Fidh Report 2012 English

human rights organisations on 5 continents
FIDH represents 164
FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights

17, passage de la Main-dOr - 75011 Paris - France CCP Paris: 76 76 Z Tel: (33-1) 43 55 25 18 / Fax: (33-1) 43 55 18 80 www.fidh.org
Annual Report 2012
Annual Report 2012
Cover: Timbuktu (Mali) - Armed islamists on the small market of the city in November 2012. Copyright: DR.
04 06 07 08 10 17 21 25 34 40
Our Fundamentals 164 Member Organisations International Board International Secretariat Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3 Priority 4 Priority 5 Priority 6 Supporting human rights defenders Promoting and protect womens rights Promoting and protecting migrant rights Promoting the administration of justice and the fight against impunity Strengthening respect for human rights in the context of globalisation Conflicts, closed countries and countries in transition > North Africa and Middle East > Sub-Saharan Africa > The Americas > Asia > Eastern Europe and Central Asia
40 46 53 57 62 66 77
Organisational Challenges Financial Report 2012
78 Acknowledgements
Our Fundamentals
Our mandate: Protect all rights
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) is an international NGO. It defends all human rights - civil, political, economic, social and cultural - as contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. FIDH is a recognised NGO. FIDH's independence, expertise and objectivity are the hallmarks of its credibility. It maintains this by acting with complete transparency.
Interaction: Local presence - global action

As a federal movement, FIDH operates on the basis of interaction with its member organisations. It ensures that FIDH merges on-the-ground experience and knowledge with expertise in international law, mechanisms of protection and intergovernmental bodies. This unique combination translates through joint actions between FIDH and its member organisations at national, regional and international levels to remedy human rights violations and consolidate processes of democratisation. It makes FIDH highly representational and legitimate.
Our commitment: Three pillars of action

FIDH acts in conjunction with its member and partner organisations. Its actions are founded on three strategic pillars: securing the freedom and capacity to act for human rights defenders, the universality of rights and their effectiveness.
Guilding principle: The accountability of all

FIDH's work is directed at states as principle human rights guarantors. However, it also addresses non State actors such as armed groups and multinational corporations. FIDH is committed to holding individual perpetrators of international crimes to account through the international criminal justice system.
A system of governance: Universality and transparency

FIDH's structure and operations place its member organisations in the heart of the decision making process, and reflect its principles of governance.
Ethics: Independence and objectivity

FIDH is a nonpartisan, non sectarian, apolitical and not for profit organisation. Its secretariat is headquarted in France, where
Chinese military patrol in the streets of Lhasa, Tibet, August 2011 Credit : Louis Tinet
4 F I D H A n n u a l R e port 2 0 1 2
A Universal and Federalist movement

FIDHs organisation and mode of operation reflect the governance principles: everything is based on the 164 member organisations. - Deals with the day-to-day running of the organisation and prepares the meetings of the International Board; - Meets once a month and reports to the International Board.
The Congress
- Is composed of the 164 member organisations; - Meets every three years; - Discusses the FIDH thematic and geographical priorities and lays down the broad strategic orientations.
The International Secretariat

- Based in Paris, it is composed of a team of professionals under a Chief Executive Officer, a non-voting member of the International and the Executive Boards. The team is structured in by regions and action priorities; The International Secretariat has permanent delegations at the United Nations in New York and Geneva, at the European Union in Brussels, before the International Criminal Court in Hague; regional offices in Cairo, Nairobi and Bangkok; national offices in Tunis and Conakry. It is dispatched between the headquarters, permanent delegations before IGOs and regional offices. It also comprises a Communication and Development department, and an Administrative and Financial support department. - Is in permanent contact with the actors in the field, and implements the decisions of the FIDH policy-making bodies in conjunction with the member organisations, the chargs de mission and members of the International and Executive Boards.
The International Board

- Comprises 22 members (volunteers) from the member organisations. The Board is elected by the Congress and consists of the President, the Treasurer, 15 Vice-Presidents and 5 Secretary General; - Outlines the strategic orientations according to the goals set by the Congress and approves the annual accounts; - Meets three times a year and reports to the Congress.
The Executive Board

- Is composed of the President, the Treasurer, 5 Secretaries General and 5 Deputy Secretary General;
Demonstration of the FIDH International Board before the Belarus embassy in Paris to ask for the liberation of Ales Bialiatski. Copyright: Dominique Falliez
F I DH A n n u a l R e port 2 0 1 2 5
164 member organisations

