General Information

From the United Nations

• UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders
• UN Fact Sheet - Human Rights Defenders: Protecting the Right to Defend Human Rights (available in all UN languages)
• UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
• UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mrs. Margaret Sekaggya
• UN Special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Mr. Christof Heyns  

Resources from Human Rights Organizations and Networks

• Amnesty International Report 2012: The State of the World's Human Rights
• ESCR-Net's OP-ICESCR: The Campaign JUSTICE NOW! RATIFY TO PROTECT ALL HUMAN RIGHTS seeks the prompt entry into force of the Optional Protocol and its effective implementation. The campaign is led by the International NGO Coalition for an OP-ICESCR (Coalition) and is coordinated by ESCR-Net.
• International Service for Human Rights' Defending Human Rights Defenders: The aim of this leaflet is to examine the rights contained in the UN Declaration and to learn how rights contained in internationally binding human rights instruments apply to defenders, to illustrate through cases how human rights defenders are targeted and how their rights are violated, and to inform defenders about the mechanisms currently available to protect their rights.
• The Advocates for Human Rights and U.S. Human Rights Network's A Practitioner's Guide to Human Rights Monitoring, Documentation, and Advocacy: The purpose of this manual is to provide step-by-step guidance for advocates who want to use human rights monitoring, documentation, and advocacy in their social justice work. From framing an issue in terms of internationally recognized human rights to submitting a detailed complaint to a human rights body, this manual outlines the process to enable anyone to do this work. 
• East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP)'s Defending Human Rights A Resource Book for Human Rights Defenders: The report explains how to fully utilize certain tools in a strategic way that can be challenging yet provide a strong potential strength for effective human rights defenders.