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05/28/2026

Reprisals: ISHR reports on cases of reprisals across 24 States

In response to the annual call for inputs from the UN Secretary-General, ISHR has submitted 66 cases of intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders engaging with the UN from 24 countries.

ISHR’s submission shows that reprisals against people engaging with the United Nations remain widespread and increasingly sophisticated. Human rights defenders continue to face travel bans, arbitrary detention, surveillance, online harassment, attacks on family members, and misuse of national security laws aimed at silencing cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms.

At ISHR we continue to campaign to , because everyone has the right to defend human rights, and the right to engage with UN bodies without fearing for their safety and life!

https://ishr.ch/toolbox/resources/ishr-reprisals-report-2026/

05/25/2026

Today our Racial Justice Programme Manager Lamar has an important message to share:

'Six years have passed and we still cannot breathe.

Six years ago today, George Floyd was killed by a police officer who pressed his knee into his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds.

It was all captured on video and sparked protests and a global movement against institutional racism and racist police violence.

Today we pay tribute to the memory of all those affected by racist police violence. Their lives are so much more than an injustice, and their legacy is so much more than a struggle. They are the love that endures and drives us forward, the truth that guides us and the certainty that we are doing the right thing.

With the increased repression of protests, surveillance and policing of activists, declining funding for global anti-racism work and burnout and trauma of affected communities, grassroots movements defending the rights of victims of police violence are facing multiple challenges in continuing their work.

At ISHR, we wish to echo some of their demands worldwide: an end to racial discrimination, an end to the over-incarceration of people of African descent, the creation of police accountability mechanisms, the recognition that police violence is systemic, not individual, the demilitarisation of the police, and more.

We believe it is essential to highlight these demands, and to connect together local struggles into a global force for change.

That is why, at ISHR, we cannot carry on as before; we are redoubling our efforts in our work to combat structural racism and have launched a NEW racial justice programme to continue specifically supporting human rights defenders working towards racial justice, accountability, and reparations.

05/18/2026

African Commission: Joint NGO call to reinstate cancelled human rights side event

Organisations express concern over the censorship of civil society through the cancellation of a side event co-sponsored by ISHR, Front Line Defenders, Hegoa and the Working Group on Human Rights in Occupied Western Sahara, titled 'Ending the Silence on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara'.

🔗 https://ow.ly/yta250Z0Z7Y

05/15/2026

🏳️‍🌈 Pushing LGBTQIA+ people out narrows the space available to everyone. On the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia , and every day, we build the kind of democracy that welcomes everyone. ✨🤝

05/13/2026

Courageous people across the globe take action every day to stop business-related human rights and environmental harms 🌍, despite increasing restrictions on civic freedoms and the risk of retaliation ⚠️

This new analysis from the Business and Human Rights Centre reveals the highest number of attacks on defenders in the past five years, alongside key trends such as the growing impact of digital technologies on civic space.

Essential reading for anyone focused on corporate accountability, environmental protection, human rights defenders, and civic space 📊

Explore the analysis here 👉 https://ow.ly/A3tL50YYUgA

05/11/2026

CERD warns Russia may be violating anti-racism convention

UN experts officially warned Russian authorities they were looking at allegations of laws placing strict and discriminatory burdens on the work of Indigenous rights groups and activists.

🔗 https://ow.ly/kt6V50YXvkz

05/07/2026

Liberian civil society calls for stronger legal protection for defenders

On 20 and 21 April, in partnership with the Liberian Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, ISHR organised a strategic consultation on the protection of human rights defenders in Liberia.

🔗 https://ow.ly/5aLl50YW1Z3

05/04/2026

📢 New course alert! Want to increase your access to the for greater impact on the ground? 🌍

ISHR’s new e-learning module helps NGOs and activists navigate the path to ECOSOC consultative status — a key gateway to UN advocacy spaces 🛡️

Start building your strategy today: https://ow.ly/n1eg50YR3Js

04/30/2026

UN experts warn new ‘ethnic unity’ law in China risks entrenching forced assimilation.

Ahead of EU Parliament debate, UN experts have warned that China’s new Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress risks violating a wide range of human rights affecting Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongols and other peoples, and may create risks of transnational repression.

🔗 https://ow.ly/I2oP50YSxuj

04/27/2026

Today we are sharing the 5th and last video in our series of capsule recordings highlighting takeaways from the mandate of Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor, who will finish her assignment at the end of this month.
5️⃣ Today, Mary answers the following question: 'Do you have any personal advice or encouragement for your successor?'

04/23/2026

ISHR urges Ecuador’s top court to strike down law undermining civil society freedoms.

ISHR has filed an amicus curiae brief before Ecuador’s Constitutional Court, arguing that the Organic Law on Social Transparency imposes sweeping registration requirements, financial oversight and reporting obligations, and other burdens that unduly restrict civil society organisations and undermine the right to freedom of association.

https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/ishr-urges-ecuadors-top-court-to-strike-down-law-undermining-civil-society-freedoms/

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