Afghanistan, Armanshahr/Open Asia / Albania, Albanian human rights group (Ahrg) / Algeria, Collectif des familles de disparu(e)s en Algrie (Cfda) / Algeria, Ligue Algrienne de dfense des droits de lhomme (Laddh) / Argentina, Liga Argentina Por Los Derechos Del Hombre (Ladh) / Argentina, Comit De Accin Jurdica (Caj) / Argentina, Centro De Estudios Legales Y Sociales (Cels) / Armenia, Civil Society Institute (Csi) / Austria, Osterreichische Liga Fur Menschenrechte (Olfm) / Azerbaijan, Human Rights Center Of Azerbaijan (Hrca) / Bahrain, Bahrain Human Rights Society (Bhrs) / Bahrain, Bahrain CentER For Human Rights (Bchr) / Bangladesh, Odhikar / Belarus, Human Rights Center Viasna / Belgium, Liga Voor Menschenrechten (Lvm) / Belgium, Ligue Des Droits De Lhomme - Belgique / Benin, Ligue Pour La Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme Au Bnin (Lddhb) / Bolivia, Asamblea Permanente De Derechos Humanos De Bolivia (Apdhb) / Botswana, The Botswana Centre For Human Rights Ditshwanelo / Brazil, Movimento Nacional De Direitos Humanos (Mndh) / Brazil, Justia Global (Cjg) / Burkina Faso, Mouvement Burkinab Des Droits De Lhomme Et Des Peuples (Mbdhp) / BURMA, Altsean Burma / Burundi, Ligue Burundaise Des Droits De Lhomme (Iteka) / Cambodia, Cambodian Human Rights And Development Association (Adhoc) / Cambodia, Ligue Cambodgienne De Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme (Licadho) / Cameroon, Maison Des Droits De Lhomme (Mdh) / Canada, Ligue Des Droits Et Des Liberts Du Qubec (Ldl) / central African republic, Ligue CentrafricAIne Des Droits De Lhomme (Lcdh) / central African republic, Organisation Pour La Compassion Des Familles En Dtresse (Ocodefad) / Chad, Ligue Tchadienne Des Droits De Lhomme (Ltdh) / Chad, Association Tchadienne Pour La Promotion Et La Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme (Atpdh) / Chile, Observatorio Cuidadano / Chile, Corporacion De Promocion Y Defensa De Los Derechos Del Pueblo (Codepu) / China, Human Rights In China / Colombia, Corporacion Colectivo De Abogados Jos Alvear Restrepo Ccajar / Colombia, Instituto Latinoamericano De Servicios Legales Alternativos (Ilsa) / Colombia, Organizacin Femenina Popular (Ofp) / Colombia, Comite Permanente Por La Defensa De Los Derechos Humanos (Cpdh) / Congo, Observatoire Congolais Des Droits De Lhomme (Ocdh) / Costa Rica, Asociacin De Servicios De Promocin Laboral (Aseprola) / Cte Divoire, Mouvement Ivoirien Des Droits Humains (Midh) / Cte Divoire, Ligue Ivoirienne Des Droits De Lhomme (Lidho) / Croatia, Civic Committee For Human Rights (Cchr) / Cuba, Comision Cubana De Derechos Humanos Y Reconciliacion National (Ccdhn) / Czech Republic, Human Rights League (Hrl) - Liga Lidskych Prav / Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ligue Des lecteurs (Le) / Democratic Republic of the Congo, Groupe Lotus / Democratic Republic of the Congo, Association Africaine Des Droits De Lhomme (Asadho) / Djibouti, Ligue Djiboutienne Des Droits Humains (Lddh) / Dominican Republic, Cnd Comisin Nacional De Los Derechos Humanos, Inc / Ecuador, Fundacin Regional De Asesoria En Derechos Humanos (Inredh) / Ecuador, Centro De Derechos Economicos Y Sociales (Cdes) / Ecuador, Comisin Ecumnica De Derechos Humanos (Cedhu) / Egypt, Cairo Institute For Human Rights Studies (Cihrs) / Egypt, Human Rights Association For The Assistance Of Prisoners (Hraap) / Egypt, Egyptian Organization For Human Rights (Eohr) / El Salvador, Comision De Derechos Humanos Del Salvador (Cdhes) / Ethiopia, Human Rights Council (Hrco) / Europe, Association Europenne Pour La Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme (Aedh) / Finland, Finnish League For Human Rights (Flhr) - Ihmisoikeusliitto / France, Ligue Des Droits De Lhomme Et Du Citoyen (Ldh) / French Polynesia, Ligue Polynsienne Des Droits Humains (Lpdh) / Georgia, Human Rights Center (Hridc) / GERMANY, Internationale Liga Fur Menschenrechte (Ilmr) / Great-Britain, Liberty / Greece, Hellenic League For Human Rights (Hlhr) / Guatemala, Comision De Derechos Humanos De Guatemala (Cdhg) / Guatemala, Centro De Accin Legal En Derechos Humanos (Caldh) / Guinea-Bissau, Liga Guineense Dos Direitos Humanos (Lgdh) / Guinea-Conakry, Organisation Guinenne De Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme Et Du Citoyen (Ogdh) / Haiti, Comite Des Avocats Pour Le Respect Des Liberts Individuelles (Carli) / Haiti, Centre Oecumenique Des Droits Humains (Cedh) / Haiti, Rseau National De Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme (Rnddh)/ Honduras, Centro De Investigacin Y Promocin De Los Derechos Humanos (Ciprodeh) / India, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (Chri) / Iran, Defenders Of Human Rights Center In Iran (Dhrc) / Iran, Ligue Pour La Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme En Iran (Lddhi)/ Iraq, Iraqi Network For Human Rights Culture And Development (Inhrcd) / Ireland, Free Legal Advice Centres Limited (Flac) / Ireland, Irish Council For Civil Liberties (Iccl) / Israel, Btselem / Israel, Association For Civil Rights In Israel (Acri) / Israel, Public Committee Against Torture In Israel (Pcati) / Israel, Adalah / Italy, Lega Italiana Dei Diritti Delluomo (Lidu) / Italy, Unione Forense Per La Tutela Dei Diritti Delluomo (Uftdu) / Japan, Center For Prisoners Rights (Cpr) / Jordan, Amman Center For Human Rights Studies (Achrs) / Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission (Khrc) / Kosovo, Council For The Defense Of Human Rights And Freedoms (Cdhrf) / Kyrgyzstan, Hrc Citizens Against Corruption (Cac) / Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz Committee For Human Rights (Kchr) / Kyrgyzstan, Legal Clinic Adilet / Kyrgyzstan, Kylym Shamy / Laos, Mouvement Lao Pour Les Droits De Lhomme (Mldh) / Latvia, Latvian Human Rights Committee (Lhrc) / Lebanon, Association Libanaise Des Droits De Lhomme (Aldhom) / Lebanon, Palestinian Human Rights Organization (Phro) / Liberia, Regional Watch For Human Rights (Lwhr) / Libya, Libyan League For Human Rights (Llh) / Lithuania, Lithuanian Human Rights Association (Lhra) / Malaysia, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) / Mali, Association Malienne Des Droits De Lhomme (Amdh) / Malta, Malta Association Of Human Rights/ Fondation De Malte / Mauritania, Association Mauritanienne Des Droits De Lhomme (Amdh) / Mexico, Liga Mexicana Por La Defensa De Los Derechos Humanos (Limeddh) / Mexico, Comision Mexicana De Defensa Y Promocion De Los Derechos Humanos (Cmdpdh) / Moldova, League For Defence Of Human Rights Of Moldova (Ladom) / Morocco, Organisation Marocaine Des Droits De Lhomme (Omdh) / Morocco, Association Marocaine Des Droits Humains (Amdh) / Mozambique, Liga Mocanbicana Dos Direitos Humanos (Lmddh) / New Caledonia, Ligue Des Droits Et Du Citoyen De Nouvelle Caldonie (Ldhnc) / Nicaragua, Centro Nicaraguense De Derechos Humanos (Cenidh) / Niger, Association Nigerienne Pour La Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme (Anddh) / Nigeria, Civil Liberties Organisation (Clo) / northern Ireland, Committee On The Administration Of Justice (Caj) / Pakistan, Human Rights Commission Of Pakistan (Hrcp) / Palestine, Palestinian Centre For Human Rights (Pchr) / Palestine, Al Haq/ Palestine, Ramallah Centre For Human Rights Studies (Rchrs) / Panama, Centro De Capacitacin Social De Panam (Ccs) / Peru, Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos (Aprodeh) / Peru, Centro De Derechos Y Desarrollo (Cedal) / Philippines, Philippine Alliance Of Human Rights Advocates (Pahra) / Portugal, Civitas / Romania, The League For The Defense Of Human Rights (Lado) / Russia, AntiDiscrimination Center Memorial (Adc Memorial) / Russia, Citizens Watch (Cw) / Russia, Russian Research Center For Human Rights (Rrchr) / Rwanda, Collectif Des Ligues Pour La Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme (Cladho) / Rwanda, Association Rwandaise Pour La Dfense Des Droits De La Personne Et Des Liberts Publiques (Adl) / Rwanda, Ligue Rwandaise Pour La Promotion Et La Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme (Liprodhor) / Senegal, Organisation Nationale Des Droits De Lhomme (Ondh) / Senegal, Rencontre Africaine Pour La Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme (Raddho) / Serbia, Center For Peace And Democracy Development (Cpdd) / Spain, Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos De Espana (Apdhe) / Spain, Federacion De Asociaciones De Defensa Y Promocion De Los Derecho (Fddhh) Sudan, Sudan Human Rights Monitor (Suhrm) / Sudan, African Center For Justice And Peace Studies (Acjps) / Switzerland, Ligue Suisse Des Droits De Lhomme (Lsdh) / Syria, Damascus Center For Human Rights Studies (Dchrs) / Syria, Committees For The Defense Of Democracy Freedoms And Human Rights (Cdf) / Taiwan, Taiwan Association For Human Rights (Tahr) / Tanzania, The Legal And Human Rights Centre (Lhrc) / Thailand, Union For Civil Liberties (Ucl) / The Netherlands, Liga Voor De Rechten Van De Mens (Lvrm) / Tibet, International Campaign For Tibet (Ict) / Togo, Ligue Togolaise Des Droits De Lhomme (Ltdh) / Tunisia, Ligue Tunisienne Des Droits De Lhomme (Ltdh) / Tunisia, Association Tunisienne Des Femmes Dmocrates (Atfd) / Tunisia, Conseil National Pour Les Liberts En Tunisie (Cnlt)/ Turkey, Insan Haklari Dernegi (Ihd) / Diyabakir / Turkey, Human Rights Foundation Of Turkey (Hrft) - Trkiye Insan Haklari Vakfi / Turkey, Insan Haklari Dernegi (Ihd) / Ankara / Uganda, Foundation For Human Rights Initiative (Fhri) / UNITED States of America, Center For Constitutional Rights (Ccr) / United states of America, Center For Justice & Accountability (Cja) / Uzbekistan, Human Rights Society Of Uzbekistan (Hrsu) / Uzbekistan, Legal Aid Society (Las) / Vietnam, Comit Vietnam Pour La Dfense Des Droits De Lhomme (Cvddh) / Yemen, Human Rights Information And Training Center (Hritc) / Yemen, Sisters Arab Forum For Human Rights (Saf)/ Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (Zimrights).
International Board
PRESIDENT TREASURER
Souhayr Belhassen Tunisia Jean-Franois Plantin France
VICE-PRESIDENTS
Yusuf Alatas Turkey
Aliaksandr BialiatskI Belarus
Amina Bouayach Morocco
Juan Carlos Capurro Argentina
Katherine Gallagher United States of America
Soraya Gutierez Arguello Colombia
Asma Jilani Jahangir Pakistan
Dismas Kitenge Senga Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kristiina Kouros Finland
Karim LAHIDJI Iran
Fatimata Mbaye Mauritania
Raji Sourani Palestine
Arnold Tsunga Zimbabwe
Dan Van Raemdonck Belgium
Paulina Vega Gonzalez Mexico
SECRETARIES GENERAL
Roger Bouka Owoko Congo
Khadija Cherif Tunisia
Luis Guillermo Perez Colombia
Artak Kirakosyan Armenia
Paul Nsapu Mukulu Democratic Republic of the Congo
HONORARY PRESIDENTS
Sidiki Kaba Senegal Patrick BaudoUin France Daniel Jacoby France Michel Blum France
DEPUTY SECRETARIES GENERAL

