Press Release
Published on June 30, 2011
Washington, D.C.—Secretary Clinton’s speech at last year’s Communities of Democracy ministerial in Krakow was a compelling call to arms for the promotion of civil society worldwide. This Thursday at the ministerial in Vilnius, Secretary Clinton has the opportunity to start institutionalizing the United States’ commitment to human rights defenders. She should announce public guidelines for engagement between U.S. embassies and human rights defenders. Public guidelines are concrete evidence of the U.S. government’s dedication to the protection and promotion of human rights defenders’ work. “While many U.S. missions are doing excellent work by meeting with human rights defenders and raising concerns with host governments about their treatment, the level and consistency of this work varies not just from embassy to embassy—but also from foreign service officer to foreign service officer,” said Human Rights First’s Quinn O’Keefe. “Yet, asserting that it is U.S. government policy to engage with human rights defenders across the globe is now more important than ever. As the U.S. seeks to deepen ties to civil society in countries like Egypt and Bahrain, some are questioning whether the U.S. had the human rights defenders’ interests in mind before their popular uprisings.” Human rights defenders guidelines are not a new concept. The E.U. and Norway have human rights defenders guidelines in place that operationalize and coordinate how their missions should meet with, advocate on behalf of, and protect human rights defenders. “Internal policies are not enough,” said O’Keefe. “Human rights defenders often place their lives and livelihoods on the line to advance the rights and freedoms enumerated in the U.N. Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Knowing that they can expect a certain amount of support and engagement from the U.S. government would only encourage them further in their work.” A public description of how the U.S. government could institutionalize these practices should include:
The U.S. government should also make public a list of duties that U.S. embassies, consulates, and other U.S. government representatives are expected to conduct to further protect and promote human rights defenders. These should include:
