Resources and Tools

An example of the Human Rights Council Programme of Work (September session).

This resource provides a list of useful supporting documents you may with to prepare before coming to Geneva. ISHR Tips & Tricks are a series of guides aimed to support human rights defenders in their advocacy with international and regional human rights mechanisms.

Launched by a coalition of 39 NGOs, this report documents a pattern of increased and specific threats against those who work on business and human rights issues in the Americas. The report covers the conditions faced by defenders of the rights to land, territory and the environment who work throughout the continent on issues regarding the impact of large-scale economic projects by public and private, national and international companies.

English Version. Available in English and Spanish.

This report provides a snapshot of experiences of intimidation, restrictions and reprisals rather than an exhaustive review. By documenting and analysing examples of intimidation, restrictions and reprisals, the report aims to persuade decision-makers of the negative impact of such practices, and to assist and inform efforts to contest them. A series of recommendations are provided.

English Version. Available in Arabic, English, French and Spanish.

This submission to the 24th Annual Meeting of Special Procedures examines the steps taken and those still required by UN Special Procedures to respond to civil society recommendations to strengthen this mechanism.

This submission to the 23rd Annual Meeting of Special Procedures outlines practical changes that would further enhance the Special Procedures’ efforts to ensure an effective and accessible platform for the promotion and protection of human rights globally.

The Human Rights Council Monitor is an ISHR publication reporting on all the key developments at the Council and its mechanisms. 2016 marks the end of the first decade of the Council’s work, and an opportunity to take stock of progress, spell out an overarching vision for the future and initiate necessary course corrections. This anniversary edition of ISHR’s Human Rights Monitor, features an impressive line-up of human rights defenders, national and international policy makers, political leaders, and human rights experts from all regions.

This submission by the International Service for Human Rights updates ISHR’s submission to the 21st annual general meeting in September 2014. It incorporates a range of recommendations contained in a joint submission made by a group of NGOs to the 20th annual meeting of Special Procedures in 2013, however it is made by ISHR in its own right.

This Model Law serves three objectives: to assist and provide technical guidance to States to develop laws and institutions at the national level to support the work of defenders and protect them; to provide a tool for defenders advocating for stronger legal recognition and protection of their work; and to provide both States and defenders with a tool to measure and assess the coverage and effectiveness of existing laws and policies. This Model Law is intended to guide for States and other actors to ensure the full and effective implementation of the ‘Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms’ at the national level.

English Version. Available in English, French and Spanish.

This short report shares some of the lessons that have emerged from various meetings and consultations that ISHR have held with human rights defenders and civil society organisations, which other human rights defenders seeking to engage with regional and international human rights mechanisms will find useful for their work. Also includes a series of recommendations on how various stakeholders can support and respond to the needs of human rights defenders and help eliminate the dangers that they often face.

English Version. Available in English and French.