Florence Bellivier France Sophie Bessis Tunisia Nabeel Rajab Bahrain Amandine Regamey France Debbie Stothard Malaysia
PERMANENT DELEGATES
Hafez Abu Seada before the League of Arab States (LAS) Nabeel Rajab before the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Dobian Assingar before the Economic Community of African States (CEMAC) Debbie Stothard before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Michael Ellman before the Commonwealth
Mabassa Fall before the African Union (AU)
Vilma Nuez de Escorcia before the Organization of American States (OAS)
International Secretariat
december, 31st 2012
Antoine BERNARD Chief Executive Officer
Juliane FALLOUX Executive Director
Corinne BEZIN Director Finance and Administration Antoine MADELIN Director of IGO Activities, based in Brussels
Administration, Finances and Human Resources

Gaelle DUSEPULCHRE Representative to the European Union, in Brussels
MOBILISATION OF INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

Jean-Marie ROGUE Delegate to the European Union, in Brussels Glenn PAYOT Delegate to the United Nations, in Geneva Julie GROMELLON Representative to the United Nations, in Geneva Michelle KISSENKOETTER Adovcacy Consultant to the United Nations in New York Catherine ABSALOM Assistant, delegation to the European Union, in Brussels
Kate COLES Head of Fundraising
Nathalie LASSLOP Fundraising Officer
Sergue FUNT Financial Controller
Samia MERAH Finance Officer Tony MINET Assistant Accountant
Marie-France BURQ Human Resources Manager
Charline Fralin Assistant CEO and Executive Director
Isabelle BRACHET Director of Operations Isabelle CHEBAT Director of Communication and Development
Marceau SIVIEUDE Deputy Director of Operations and Director of Africa Desk, based in Brussels
RESEARCH AND OPERATIONS Communication and Development

Nicolas BARRETO DIAZ Head of Information Systems Webmaste
David KNAUTE Head of Asia Desk
Shiwei YE Permanent Representative ASEAN, in Bangkok
Florent GEEL Head of Africa Desk Hassatou BA Assistant, Africa Desk Arthur MANET Press Officer
Tchrina JEROLON Programme Officer and Advocacy Coordinator of the Advocacy to the UA, based in Nairobi
Antonin RABECQ Coordinator of the Guinea project, based in Conakry
Audrey COUPRIE Assistant Press Office
Jimena REYES Head of Americas Desk based in Brussels
Claire COLARDELLE Programme Officer Americas Desk
Cline BALLEREAU TETU Head of Publications
Christophe GARDAIS Publication Officer
Alexandra KOULAEVA Head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk
Vanessa RIZK (La SAMAIN-RAIMBAULT en interim) Programme Officer Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk Salma EL HOSEINY, Consultant, based in Cairo Amina EL MAHDHI Assistante bureau Moyen Orient et Afrique du Nord, base Tunis
Lidya OGBAZGHI Executive Assistant - Secretary
Stphanie DAVID Head of Middle East North Africa Desk, based in Cairo
Marie CAMBERLIN Head of Middle East North Africa Desk
Elin WRZONCKI Head of Globalisation and Human Rights Desk
Genevive PAUL (Pia NAVAZO en interim) Programme Officer Globalisation and Human Rights Desk
Katherine BOOTH Head of Womens Rights and Migrants Rights Desk
Karine BONNEAU Head of International Justice Desk
Delphine CARLENS Deputy Head of International Justice Desk
Montserrat CARBONI Representative to the international criminal court, based in the Hague
Alexandra POMEON Head of Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Hugo GABBERO Programme Officer Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Pages 7,8,9 : Daniel Michau
Priority 1
Supporting human rights defenders

Context and challenges
Contrary to the hopes it inspired, the Arab Spring did not put an end to attacks against human rights defenders; rather, as highlighted by the repression in Algeria, Bahrain, Syria and the United Arab Emirates, it has had the opposite effect. This repressive response has even spread to Eastern Europe, where the specter of the Arab revolutions has led some authorities to clamp down on civil society (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia). In Asia, Africa and the Americas, defenders continue to be the targets of assassination, threats to their physical and psychological integrity, arrests and judicial harassment. In an increasing number of countries existing or proposed legislation on NGOs contains provisions restricting access to funding, particularly from abroad (Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Russia). At the same time, the issue of funding has been used to discredit NGOs in the eyes of public opinion and donors (Azerbaijan, Colombia, Egypt, Russia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Venezuela). Yet access to funding is enshrined as part of the right to freedom of association for this reason, FIDH, in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, decided to devote its first thematic annual report, published at the beginning of 2013, to this issue. In several countries human rights defenders are portrayed by those in power as criminals, and treated accordingly. In 2012 a large number of defenders were in prison, despite intense mobilisation on their behalf by FIDH and other organisations and institutions. FIDH itself has been struck at its core by the imprisonment of its Vice-President, Als Bialiatski (Belarus), and its Deputy General Secretary, Nabeel Rajab (Bahrain). The Federation has also endured the prolonged detention of members and staff of its member organisations in Iran, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Turkey. Repression against those defending rights to land and to a healthy environment was also concerning over the past year. As the number of conflicts over land rights and natural resources increases, more and more defenders, peasant or indigenous community leaders, journalists and NGO activists mobilised on these issues fall victim to particularly serious acts of violence or criminalisation campaigns, notably in Latin America (Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru) and Asia (Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines).
FOCUS
FIDH carries out its activities on the protection of human rights defenders through the "Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders", its joint programme with the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) established in 1997.
FIDH in action
> Protecting defenders in danger and victims of repression

