“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 a disparu alors qu'il manifestait pour le droit à la terre. Pas pour ses propres droits, car il est né dans une famille prospère dans la province de Buenos Aires. Il y a deux ans, le 1er août 2017, il manifestait pour les droits du peuple Mapuche à jouir d'un lopin de terre en Patagonie.

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