Denis O'Brien, Chairman, Front Line

Welcome to the 2nd Dublin Platform, a special welcome to Dublin for those of you who have travelled from afar, from more than 70 countries, to be with us these days.

I would also like to extend a special welcome to our guest speakers this morning: Michael McDowell T.D., Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform; and Hina Jilani, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders.

This 2nd Dublin Platform follows on from our first conference which was held here in Dublin Castle in January 2002. Like the inaugural Dublin Platform, the purpose of this meeting is to provide a forum for you Human Rights Defenders. We hope that you will feel that this is your meeting. We have consulted with you on the agenda and we will continue to try to shape the agenda these days to meet your needs.

Human Rights are guaranteed under international law but working to ensure that they are realised and taking up the cases of those who have had their rights violated can be a dangerous business in countries all around the world. Human Rights Defenders are often the only force standing between ordinary people and the unbridled power of the state. They are vital to the development of democratic processes and institutions, ending impunity and the promotion and protection of human rights.

As you know only too well, Human Rights Defenders often face harassment, detention, torture, defamation, suspension from their employment, denial of freedom of movement and difficulty in obtaining legal recognition for their associations. In some countries they are killed or “disappeared.”

Front Line was founded in Dublin in 2001 with the specific aim of protecting Human Rights Defenders, people working in hostile conditions to uphold any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Front Line was inspired by the Human Rights Defenders Summit in Paris which marked the 50th Anniversary of the UDHR in 1998. We aim to address some of the needs identified by defenders themselves, including protection, networking, training and access to the thematic and country mechanisms of the UN and other regional bodies.

Front Line’s main focus is on those human rights defenders at risk, either temporarily or permanently because of their work on behalf of their fellow citizens. We run a small grants program to provide for the security needs of defenders. In the last year we have provided support to defenders in Burma, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Liberia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe.

We also seek to mobilize campaigning and lobbying on behalf of defenders at immediate risk. In emergency situations Front Line can facilitate temporary relocation.

Front Line conducts research and publishes reports on the situation of human rights defenders in specific countries. In the last year we have produced, together with our partners, country reports on the situation of Human Rights Defenders in Brazil, Sierra Leone and Indonesia. We have also been working with Peace Brigades Intermational to develop the Manual on Security and Protection, as well as with Felix Morka and SERAC in Nigeria on the manual on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both of which will be presented to you in the next days.

So welcome to the 2nd Dublin Platform. The most important people for us to hear from these next days are you Human Rights Defenders.