Fact-finding and daily alerts Denouncing violations of defenders rights whilst questioning authorities and mobilising decision-makers is often enough to stop such violations and prevent their repetition. Reliable information (that has been checked and cross-checked) from its member organisations and the OMCT network, has allowed FIDH to issue 336 urgent interventions, including urgent appeals, press releases and open or closed letters to the authorities. These interventions have concerned the situations of 500 defenders and their families in 52 countries. FIDH has continued its strategy of prioritising to its public communications in order to highlight symbolic cases and countries where violations of defenders rights are the most systematic and/or serious. This approach has made it possible to increase follow-up on cases (around 40%), particularly by raising them specifically with the national authorities concerned, with regional and international mechanisms for the protection of defenders rights, and with the press. In 2012 FIDH carried out or co-organised three international fact-finding or advocacy missions to Bangladesh, Egypt and the Philippines. These missions concerned cases where defenders activities had been criminalised, and raised the issue of the violation of international obligations with the authorities concerned. Last year also saw the publication of five international factfinding mission reports on Egypt, Turkey, Zimbabwe, Burundi and Colombia. These target countries had been identified in FIDHs pluri-annual strategic plan and the reports described indi-
vidual cases, making precise recommendations to States and other actors concerned to secure the cessation of violations. Assistance following threats and attacks on physical and psychological integrity In particularly serious cases involving threats to and attacks on physical and psychological integrity, in addition to alerting third parties, FIDH has provided material assistance to 80 defenders and/ or members of their families, as well as to 5 human rights NGOs in 10 countries. In doing so it has helped to meet defenders needs in terms of prevention (making offices and homes safe, communication costs), protection (temporary or permanent relocation), legal costs and medical expenses. Responding to judicial harassment Responding to the abusive instigation of judicial proceedings that seek to hinder or criminalise the activities of defenders, 2012 saw FIDH undertake 13 missions to 7 countries concerning 9 cases involving 56 defenders. These included in particular judicial observation of trials in order to denounce possible non-compliance of the proceedings against defenders with national or international standards (Spain, Cambodia, Turkey, Cyprus, Bahrain, Thailand). FIDH also gave judicial support to defenders facing arbituary prosecution (Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Syria, Thailand) and published a judicial observation mission report on the harassment targeted at the Memorial Human Rights Centre (Russia).
lisation in cases of harassment of Turkish defenders since the launch in 2009 of a judicial offensive against dozens of Turkish civil society representatives for their non-violent expression of opinion on the Kurdish conflict. NGO executives, lawyers, journalists and intellectuals have been particularly targeted. FIDHs judicial observation has been accompanied by other forms of action, including a fact-finding mission and report, IGO advocacy, and media and public opinion mobilisation, etc.
Muharrem Erbey, Vice-President of the Turkish Human Rights Association, IHD, in his cell. Report of the Observatory - Turkey: Human Rights Defenders, Guilty Until Proven Innocent. IHD
FOCUS
FIDH mobilisation in the DRC and Turkey Two situations were the object of special mobilisation in view of the seriousness and symbolic nature of the cases at hand. DRC: In 2012 FIDH briefed a lawyer to support the Belgian filmmaker, Thierry Michel, who was sued in Belgium for an alleged violation of John Numbis right of publicity. John Numbi is the Inspector General of the Congolese Police, suspected of involvement in the assassination of Congolese human rights defenders, Floribert Chebeya and Fidle Bazana. Since the day of their disappearance, FIDH has undertaken a wide range of actions including urgent appeals; press releases; judicial observation missions and reports; material assistance; advocacy with national institutions, diplomatic services and IGOs; broad public awareness raising actions; support for the making of a film; the organisation of debates, etc. Such action is a natural continuation of FIDHs mobilisation to end the violence to which defenders are subject in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Turkey: In 2012, FIDH observed trial proceedings for 46 lawyers arrested in connection with an antiterrorist operation, and some of whom are still in arbitrary detention. FIDH also observed the appeal hearing of Sociologist, Pinar Selak, who was sentenced on 28 January 2013 to life imprisonment for terrorism, following a scandalous trial and fourteen years of judicial proceedings that have been marred by irregularities. FIDH has increased its mobi-
Developing the strategic litigation All FIDH urgent actions are sent daily to international and regional mechanisms for the protection of defenders, with a view to prompting a reaction and questioning the authorities concerned (see page 12). In 2012 FIDH devoted more effort to referring individual cases (of a symbolic or particularly serious nature) to quasi-judicial mechanisms. This was done with a view to setting precedents for the protection of defenders. Reinforcing the capacity of intergovernmental organisations to protect defenders Together with the representatives of local organisations, FIDH has continued its advocacy with intergovernmental bodies to consolidate their protection mandate, including in specific cases of repression, as well as continuing its concrete action for defenders. On a general level, 2012 saw FIDH continue to facilitate coordination between defender protection mechanisms, organising the fourth Inter-mechanism meeting of international and regional mandates and programmes for the protection of human rights defenders. This event involved representatives from the UN, ACHPR, Council of Europe, IACHR, and OSCE, as well as from the EU, OIF and NGOs. The meeting addressed in particular the question of how to increase articulation among mandates. In accordance with the orientation of its pluri-annual strategic plan, FIDH continued its efforts to secure the inclusion of the protection of defenders in UN Security Council resolutions, especially when they concerned peace-keeping operation mandates. For example,
Submission of complaints to quasi-judicial bodies
Country
Situation
Ales Bialiatski, President of Viasna and Vice-president of FIDH, sentenced to four and a half years in prison for tax evasion Ales Bialiatski
Mechanism
United Nations Human Rights Committee
Status or result
Examination in progress
Belarus
Belarus
United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Detention declared arbitrary
Uzbekistan
Mutabar Tadjibayeva, President of the International Association for the Defence of Human Rights Ardent Hearts Club, subjected to acts of torture and forced sterilisation during her detention (2005-2008) Abdolfattah Soltani, Iranian lawyer and founding member of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) Le Cong Dinh, lawyer and defender Nabeel Rajab, FIDH Secretary General and President of the Bahraini Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), sentenced to two years imprisonment for having participated in and called for demonstrations in protest against Human Rights violations. Marcial Bautista Valle and Eva Alarcn Ortiz, President and Coordinator, OCESPyCC Khalil Maatouk, lawyer 46 lawyers active in the defence of human rights
United Nations Human Rights Committee
Iran
Vietnam
Bahrain
Mexico
United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Special Rapporteurs on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers and on the situation of human rights defenders African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights
Examination in progress Examination in progress Letter of allegation
Syria Turkey
Sudan
3 Sudanese defenders tortured by Sudanese intelligence services.
Communication judged admissible Examination in progress
upon the renewal of the mandate for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), FIDH urged the Security Council to retain reference specifically to the protection of defenders within the framework of prioritising the protection of the civilian population. FIDH also continued its advocacy for UN Human Rights Council resolutions that include reference to the protection of human rights defenders in countries where their situation is most vulnerable. For example, several defenders from Belarus, Burma, Cte dIvoire, Guinea, Iran, Mali, the DRC, Sudan and Yemen took part in advocacy training sessions before the Council, in order to press for the creation or renewal of mechanisms dedicated to each of their countries, with particular emphasis on the situation of defenders.
Turkey: FIDH regularly urges the EU to link its activities more closely to precise indicators of human rights progress. In June 2012 it, along with its Turkish member organisations, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey and the Human Rights Association, submitted proposals that the legislative, political and institutional advances required of Turkey by the EU be measured, to secure cessation of the harassment and criminalisation of human rights defenders in the country. A list of indicators was drawn up on the basis of FIDHs June 2012 report.
The Observatory also mobilised the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) along two themes: Arbitrary detention An event was organised on the occasion of the OSCEs Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), to analyse the impact of repressive legislation and practices in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkey and Uzbekistan. This is the first time FIDH has addressed the situation of defenders in Turkey in an OSCE Panel. Freedom of association FIDH called for the establishment of a panel of experts charged with drawing up guidelines on freedom of association within OECD States, with examples of best practices.
FOCUS
FIDH progressing protection for defenders in 2012 Last year saw FIDH develop two new lines of action: - FIDH drew the attention of the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and the freedom of association to the importance of access to funding for NGOs. In doing so, it urged these mandate holders to include the issue of restrictions to funding within the scope of their protective mandates. FIDH has in fact made access to funding one of its main lines of action, thus making it the subject of its first thematic annual report. - In December 2012, FIDH submitted a contribution to the Business and Human Rights Forum on the impact of business activities on the security of defenders, particularly those defending land rights and the right to a healthy environment. Until then the issue had not been sufficiently addressed by the mechanisms concerned.
FIDH also referred numerous human rights violations to the InterAmerican and African mechanisms for the protection of defenders, and repeatedly called on the League of Arab States, the African Union and the Organisation of American States to put the protection of defenders at the heart of their work.
> Strengthening defenders capacity for action

