“If you drive 40 miles inland from Recife you go back in time 150 years.” Those were the words of a human rights defender from the Pastoral Land Commission in Pernambuco, Brazil, as he tried to explain the lawless brutality with which landowners managed their sugar cane plantations. The reach of the state is weak and the level of corruption and abuse of power is high.

Santiago Maldonado desapareció el 1 de agosto del 2017, mientras protestaba por el derecho a la tierra. No por el suyo, dado que había nacido en el seno de una familia próspera de la provincia de Buenos Aires. El día en que desapareció protestaba por el derecho del pueblo indígena Mapuche a un pedazo de la Patagonia argentina.

Over the past 11 years I’ve led workshops for human rights defenders at risk in Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and East and Central Europe. Many of the HRDs trained at those workshops on Risk Analysis and Protection Planning reported stigmatisation, online abuse, threats and attacks. But earlier this year I received a call for help from a much closer source.

Andrew Anderson recently met with human rights defenders and protesters demanding reform on the streets of Sudan.

“It is a coup, done by the security committee which is NISS, the army, RSF and police. They have suspended the constitution, which means suspending the bill of rights, declared a state of emergency and a curfew. They are going to meet the angry protesters with brutality.”
- Human rights defender, Khartoum 11th April 2018