Human rights defenders under attack: new report by UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
The sixty-first session of the Human Rights Council, scheduled from 23 February to 2 April 2026, will feature the presentation of the report “Defending dignity and claiming rights: human rights defenders hold firm to universal values as others desert them” by Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.
The report analysed 300 submissions from defenders in 82 countries and territories, providing an overview of their challenges against a backdrop against human rights and international human rights framework. Over the past decade, the operational space for human rights defenders has narrowed, while risks remain high. In 2024 alone, at least 625 human rights defenders and media workers were killed or disappeared. Simultaneously, human rights defenders increasingly question the international system designed to protect them, as States routinely flout international law and undermine the human rights framework.
Lawlor examines the motivations driving people to defend human rights despite the risks, and evaluates the effectiveness of international support mechanisms. She concludes that the right to defend human rights, as articulated in the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, is under increasing threat. Nevertheless, human rights defenders persist in their work with determination.
The report offers recommendations to various international actors based on defenders' identified needs in this crisis. Lawlor urges Member States, the United Nations, and OHCHR to recommit to international law, avoid measures restricting defenders' activities or funding, and instead promote efforts to develop advocacy and protection of human rights. For human rights defenders engaging with international mechanisms, Lawlor advises realistic expectations, providing targeted, evidence-based information with explicit consent, and understanding that these mechanisms may not offer immediate practical support or funding in urgent situations.
Lawlor concludes with a quote from imprisoned Emirati human rights defender Mohamed al-Roken, exemplifying the resilience of human rights defenders:
“I am an optimist by nature. I imagine that the future is built on this idea of human rights and its culture. He who does not feel that he lives in a free society that makes him feel equal to others will feel that his humanity is incomplete. There is a saying that, in a confrontation between the river and the rock, the river always wins. Not because of its strength, but because of its perseverance. Those working for human rights (...) are not strong, but they have perseverance.”