Actions for a favourable political and normative environment FIDH has continued to pursue its strong mobilisation for the establishment of a favourable normative and institutional framework for the work of human rights defenders. For instance, in the DRC in July 2012 FIDH supported the Lotus Group to organise a round table in Kinshasa to discuss draft bills on the protection of human rights defenders and a National Commission for Human Rights, as well as possible strategies for their adoption. This round table, which was convened for the second year running, brought together representatives of the newly elected authorities (in particular the Ministry of Justice), parliamentarians, representatives of intergovernmental organisations, international NGOs, the diplomatic corps, and members of civil society from all over the country. Other FIDH actions, such as fact-finding missions and reports, referrals to quasi-judicial mechanisms (see objective 1), and analyses of draft bills, have contributed to improving the political and legal environment in which defenders operate. For example, the decision of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD),
FIDH also mobilised the European Union (EU) on the protection of defenders through the organisation of advocacy interfaces with NGO representatives from the DRC, Mali, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Burma, Laos, Colombia, Armenia, Peru, Haiti, Indonesia and Iran.
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FIDHs EU advocacy Last year saw FIDH develop two new lines of action: In its EU advocacy, FIDH has carried out specific actions in two situations of major concern: Uzbekistan: FIDH continued to work for the freedom of movement of Uzbek human rights defenders prevented from leaving their country, by submitting a memorandum on their individual cases to the EU before its October 2012 dialogue with Uzbekistan. This action aimed to prompt the EU to raise the matter of travels bans and the situation of defenders still in detention with the Uzbek authorities.
to which FIDH referred the case of Als Bialiatski, concluded not only that his detention was arbitrary, but that he should be released immediately. It found that the Belarusian State not only has a negative obligation not to interfere with the activities of civil associations, but also has a positive obligation to ensure that steps are taken to facilitate the activities of such groups through public financing or tax exemptions for foreign funding. In making such a decision the WGAD was clearly calling upon Belarus to create and reinforce a normative framework favourable to the work of defenders at the national level. Providing security for defenders activities In Paris in 2012 a seminar was organised for several members of the NGO Viasna from Belarus. Working sessions with FIDH representatives, including from other member organisations in difficult or closed countries, and external experts, enabled the NGO concerned to develop a strategy for continuing to operate, despite the material, political and psychological obstacles imposed by the crisis situation in its home country. FIDH also involved the TRACES network in the seminar, an association providing psychological support for victims of political repression. Over the two days of training, participants were able to learn more about international and regional mechanisms for the protection of defenders. At a more general level, in 2012 FIDH provided support (equipment, rental of premises, communication and Internet expenses, etc.) for several NGOs whose actions had been hindered by difficult security and financial circumstances.
Several specific means to increase visibility were developed in 2012. These included: the construction of a page on FIDHs website concerning FIDH defenders currently in prison; support, in partnership with OIF, for Thierry Michels film L'affaire Chebeya, un crime d'tat ? presented at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva, at a session of the Human Rights Council, at the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, and in cinemas in Belgium, Switzerland and France; a website in three languages on the situation of Als Bialiatski, expanded in 2012 to cover the situation of all Belarusian defenders; distribution in three languages of a brochure about the detention of Als Bialiatski and several articles published in the French and European press on his case; a video produced by FIDH about a demonstration in Paris for the release of Uzbek prisoners, viewed by over 5,300 web users; the highlighting of violations of defenders rights in various FIDH electronic newsletters. RESULTS The following are examples of some of the results achieved under this priority: Release of human rights defenders, cessation of judicial harassment, progress in the quest for justice Release of at least 63 defenders, including in Uzbekistan, Chad, Turkey, Djibouti, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Zimbabwe, India, Mexico, Iran, Syria, Algeria, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, Thailand, and Cambodia; End of judicial harassment of at least 19 defenders, including in Algeria, Bahrain, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cyprus, Djibouti, Spain, Russian Federation, Turkey, and Zimbabwe; DRC/Belgium: Positive outcome of proceedings against Thierry Michel before a court of first instance in Lige, October 2012; Belarus: Lifting of Viasna Vice-Presidents travel ban; Russia: Opening of an inquiry into the attack on Philip Kostenko and a counter-inquiry on Bashaevs implication in the assassination of Natasha Estemirova; Bangladesh: Opening of an inquiry into the murder of Aminul Islam, member of the board of BCWS, an organisation defending labour rights. Decisions of Intergovernmental protection mechanisms Complaint against Sudan co-lodged by FIDH on the case of three defenders subjected to torture declared admissible by the ACHPR; Detention of Als Bialiatski (Belarus) and Abdolfattah Soltani (Iran) found to be arbitrary by the WGAD; Reference to the protection of defenders retained in MONUSCOs mandate (DRC); The United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances declared itself competent to hear a case of enforced disappearance in Mexico;
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I wish to express my deep gratitude to our International Federation for Human Rights, FIDH, which has given us both moral and financial support for the rental of an office, following the closure of our own office by the Rwandan government. Thank you, all of you, who continue to help us recover our rights. Gertrude Nyampanga, Ligue de protection des droits de l'Homme au Rwanda (LIPRODHOR)
Raising awareness of the situation of defenders Several activities carried out in 2012 led to increased awareness of the situation of defenders and of the importance of protecting them. Through avocaty activities with intergovernmental organisations (see above), defenders have been able to make the international community aware of the problems they encounter at the national level. Moreover, the media cover urgent Appeals and other Observatory actions, and thus raising awareness of the situation of defenders. Discussions on how to adapt the Observatorys annual report continued in 2012, as a follow-up to a strategic meeting of FIDHs International Board on the evaluation of the Observatorys instruments. The Annual Report published at the beginning of 2013 on the question of obstacles to NGO access to funding from abroad is the result of this discussion.
Demonstration of activists of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise. Report of the Observatory - Zimbabwe: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period. WOZA
Joint reaction of the UN Special Rapporteurs on the situation of defenders, freedom of expression and freedom of association, declaring the detention of Nabeel Rajab to be arbitrary; Appointment of an OSCE panel of experts on freedom of association charged with drawing up guidelines on the subject.
Mobilisation of diplomatic services EUs inclusion of the main conclusions and indicators on the situation of defenders in Turkey within the framework of the accession process; Stronger mobilisation of embassies in cases of defender harassment, in particular through judicial observation (Cambodia, Thailand, Turkey, Bahrain); Two public declarations by the permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations in New York on defenders in Syria; Call by the President of the French Republic for the release of Nabeel Rajab, following a meeting with FIDH, and a strong stand taken on Bahrain by the French ambassador at the Human Rights Council; denouncement of reprisals against Bahraini defenders who testified at UN by the President of the UN Human Rights Council; declaration of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs on the fate of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Nabeel Rajab; Denouncement of threats to freedom of association in Egypt by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs upon the launch of a new partnership between the EU and Egypt. The EU Special Representative on Human Rights, Stavros Lambrinidis, set up a structured dialogue with the Egyptian authorities on the this subject, and facilitated the deployment
of the Council of Europes Venice Commission to aid the Egyptian authorities in drafting legislation on the freedom of association; Denouncement of the impunity that followed the assassination of Floribert Chebeya in DRC by the European Parliament, as well its condemnation of attacks against human rights defenders in Bahrain, Turkey, Mexico, Vietnam, Iran, Egypt, and Russia.
Improvement of the legislative environment at the national level Reduction of the field of application of the solidarity offence in France; Law and national protective mechanism established in Mexico; Anti-freedom bill not adopted in Cambodia; Adoption of a law on a National Commission for Human Rights by the DRCs Parliament; FIDH concerns taken into account in the draft bill on associations in Egypt. Prizes awarded to defenders for whom FIDH had mobilised Sakharov prize awarded to Iranian defenders in prison (Nasrin Sotoudeh); Ludovic Trarieux prize awarded to human rights lawyer Muharrem Erbey (Turkey); United States State Department prize awarded to Als Bialiatski (Belarus); Als Bialiaski nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and made honorary citizen of Paris (Belarus).
FIDH in collaboration with its member organisations and partners

