To sign-on: Letter to the UN ESCR Committee on human rights defenders

Dear colleagues,

ISHR, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Platform against Impunity are writing on behalf of an international coalition of NGOs to urge you to sign-on to a letter to the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights regarding human rights defenders.

The draft letter can be found here, and you can sign-on here.PLEASE NOTE - do now sign on using this link if you have already signed the letter.

Given the increasing threats and attacks against human rights defenders working on economic, social and cultural rights around the world, we are encouraging the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights to make a public statement condemning the situation and urging States to take action.

In the light of a recent UN Human Rights Council resolution on this issue, we believe it is important that the expert body dedicated to ESC rights speak out too, and add to the growing global pressure upon States to stop the trend of attacks.

The Committee has previously expressed concern for the situation through its reviews of certain States, but we now feel that the time has come for it to make a call on all States to tackle the issue and recognise that attacks against, and restrictions upon, ESC rights defenders may amount to a violation not only of the rights of the defenders themselves, but of the ESC rights for which they advocate.

Please click here to add your organisation’s FULL/OFFICIAL name to the letter. Deadline for sign-on is midday on Wednesday May 18.

Please note that organisation names, not individual names, will appear on the letter.

All the best,

Ben Leather International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)