation from businessman and philanthropist Denis O'Brien. Front Line Defenders has Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and has Observer Status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.
In 2006 Front Line Defenders established a European Union office in Brussels.
Front Line Defenders received the King Baudouin International Development Prize in 2007 and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 2018. On 3 July 2014, Lawlor was presented with the Order of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by French Ambassador to Ireland, Mr Jean-Pierre Thebault, on behalf of the French government.
Front Line Defenders' overall goal is to enable human rights defenders, as key agents of social change, to continue their work without the risk of harassment, intimidation or arrest.
In October 2021, Front Line Defenders found evidence that various Palestinian citizens belonging to human rights groups which had been outlawed by Israel, had been targeted by spyware made by the Israeli technology company, NSO Group. [1] [2]
In 2005 this award was established, which according to the organisations website is awarded to a human rights defender "who through non-violent work, is courageously making an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the human rights of others, often at great personal risk to themselves". The award brings international attention on its recipient's cause, and a 15,000 euros cash prize. [3]
The recipients of this award since its inception are as follows: [4]
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
A human shield is a non-combatant who either volunteers or is forced to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it. The use of human shields as a resistance measure was popularized by Mahatma Gandhi as a weapon of peace. On the other hand, the weaponization of civilians has also developed as a tactic by some non-state actors like ISIS.
Defence for Children International (DCI) is an independent non-governmental organisation set up in 1979, during the International Year of the Child, to ensure on-going, practical, systematic and concerted international and national action specially directed towards promoting and protecting the rights of the child, as articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Nigel Cantwell was one of its founders and its current president is Abdul Manaff Kemokai of Sierra Leone.
The Green Line, (pre-)1967 border, or 1949 Armistice border, is the demarcation line set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between the armies of Israel and those of its neighbors after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It served as the de facto borders of the State of Israel from 1949 until the Six-Day War in 1967.
A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistle-blowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campaigners, participants in direct action, or just individuals acting alone. They can defend rights as part of their jobs or in a voluntary capacity. As a result of their activities, human rights defenders (HRDs) are often subjected to reprisals including smears, surveillance, harassment, false charges, arbitrary detention, restrictions on the right to freedom of association, physical attack, and even murder. In 2020, at least 331 HRDs were murdered in 25 countries. The international community and some national governments have attempted to respond to this violence through various protections, but violence against HRDs continues to rise. Women human rights defenders and environmental human rights defenders face greater repression and risks than human rights defenders working on other issues.
Human rights in the Middle East have been shaped by the legal and political development of international human rights law after the Second World War, and their application to the Middle East. The 2004 United Nations Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) claimed that although Arab-Islamic tradition does hold unique importance for ideas of human welfare, History has proven that "they were not sufficiently prevalent in society to foster a culture based on a political contract, and allow for the legitimacy of differences of opinion, dialogue and transfer of power." Issues of the validity of democracy in the region and human rights are at the very centre of the challenges facing Middle Eastern society today.
The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, sometimes called "the Nobel Prize for human rights", is an annual prize for human rights defenders. It was created in 1993 to honor and protect individuals around the world who demonstrate exceptional courage in defending and promoting human rights. Its principal aim is to provide protection to human rights defenders who are at risk by focusing international media attention on their plight, mainly through online means and advocacy work. The Award is named after British human rights activist Martin Ennals, former secretary general of Amnesty International and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu), is a not-for-profit organisation that works for a British Middle East policy rooted in support for international law, human rights and civil society. Since it was founded in 1967, Caabu has taken on a strong advocacy, media and educational role to help shape UK foreign policy and public opinion.
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments."
The Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) is a Ramallah based Palestinian non-profit organization that was established in 1986 to improve the performance and professionalism of Palestinian farmers. The Union also aims to help Palestinian farmers market their produce and provides agricultural employment opportunities through a framework of cooperation with domestic, Arab, and international agricultural development institutions.
Shawan Rateb Abdallah Jabarin is the general director of Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization in the West Bank. From 2005 to 2009, Jabarin was a member of the Board of Directors of Defense for Children International - Palestine, the national section of the Geneva-based Defense for Children International, an NGO established in 1979. Israel regards DCI-P as anti-Israel with links to the terrorist designated Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Guo Feixiong is the pen name of Yang Maodong (杨茂东), a Chinese human rights legal activist from Guangdong province who is often identified with the Weiquan movement. Guo is known as a dissident writer and "barefoot lawyer", who has worked on several controversial issues to defend the rights of marginalized groups. Prior to his 2006 imprisonment, Guo worked as a legal advisor to the Shanghai Shengzhi Law Firm.
Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian human rights organization based in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. Founded in 1979, Al-Haq monitors and documents human rights violations committed by parties to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, issuing reports on its findings and producing detailed legal studies. It is in special consultative status with ECOSOC since 2000.
Leah Tsemel, or Lea Tsemel is an Israeli lawyer known for her work in support of Palestinian rights. She defines her career as one involving “everything [that occurs] between the Palestinians and the authorities". Her five decades of representing Palestinian defendants in the Israeli court system is the subject of the documentary film Advocate, which came out in 2019, and won the 2021 Emmy for Best Documentary.
Michel Forst is a French national actively involved in the defence of human rights. Former Secretary General of the French national human rights institution, he was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders from June 2014 to March 2020.
Pegasus is spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-arms company NSO Group that can be covertly installed on mobile phones running most versions of iOS and Android. Pegasus is able to exploit iOS versions up to 14.6, through a zero-click exploit. As of 2022, Pegasus was capable of reading text messages, tracking calls, collecting passwords, location tracking, accessing the target device's microphone and camera, and harvesting information from apps. The spyware is named after Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology. It is a Trojan horse computer virus that can be sent "flying through the air" to infect cell phones.
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor is an independent, nonprofit organization for the protection of human rights. Its main objective is to raise the level of awareness toward human rights law in the area and to influence the international community to take action against human rights violators.
The Palestinian NGOs Network is an umbrella organization of Palestinian non-government organisations (NGOs) in the Palestinian territories formed to enhance coordination, consultation and cooperation between member NGOs and to strengthen Palestinian civil society and contribute to the establishment of a Palestinian state. PNGO was formed in September 1993, and as of January 2020, had 135 member NGOs operating in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
Mary Lawlor is Adjunct Professor of Business and Human Rights in the School of Business of Trinity College Dublin. An Irish national, she is currently the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, appointed for a three-year term from May 2020. She is the founder and former Executive Director of Front Line Defenders and former Director of the Irish branch of Amnesty International.
The Bisan Center for Research and Development is a civil society non-profit, non-governmental organization in Ramallah. It was established in 1989 and is registered with the Palestinian Ministry of Interior.
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