International fact-finding and advocacy missions: 3 (Bangladesh, Egypt, Philippines) Judicial observation and defense missions: 11 (Belgium/DRC, Cambodia, Thailand, Cyprus, Spain, Turkey, Bahrain) Observatory Urgent Appeals for the protection of human rights defenders: 336 Legal or quasi-legal proceedings: 10 Partnerships: Advocacy activities: 60 defenders at EU, UN, OSCE, AU, IAHRC, LAS levels Strategic and Training seminars: DRC Contribution to the Round Table organised by the Lotus Group for the adoption of OMCT, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders; and four hundred members and partner centers legislation on the protection of defenders and on the National Commission for Human Rights (over 200 participants: defenders, authorities, representatives of the international community). Belarus Strategic and training session for human rights defenders - Burundi: Des dfenseurs sous pression (FR), December 2011 - Zimbabwe: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period, November 2012 (ENG) - Colombia: Lderes de comunidades desplazadas entre los mas vulnerables de los defensores (Colombia), May 2012 (SPA) - Russia: Kadyrov vs. Orlov: The defence of human rights on trial, February 2012 (FR, ENG, RU) - Turkey: Human Rights Defenders, Guilty Until Proven Innocent, May 2012 (ENG, TUR, FR) - Egypt: Situation report on the continuous degradation of the freedom of association and peaceful assembly (FR, ENG, AR)
Reports
Priority 2
Promote and protect womens rights

