Civil Rights Defenders (Formerly the Swedish Helsinki Committee) is an international

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

based in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, that does

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

work with a focus on

civil and political rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

. They primarily work to support local

human rights defenders A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

by providing them with

capacity building Capacity building (or capacity development, capacity strengthening) is the improvement in an individual's or organization's facility (or capability) "to produce, perform or deploy". The terms capacity building and capacity development have often ...

, training, and funding, as well as security and emergency support for human rights defenders at risk. Founded in 1982 as the Swedish Helsinki Committee, the original focus of Civil Rights Defenders was to monitor and support the

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

portion of the

Helsinki Accords The Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration, was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, betwee ...

. In 2009, the organisation changed its name to Civil Rights Defenders and it now works in Sweden,

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, the

Western Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, and in East & Horn of Africa.

History

Civil Rights Defenders was founded in 1982 as the Swedish Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (''Svenska Helsingforskommittén för mänskliga rättigheter'') to monitor compliance with the human rights provisions of the

Helsinki Final Act The Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration, was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, betwee ...

, along with Helsinki Committees for Human Rights in several countries.

Gerald Nagler Hans Gerald Nagler (10 December 1929 – 23 July 2022) was a Swedish businessman and Human rights defender, human rights activist. Gerald Nagler was the son of the Austrian Jewish businessman Siegmund Nagler. The family moved from Vienna to Stoc ...

, who also co-founded the

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) was a self-governing group of non-governmental organizations that acted to protect human rights throughout Europe, North America and Central Asia. A specific primary goal was to monitor ...

, was the founder of the Swedish Helsinki Committee, and then also Chairman of the organisation from 1992 until 2004. Robert Hårdh led the organisation as Secretary General from 2000 until 2009 and then as Executive Director until 2017. /Https://w.wiki/D6SN Anders L. Petterssonsucceeded Robert Hårdh as Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders in May 2018. Under his leadership, the organization experienced significant growth and expansion. Pettersson left in August 2024 after completing just over six years. After the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

, the organisation also worked to monitor and improve the human rights situation in the

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

throughout the conflicts of the 1990s. In 2009, the Swedish Helsinki Committee changed its name to Civil Rights Defenders, and began working in additional regions of the world with the primary mission to support local human rights groups in repressive countries. They also now act as a watchdog human rights organisation in Sweden.

Natalia Project

The Natalia Project is an alarm system for human rights defenders at risk that helps to ensure the survival of human rights defenders. It was launched in 2013, and is named after

Natalia Estemirova Natalya Khusainovna Estemirova (, ; 28 February 1958 – 15 July 2009) was a Russian human rights activist and board member of the Russian Human rights in Russia, human rights organization Memorial (society), Memorial. Estemirova was abducted ...

, a Russian human rights activist and recipient of the

Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob vo ...

who was abducted and murdered in 2009 while working to document cases of human rights abuses in

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

. The device uses cellphone and

satellite navigation A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geopositioning. A satellite navigation system with global coverage is termed global navigation satellite system (GNSS). , four global systems are ope ...

technology to transmit an alarm signal that its bearer is in acute danger. Triggering the alarm transmits data about the bearer's location and personal details to enable a local and global response. Each Natalia Project participant receives security training and develops an incident response protocol based on their specific circumstances. Program Participants:

Frank Mugisha Frank Mugisha (born 17 June 1979) is a Ugandan LGBT advocate and Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), who has won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize 2011 for his activism. Mugisha is one of ...

(Uganda),

Olena Shevchenko Olena Olehivna Shevchenko (; born 1982) is a Ukrainian women's and LGBT rights activist. After working as a teacher, she co-founded the NGO Insight in 2007 to advocate for LGBT inclusiveness on feminist platforms. She started annual events i ...

(Ukraine),

Génesis Dávila Génesis María Dávila Pérez (born November 18, 1990) is a Puerto Rican model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss World Puerto Rico 2014 and represented Puerto Rico at Miss World 2014 in London. She was crowned Miss Florida ...

(Venezuela), Abdifatah Hassan Ali (Somalia).

Defenders’ Days and Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award

Since 2013, Civil Rights Defenders has organised the human rights conference, "Defenders' Days", now held in Stockholm every two years. The conference's main aim is to develop human rights activists working within their own repressive countries. Civil Rights Defenders also annually awards the Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award to a human rights defender. According to Civil Rights Defenders, the award is given to someone who “despite the risk to his or her own safety, strives to ensure that people’s civil and political rights are recognised and protected. Their work is carried out without the use of violence and within an independent human rights organisation.”

Recipients

Previous Defender of the Year Award recipients are:

External links

CRD Website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Civil Rights Defenders 1982 establishments in Sweden Human rights organizations based in Sweden International human rights organizations Organizations based in Stockholm