2011 witnessed an increase in attacks at the home or the office' of human rights defenders. Front Line Defenders reported on such cases in DRC, Malawi, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Such instances included suspected undercover security officials visiting the office of an NGO, the illegal seizure by police of the building hosting an NGO, break-ins, stealing or destruction of equipment and documents. In one case, the security guard of an NGO was assaulted during a break-in to force him to disclose the home address of the director of the organisation.

Judicial harassment against HRDs remained a widespread pattern across the region and one of the most common violations against HRDs, second only to the issuing of threats. Threats of criminal charges, summonses, intimidation by the judicial authorities, including the office of the prosecutor, fabricated charges and unfair trials were reported in Burundi, Congo, The Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. In Burundi, human rights defenders and journalists received repeated summonses to appear before the prosecutor for questioning. In most instances, summonses were in connection with the ongoing campaign for justice for the murder of human rights defender Ernest Manirumwa in 2009, or in connection with raising human rights issues or reporting on the opposition. A prominent NGO received at least 28 summonses in the last few years, while a journalist with Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) was called in for questioning seven times between July and early November.

During the year, elections were held in several countries in Africa. Those in DRC, The Gambia and Uganda in particular had an impact on the security of HRDs and journalists. In DRC, many human rights groups reported being subjected to intensified surveillance in the run-up to the elections. Those involved in election monitoring or exposing irregularities were the subject of intimidation. In The Gambia, journalists were intimidated and in some cases arrested for their reporting on opposition rallies, while radio stations were ordered not to report on the opposition. In Côte d’Ivoire, human rights defenders and journalists were targeted during the clashes that followed the contested 2010 elections. Several HRDs were forced to flee or to go into hiding, especially during the early months of the year. The media were used by both sides of the conflict to threaten and intimidate HRDs.

The situation remained appalling in conflict-ridden countries such as Sudan and Somalia. Human rights defenders and journalists continued to work in an extremely precarious situation and many of them had to flee or move to another area of the country to escape retaliation for reporting on the daily abuses. In Sudan armed conflict continued in Darfur and the Government launched attacks on opponents in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states following the independence of South Sudan. Repressive measures included the arbitrary arrest of human rights defenders.

More numerous instances of harassment of human rights defenders working on slavery and forced labour were reported in Mauritania and Ghana. Fifteen Mauritanian HRDs were sentenced in January and August on charges of assaulting a police officer, staging an illegal protest and belonging to an unregistered organisation. Their arrest and trial occurred in connection to sit-ins organised in front of a police station to protest against police inaction on cases of slavery. The authorities continued to refuse registration of their organisation, IRA-Mauritania. In Ghana, a human rights defender suffered repeated threats and abduction attempts against his family members in connection to his work on forced child labour.