Protecting victims, human rights defenders and 10.professionals, including lawyers and journalists.

 

This panel examined challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations for protecting at-risk individuals, including human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists who are targeted for their work. It also addressed the threats faced by families of the disappeared and those who support them. Panelists, including victims of enforced disappearance, human rights defenders, lawyers, a journalist, and support organizations from various regions, shared powerful testimonies and experiences. Their contributions exposed the significant obstacles to both physical and legal protection for victims and those assisting them, while also offering key lessons and recommendations for improving protection efforts.

Key lessons and recommendations for improving protection effort : 

• Deteriorating security contexts and methods of repression Against a backdrop of rising conflicts and shrinking civic space, the presentations highlighted the deteriorating security contexts in which enforced disappearances are perpetrated and people targeted, including human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists. Panelists shared firsthand accounts of methods of repressions they had faced, such as judicial harassment with the criminal prosecution of human rights defenders and lawyers, and extrajudicial repression, including physical attacks, threats and intimidation. 

• Structural challenges At the structural level, challenges primarily stem from systemic impunity, which is largely due to weak legal and institutional frameworks, the absence of comprehensive legislation—particularly regarding the criminalization of enforced disappearance—barriers to accessing truth and justice, and insufficient resources to support victims and individuals at risk. Addressing impunity and fostering accountability and justice should be universal priorities as they are essential for effective prevention and protection measures. A notable positive example is Colombia’s 2024 Law on the Protection of the Rights of Women Searchers, the first legislation of its kind globally. This law provides comprehensive recognition of the work and rights of women engaged in the search for their disappeared loved ones.

 • Holistic approach to protection:Victims of enforced disappearances explained how their families, colleagues and community had been affected by their enforced disappearance, the long-term impact it had had on themselves, on their close ones and on their rights: physical and psychological consequences of the disappearance and torture, denial of access to a lawyer and to information, violation of economic and social rights. Moreover, post-disappearance support and protection are crucial, including in exile to prevent transnational repression.. • The power of public information and collective mobilization Shared experiences show that public information and collective mobilization save lives. The decisive intervention of the diplomatic community, international governmental and non-governmental organizations (the European Union, OHCHR, international NGOs such as Amnesty International, FIDH or Reporters Without Border) has been instrumental in victims reappearing, securing releases and supporting families.

 

Recommendations for action 

• Addressing systemic issues: Strengthening legal frameworks at the national, regional and international level is key to the protection of the disappeared, their families, legal representatives, human rights defenders and journalists. This includes: - Strengthening and supporting accountability mechanisms and those that assist the disappeared and their families at the national, regional and international level, including the relevant United Nations mechanisms, and strengthening the protection of individuals who face reprisals for engaging with those mechanisms - Providing technical advice to governments on the ratification and implementation of the International Convention - Providing training to human rights defenders, lawyers and relevant officials on how to address enforced disappearance cases at the national and international level. 

• Providing holistic support: To provide adequate answers to the many challenges identified, the contributions highlighted the need to adopt a holistic approach that: - Encompasses the disappeared but also their close ones - Includes physical and legal protection - Extends to the post-disappearance period, for example with the creation of an emergency fund for the rehabilitation of victims - Extends beyond borders in exile. In that regard, relocation possibilities and emergency visas should be granted, but also long-term residence permits to resume professional activity. 

• Strengthening networks and mobilization: Victims and human rights defenders’ networks and alliances should be encouraged and supported, including politically and financially. The mobilization of the diplomatic community and media should also continue and expand to draw attention to specific cases and secure victims’ protection.