State Secretary Vidar Helgesen

Human Rights Defenders Seminar, Oslo 25 - 27 May

Oslo, 26 May 2005

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Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to begin by welcoming all of you to Oslo.

According to a saying, people can be divided into three groups: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.

Human rights defenders belong in the first of these categories; they make things happen. Indeed, the idealism and persistence of such individuals and groups have changed the course of history many times. The fall of the Berlin Wall would not have happened as early as it did were it not for the dissidents and defenders of democratic values at the grassroots level in East Germany and elsewhere in the eastern part of Europe. Recent developments in Ukraine are a result of the same dynamic. Organisations and individuals who strongly believe in change may change our perception of the world. This ability yields considerable political power, which is precisely why human rights defenders are a vulnerable group. They deserve our protection and support. The purpose of us meeting here today is to see how this support can be made more effective.

In particular we will review the role of the UN and the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders, currently held by Ms Hina Jilani. Her mandate and her work have given visibility to the difficult situation of human rights defenders all over the world. 2005 marks the fifth year of this special procedure. In 2006 the mandate will be up for renewal. Now is an appropriate time to review the achievements thus far and identify future steps. What role can the various stakeholders play in protecting human rights defenders? How can we at different levels –local, national, regional and international – contribute to strengthening the work of the UN in this regard? And how can the UN itself improve its working methods?

Civil society and human rights defenders play a vital role in every democracy. Their role in the public debate cannot be overestimated. In order to build and sustain democracy it is necessary to secure every citizen’s right to freedom of expression and association. When human rights defenders are silenced, violations of human rights often go unnoticed, unopposed and unexposed. Securing these rights can, in some cases, involve a long-term investment in sustainable security, as the suppression of political opposition groups tends to lead to their exclusion and marginalisation, which in turn may generate violence.

Against this backdrop, the continuing high number of violations committed against persons engaged in protecting and promoting human rights is a matter of global concern. This year’s report from the Special Representative illustrates the harsh reality for those who have the courage to speak up. Human rights defenders are often the first to fall victim to government measures that undermine the rule of law. This is often an early warning of a worsening of the human rights situation. It is crucial that there are mechanisms that record these signs.

The increasing number of incidents where individuals or organisations are targeted by acts of repression because of their advocacy of human rights and democracy could be seen as evidence of the erosion of the respect for human rights in the world.

On the other hand, we might see the increasing international focus on human rights violations and repression against human rights defenders as a sign of greater awareness and involvement. We are witnessing a growing awareness of the importance of the promotion of international human rights and fundamental freedoms. This in turn leads to more attention given to human rights violations. Worldwide we are seeing more and more human rights defenders who speak up against abuses and call for respect for human rights standards. All this work and persistent idealism give reason for hope. It is our duty to support these groups and individuals.

In 1998, the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In adopting the declaration, states confirmed that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels.” Since then, Norway has been the main sponsor of the resolution on human rights defenders, both in the Commission on Human Rights and in the General Assembly. This year’s resolution was adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights one month ago, with more than 70 co-sponsors.

In 2000, a resolution that established a special mechanism on human rights defenders was adopted. This resulted in the appointment of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders, Ms Hina Jilani, in August 2000. Through her able work, she has managed to bring the situation and the particular problems of human rights defenders to the forefront of our attention.

My government has given priority to the cause of human rights defenders for many years. This autumn it will be seven years since the Declaration was adopted, and we consider it imperative to improve its implementation. We will contribute to renewing the mechanism of the Special Representative next year.

The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders is not in itself a legally binding instrument. The human rights standards that are violated in targeting human rights defenders are, however, usually standards that are legally binding. The problem is not a lack of standards or binding rules, but a lack of compliance.

What can we do to improve the situation of human rights defenders? Firstly, governments all over the world should develop and act on comprehensive policies to enhance their support and protection of human rights defenders. States are responsible for ensuring respect for human rights. States should support the Special Representative to give the mechanism the best possible working conditions, and issue standing invitations to visit their countries. They should assist the Special Representative in any way possible, furnishing all information for the fulfilment of her mandate upon request.

Secondly, it is crucial to make the human rights defenders visible. This should be a goal for governments, UN agencies, international and grassroots NGOs and regional mechanisms. In most cases, visibility means protection. Through dialogue, prison visits if needed, observation of trials, invitations to discussions in the UN and seminars like this one we can show them and the rest of the world that their work does not go unnoticed. The work of the Special Representative has been crucial to many defenders in this respect.

Thirdly, we should assist human rights defenders in communicating their message to their society and the rest of the world.

No government likes being criticised, but every government must tolerate criticism. Openness and dialogue with human rights groups are not signs of weakness in governments. On the contrary, they are signs of strength and dynamics that can lead to better promotion and protection of human rights.

The Norwegian Government will, for our part, start a review of activities carried out by Norwegian missions and embassies abroad to support human rights defenders. We will work to ensure security and sustainable working conditions for human rights defenders in line with the suggestions I just mentioned. In reviewing what we are doing to this end, we aim at arriving at more comprehensive and systematic approaches.

We will seek to establish partnerships with other governments and NGO’s in promoting such new approaches. Our efforts will be based on dialogue rather than confrontation, keeping in mind that human rights defenders can often be found within government institutions, and their work can best be supported through frank political dialogue and effective technical co-operation.

This leads me to my last point: It is important to increase co-operation and co-ordination among those engaged in the protection of human rights defenders. All of you are stakeholders who have different kinds of expertise on the work of human rights defenders on different levels, from the international and regional levels to the national and grassroots levels. We hope this seminar will result in better co-ordination between local and international NGOs, between the UN and the grassroots level, and between the mechanism of the Special Representative and actors at all the different levels.

In the words of Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success”. Here we are at the beginning of this seminar. I hope we can keep together in an atmosphere where you all feel free to speak openly and share your experience and in this way make progress in our common endeavour. Most of all, I hope we can work together on developing recommendations and points of action for continued co-operation to enhance the protection of human rights defenders and to support the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders.