Resources and Publications

“THE EU’S OBJECTIVE IS TO INFLUENCE THIRD COUNTRIES TO CARRY OUT THEIR OBLIGATIONS TO
RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS.”
(EUROPEAN UNION GUIDELINES ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS)

As the 2016 Annual Report documents, at least 156 human rights defenders were killed or died in detention in 2015. More than half of those killings, 87, took place in Latin America, with Colombia alone accounting for 54 killings. Outside the Americas one of the starkest figures was the total of 31 targeted killings of HRDs in the Philippines.

In April 2015 Front Line Defenders and Verso Books published La Lucha: The Story of Lucha Castro and Human Rights in Mexico - the first book in a series of nonfiction graphic novels. La Lucha features the real life stories of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) in northern Mexico who confront lethal challenges in order to promote human rights, justice and accountability.

Human rights defenders are some of the bravest people in the world. Every day they face the challenge of survival in situations where simply to be a human rights defender is to put your life on the line.