Americas

Latin America was the pioneer region in terms of the implementation of public policies for the protection of HRDs (the first protection programme, worldwide, started in Colombia in 1997, even a year before the adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders by the UN General Assembly). The same region was a pioneer in passing the first national law on the protection of HRDs (Mexico, 2012).

In both Mesoamerica and South America there have been two types of initiatives to implement these policies. On the one hand, pressure from civil society organisations has been key to getting governments to agree to regulate the protection of HRDs.

On the other hand, the structuring role of the Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) must be taken into account. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has stipulated the obligation of states to protect human rights defenders through four specific duties:

a.to facilitate the necessary means for human rights defenders to freely carry out their activities;
b.to protect them when they are subject to threats, in order to prevent attacks on their lives and integrity;
c.to refrain from imposing obstacles that hinder their work;
d.to seriously and effectively investigate violations committed against them.

In addition, in two of its judgments, the Court has ordered states to create public policies for the protection of HRDs in three judgments – towards Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has pointed out to the American states the need to take into account a series of parameters to develop a “global protection policy”, beyond “restricting themselves, for example, to providing security schemes for defenders at risk without investigating the origin of the threats to which they have been subjected”.

As of mid-2021, the list of countries with protection policies is as follows:
•Law in force: Mexico, Honduras (IACHR Court ruling) and Peru.
•Decree or sub-national regulation: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador
•Discussions in force: El Salvador, Guatemala (IACHR Court ruling).
•Previous debates, not currently taken up: Paraguay, Nicaragua (IACHR Court ruling)

Protection International
2023
It has been 25 years since the first protection mechanism for people at risk due to armed conflict (December 1997)...
ESPACIO_OSC
2023
This document is the result of a series of meetings convened by the Espacio de Organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil...
ESPACIO_OSC
2023
Brochure summary of the document Priority Points to Guarantee the Right to Defend Human Rights and Freedom of Expression
Protection International
2023
On the 4th of March 2018, governments, NGOs, academia and other stakeholders from the Latin American and Caribbean region signed...
US Foreign Relations Committee
2023
In March 2023, Senator Robert Menendez, who is chair of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee proposed  a bill...
Ministério dos Direitos Humanos e da Cidadania
2023
MDHC The challenges for the construction of the National Plan for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders were presented this...
Secretaría de gobernación. Gobierno de Mexico
2022
In January 2022, discussions on a general law for the protection of human rights defenders in Mexico were renewed. Discussions...
Corte Constitucional. República de Colombia
2022
Boletín No 39 – Bogotá, April 18, 2022. The Constitutional Court is considering nine tutela actions1 filed by 18 citizens...
Protection International
2022
National and international organizations sent this letter to President Gustavo Petro and Vice President Francia Márquez with three recommendations so...
La Nueva Prensa, AP News
2022
Concerning news has come forward on the Colombian National Protection Unit (Unidad Nacional de Protección or UNP in Spanish). Personnel...
Defensoría del Pueblo Perú
2022
In an effort to place the need for more efficient protection measures for environmental defenders on the national public agenda,...
Departamento Nacional de Planeación
2022
This document was issued on 29/Nov/2021 by the government of Iván Duque and approved on 6/Dec/2021 by the National Council...
CODIGO DH
2022
The Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights of Oaxaca participates in updating the Agreement on the Recognition and Protection...
Unidad Nacional de Protección
2022
In September 2022, the Colombian government introduced the Emergency Plan for the Protection of Social Leaders, Human Rights Defenders and...
Protection International
2021
Framed by the research that is carried out in different countries, Protection International has been designing conceptual and practical tools...
Justiça Global. Terra de Direitos
2021
Justiça Global and Terra de Direitos have launched “The Beginning of the End?” (“Começo do fim?”, in Portuguese), a critical...
Whistleblower Network News
2021
“Peru has long been one of the world’s most dangerous countries for activists and indigenous leaders. At least 57 environmental...
Protection International
2021
Protection International presents the reconstruction of the Underlying Theories of the “Policy Framework for Comprehensive Protection and Guarantees for Social...
Todos los derechos para todas y todos
2021
Latin America continues to be the most dangerous region in the world for the defense of human rights, a situation...