International Fact-Finding Mission Report: A Detrimental Environment to the Work of Human Rights Defenders

Publication of the report of an international fact-finding mission

Geneva-Paris, November 10, 2008. In the run-up to the November 16 legislative elections in Guinea-Bissau, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), publishes today a mission report entitled Guinea-Bissau: A Detrimental Environment to the Work of Human Rights Defenders.

This report is the result of an international fact-finding mission, which was carried out by the Observatory in Guinea-Bissau from January 7 to 17, 2008, where the mission members met with the civil society as well as Bissau-Guinean authorities. The Observatory notes that even though the working environment of human rights defenders has noticeably improved in the country since the fall of the Kumba Yalá’s regime in 2003, violations of their rights remain persistent, especially in the pre-electoral context.

This report shows how the environment in which human rights defenders operate might be detrimental to their activities and, in particular, how the existing legal framework governing their work (i.e. rights to freedom of expression, freedom of opinion and freedom of assembly) is in many instances contradictory to the rights provided in the international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Guinea-Bissau or can be interpreted restrictively to limit the action of human rights defenders. National authorities often resort to these legal tools to undermine the work of human rights defenders, especially when the latter denounce human rights violations committed by State officials. In this context, repression of peaceful gatherings, obstacles to the work of trade-unions as well as continuous acts of harassment against human rights defenders are some of the impediments to the development of their activities. This is of particular concern as no independent remedies seem to exist to challenge such acts. In addition, as Guinea-Bissau is a major transit point for cocaine between Latin America, in particular from Brazil, and Europe, a number of civil society organisations and journalists have been facing pressure and intimidation for exercising their freedom of expression on that issue.

The Observatory, considering notably the particular context of the next legislative elections, urges the authorities of Guinea-Bissau to fully respect the rights of human rights defenders in the country, to guarantee in all circumstances their physical and psychological integrity, to put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against them, and to create an enabling environment for the development of their activities, in line with the recommendations outlined in the report. The Observatory also calls upon the national authorities to conform in all circumstances with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, especially its Articles 1 and 12.2, and, more generally, to ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Guinea-Bissau.

The report is available in English on the websites of OMCT and FIDH

For further information, please contact:

• FIDH: Karine Appy / Gael Grilhot, + 33 1 43 55 25 18
• OMCT: Delphine Reculeau, + 41 22 809 52 42