Civil Rights Defenders works on four continents
defending people’s civil and political rights. We strive to empower
human rights defenders who work in some of the most repressive
regions in the world by collaborating with local partners to
achieve long-term results aimed at strength ning civil society.
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We also work in Sweden, where Civil Rights Defenders was
established. By acknowledging and taking responsibility for the
protection of human rights at home, we gain credibility among
our international partners and reinforce our commitment to
fighting human rights abuses abroad. We now take you on a
tour of the regions we work in; some for decades such as Eastern
Europe and the Western Balkans and those where we have
recently established a presence such as Southeast Asia, East
Africa and Sweden. We are also in the process of establishing
our presence in Latin America with an initial focus on Cuba
and Venezuela.
Southeast Asia
While Myanmar has made some inroads in addressing human rights, including releasing political pri
soners, the reform process is at a very delicate stage
and the human rights situation remains volatile.
The military continues to wield their might, while
violence against Muslim minority groups, in particular the Rohingya, has led to the displacement of
up to 180 000 people.
Major challenges revolve around the right to freedom of expression, especially so in Vietnam, which
has seen a continued upsurge in the persecution and
jailing of bloggers to curtail the use of social media
and the Internet. Cambodia has seen an explosion
in grass roots activism against the government emanating from alleged election fraud, land grabs and
imprisonment of peaceful protestors.
There is a significant opportunity for the budding
civil society in Myanmar to take on the crucial role
of monitoring the human rights situation, holding
duty bearers to account and seeking to protect marginalised groups.
Civil Rights Defenders believes that empowering
activists who are taking this opportunity is a way of
strengthening their role as a catalyst for long-term
democratic change. There is an acute democracy
deficit in Vietnam. A constitutional reform process
in 2013 ended in a near status quo, with the Communist government affirming its political power
monopoly. In Cambodia, one of the world’s longest
serving government leaders retains his grip on power
amid mass protests, violence and a clampdown on
freedom of expression. These are the themes that
drive our work in the three countries.
The work we do in Southeast Asia.
Working directly with local human rights defenders in groups, networks and organisations,
we strive to monitor the human rights landscape
and ensure relevant support to key defenders. In
Cambodia and Myanmar, our work has concentrated on capacity building efforts. Civil Rights
Defenders provided considerable support to International Human Rights Day in Cambodia, and was
part of the second ever pride parade in Vietnam,
Viet Pride 2013. We have also trained dozens of
human rights defenders in digital and operational
security, which is crucial in the environment
where they work. Burmese human rights lawyers
received training abroad and had the opportunity
to network with lawyers from other former conflict
zones to learn about their experiences regarding
legal aid, advocacy and tackling impunity.
Highlights of 2013.
Even in the repressive political and human rights
landscape that is Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam there were some stand out moments for human
rights activism. Some of the highlights for Civil
Rights Defenders were:
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Vietnam: Under the banner of “Strive with
pride”, the second Pride festival ever to take place in
Vietnam was successfully held in Hanoi in August
by our partner Viet Pride.
Burma: Burmese human rights lawyers were inspired in Serbia. Civil Rights Defenders organised
a two-week study tour to Serbia for ten activist lawyers, to meet with our partner organisations that
work in the field of legal aid and bring their experiences back to Burma.
Cambodia: Civil Rights Defenders supported
International Human Rights Day in Cambodia
through LICADHO and the network Friends of
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