What do we do in the European Union?
Protection of human rights defenders
We promote respect and protection for the work of human rights defenders by creating appropriate spaces for them and civil society.
We advocate with European Union institutions, urging Latin American and Caribbean governments to guarantee a safe and favorable environment for their work, putting an end to impunity for violations committed against them. We advocate for laws and policies that protect defenders and promote their work.
We seek to strengthen the voice of human rights defenders and promote respect for their fundamental rights, as their commitment is essential to building a fairer and more equitable world.
Denouncing human rights violations
Our work focuses on the visibility and denunciation of human rights violations perpetrated in the Latin American and European Union regions. We firmly believe that the protection of fundamental rights knows no borders, and that it is necessary to develop bi-regional cooperation between all actors to promote and act in favor of these universal values.
Our advocacy mission consists of raising awareness and mobilizing the United Nations and European institutions, providing them with in-depth, documented information on cases of human rights violations in Latin America.
We work actively with our network member organizations, partners, human rights activists and journalists to highlight fundamental rights abuses, including violations of freedoms of expression, association and assembly, cases of violence against human rights defenders, systemic discrimination and abuses committed by security forces.
Raising awareness about political situations
RIDHE organises political events, debates, round tables and socio-cultural events in collaboration with its partners and European institutions, including decision-makers from the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European External Action Service. These events enable us to alert civil society and political decision-makers to the seriousness of situations where impunity persists in some Latin American countries. In addition, we support the films that denounce human rights abuses and violence in Latin America by organizing events that help raise the visibility and distribution of the films.
Capacity-building for civil society
We act as a link between CSOs and human rights defenders, and organize meetings with our members to analyze their demands, set up diagnostics and devise advocacy strategies aimed at state, European and UN institutions.
We offer workshops to help draft complaints, petitions and third-party interventions (Amicus Curiae), and we run public communication campaigns to alert civil society and the press.
These strategies focus on intersectional issues, such as the combination of various forms of oppression, individual discrimination or human rights violations, which, by their very nature, create major challenges and risks. The aim of developing our recommendations in line with local realities is to support an appropriate institutional response in favor of effective solutions to situations of humanitarian crisis, conflict and abuse by states or non-state groups.
Building strong partnerships
We work with the United Nations and European Institutions to act together on human rights violations in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Since 2014, our Geneva office has had ECOSOC consultative status with the United Nations, enabling us to play a participant role in the public meetings of ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies concerning human rights. We are also part of platforms such as the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Treaty Alliance Movement and the Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power.
