Affirmation

" I am amazed and shocked to see so many remarkable people in the room… "

- Mary Lawlor

When she spoke in plenary on the first morning, Hina Jilani emphasised the very great importance of meetings that bring human rights defenders together. They enable people to share with one another, learn from one another's experience, and build solidarity. Other speakers, including Michael McDowell TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform of the Government of Ireland, and Jon Benjamin, Head of Human Rights Policy at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London, expressed their admiration for the work of human rights defenders, who defend principles of justice and people who have no protection, and in doing so put themselves at risk. In both these senses, the meeting was a form of celebration: an act of recognition, a time for conviviality and relaxation, and a moment to recognise what has been achieved – the many small and significant instances of courage and success, won in what is often a larger context of despair and adversity.

It is important to recognise this dimension of the meeting. Beneath the numerous examples of abuse and suffering that that participants have witnessed and which they described to us, stand vital acts of courage. Even if they do not immediately bear fruit, these acts create hope and rekindle confidence in others. The commitment that impels human rights defenders to go on with their work, whatever threats are made against them, however extreme the imbalance of power they face - their determination to stand up for essential values such as truth, justice and fairness for the poor as well as the prosperous, for women and men, for minorities as well as the powerful – shone through the many testimonies we heard. " I know how important it is for my own sense of security to have a network of human rights defenders around me "

- Hina Jilani

The testimonies also affirmed the strength-giving value of co-operation and alliance. The meeting itself was an act of alliance, a statement of commitment by human rights defenders to one another. Again and again, participants described the value to them of working together, across all the many differences of language and culture, and the many occasions on which such co-operation has saved individuals from violence or detention, and created opportunities for more effective action.

Three different examples of success: The International Criminal Court

The creation of the ICC in 2003 marks one of the most significant advances for human rights in recent years. This is not principally because the Court will eventually be able to prosecute and convict some of the world's worst violators of rights. As Judge Maureen Harding Clark pointed out in her presentation, the Court's mandate is limited and, even when it is fully operational, it has jurisdiction only in certain circumstances and over certain crimes.

The Court's importance is that it sets in place an enforcement mechanism that will permit international prosecutions, but which should over time also strengthen the capacity of national courts to prosecute serious human rights crimes themselves. It provides a buttress for the rule of law that was absent – a buttress for which human rights defenders have campaigned for 50 years, until now without success.

There is another achievement to underscore. As Judge Clark said in Dublin: "This is your Court – you are the people who will ensure that the Court will work." She was correct in two senses. The Court was created by one of the most successful campaigns in human rights history. NGOs and human rights defenders, with a number of governments, made enormous efforts first to bring the Rome Treaty into being, then to secure enough ratifications to bring the Court into being, and finally to ensure that the election of Court officials was appropriately democratic and representative. All these goals were achieved in a remarkably short period, in the face of considerable resistance (notably from the United States), creating a new judicial institution that can act to punish, and possibly inhibit, some of the worst human rights violations.

Judge Clark also stressed that active participation by human rights defenders in the Court's work will be crucial to its effectiveness. 600 complaints have already been received and five are being investigated; but much remains to be done. In many parts of the world little is known about the Court or its mandate. The participants agreed that they need to inform themselves about how to provide the Court with information and thereby assist its officials to bring prosecutions successfully.

" The ICC will work when you – the eyes and ears of the international community – inform it and the world about what is happening. "

- Judge Maureen Harding Clark Respite arrangements

A second success was recorded at the Dublin Platform itself, when Ireland's Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell, announced to the conference that, at Front Line's request, the Irish Government will establish a system to provide temporary visas to human rights defenders who need immediate protection. The aim is that this will also provide appropriate financial and other support while they remain in Ireland.

In addition, the Irish Government has promised that measures to support and protect Human Rights defenders will be a priority while it holds the Presidency of the European Union during the first six months of 2004.

This is a very good example of practical co-operation between human rights defenders organisations and government. The creation of respite arrangements of this sort will address a problem that faces many human rights defenders and their families around the world. It also provides tangible evidence of the commitment of governments to the human rights defenders' Declaration. It is to be hoped that other governments will follow Ireland's lead on this issue.

The Irish government also gave a commitment that measures to support and protect Human Rights Defenders would be one of the priorities for the Irish Presidency of the European Union in the first six months of 2004 La Lokita

The third illuminates the power of example. It is drawn from a testimony we heard. Amelia, known as "La Lokita," is a young woman in a Colombian village, who was given her name because she was considered to be simple. One day in May 2002, the AUC rightwing paramilitaries came to her village, which was then attacked by guerrillas who operated in the area. In the battle that followed, the village church was struck by a bomb, killing 119 of the villagers who had taken shelter there and wounding many others. The priest, nuns and villagers fled across the river to a place of safety. When the priest and nuns returned a few days later, they found La Lokita, who had been forgotten in the confusion. Working alone, she had collected salt and water and bathed the wounds of those who had been injured. She had carefully gathered the broken bodies of the dead, and respectfully laid them out in their clothes. By restoring the dignity of those who had died, and by taking care of the living, she affirmed the highest values of human rights defenders.

As Hina Jilani remarked, belonging with other human rights defenders means sharing the dangers, acknowledging dilemmas together, and confronting fear in company. In the many testimonies that we heard, these values and the importance of hope were among the vital themes that emerged particularly clearly.

They were also expressed, in different terms, by the poet Seamus Heaney and the musician Liam O'Flynn. Liam O'Flynn played two pieces of traditional pipe music, one reflecting the suffering of ordinary people throughout history, the other their capacity to share in the pleasure of life. Seamus Heaney read from his translation of the Greek tragedy Antigone – the ancient figure who is most closely associated with defence of human rights and protection of liberty. She represented, he said, the passion of the individual for her integrity.