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has been ratified by most nations around the world. On the bases of this convention, FIDH, its member organisations and partners, strive to advance legislative and political reforms to abolish discriminatory provisions and secure women the same rights as men. FIDH strengthens the capacity of its member organisations and partners to contribute to reform, seeking opportunities for dialogue with national authorities and mobilising regional and international organisations. To increase the impact of its advocacy work, FIDH supports intra- and inter-regional networks and reinforces alliances between organisations that defend human rights more broadly and those defending specifically womens rights. In 2012, the risk of setbacks with regard to womens rights increased greatly in a number of regions: putting acquired rights at risk and obstructing progress. As such, FIDH adapt ed its strategy and focused its work with members and partners on precise situations where its support could have the most impact; it increased the synergies between generalist NGOs and those specialising in womens rights; and it developed actions to promote womens access to justice at national, regional and international levels. As such, in collaboration with its member organisations, national partners and the Coalition for Equality without Reservation, FIDH has alerted national and international bodies, and the media, about the barriers preventing womens full contribution in the public arena in their respective countries (see Focus box below).
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Report publication: Women in the Arab Spring: taking their place ? Published by FIDH in conjunction with members and partners in the MENA region, this report analyses the role of women in protest movements, revolutions and transitions in the Arab world. It also addresses their contribution to the development of womens rights since the onset of the 2011 revolutions in eight countries (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco and Algeria). The report concludes with 20 Measures for Equality. These reflect the demands made by organisations defending both human and womens rights in the region. To ensure that this publication is accessible and used by national organisations, FIDH has created an interactive and regularly updated website: www.arabwomenspring.fidh.net. The report, available in Arab, English, and French, was widely distributed to international groups and the media in the MENA region, where it was given extensive coverage. The 20 Measures for Equality were endorsed by many partner organisations in the area and were presented to the Tunisian, Libyan and Egyptian authorities, the League of Arab States, and the European Council and Parliament.
FIDH in action
> To contribute to securing equal rights for women and men

Given the social and political upheaval in the Arab world and the major challenges faced by national NGOs defending the universality of human rights there, FIDH has continued, with its members and partners in the region, to press for reforms for equality between women and men, promote the participation of women in public and political life, and prevent the regression of womens rights.
During 2012, FIDH focused its activities on the following countries: In Tunisia, FIDH worked with its members and partners against the threats of degradation of the situation of women. Since the islamist party Ennahdha came to power after the elections of October 2011, the threats towards the legal and social status of women have increased. FIDHs advocacy targeted members of the Constituent Assembly as well as
October 2010 - Mukunga - DRC Community house of Mukunga, established by the organisation Synergie des femmes pour les victimes de violences sexuelles. Copyright: Pierre-Yves Ginet / Magazine Femmes en rsistance
the highest State authorities. Many meetings were held, including with the President of the Republic. The civil society obtained a victory with the suppression of an article from the Constitution draft, that mentioned the complementarily between men and women. However, the actual draft does not refer to the Universal declaration of human rights and does not fully opt for the respect of the international treaties ratified by Tunisia. In Morocco, where the country is run by a government with a conservative approch to women rights, FIDH supported its partners who are trying to promote the adoption of a law implementing CEDAWs Optional Protocol and the abolishment of the legislative provision which exculpates a rapist if the marries the victim. FIDH increased its collaboration with the UN Working Group on Discriminatory Laws and Practices against Women, especially by providing information and giving recommendations during its first visit to Morocco and Tunisia. At the end of these visits, the experts spoke out publicly on the legislative reforms underway in these two countries, echoing the recommendations of FIDH and its partners. In Libya during several contacts and investigative missions, FIDH increased its collaboration with new NGOs defending womens rights during its many contact and investigation missions to that country. In Egypt, FIDH made published an analysis of the draft Constitution, including its concerns about the rights of women. FIDH supported its members and partners from Algeria and Jordan to participate in sessions of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) by enabling them to present their concerns to independent experts. The conclusions presented to these States by the Committee include most of the recommendations made by FIDH and its partners, and represent an important tool for advocating at the national level. FIDH supported the International Trade Union Confederation in establishing a network of female union members in the Arab world. This was done through the March for Equality, held in Tunisia, Jordan and Egypt. In an area where the number of women in the workforce is the lowest in the world, women are largely under-represented in unions and almost totally absent from management.
In Africa, FIDH continued its mobilisation through the campaign Africa for womens rights: ratify and respect!. It supported its partners in Uganda, Guinea Conakry and Mali, in an effort to contribute to the adoption of legislative reforms in these States.
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Africa for womens rights: ratify and respect! Campaign Launched by FIDH in 2009 in partnership with five regional organisations, the Africa for womens rights: ratify and respect! campaign gathers over 100 organisations in more than 40 countries, including FIDH members and organisations dedicated to the protection of womens rights. In 2012, FIDH continued its advocacy at regional and international level and, at the same time, acted in a few targeted countries where its support can help the national partners to have real impact.
In Uganda, FIDH assisted to the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) and the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA-U) to push for the adoption of a law on marriage and divorce. This law had been discussed for 15 years and would re-enforce the protection of womens rights. Among the most important clauses are: the establishment of a legal minimum age for marriage at 18 for women and men; giving women the right to choose their spouse; and allowing women to file for divorce in cases of cruelty. The proposed legislation bans the practice of levirate and provides an equitable division of property upon divorce. On the basis of Women's Rights in Uganda: Gaps Between Policy and Practice, a joint report published in early 2012, FIDH and its partners raised awareness of the proposed legislation through the media and the public, mobilising the authorities to move the process forward. At the years end, conservative forces continued to resist the legislation, which has thus still not been adopted. In Guinea Conakry, FIDH advocated before the States highest authorities for the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol). FIDH also advocated for the strengthening of policies to protect the rights of women in the country. In Mali, FIDH mobilised to prevent the promulgation of a new family code, which contains many clauses enshrining discrimination against women, in violation of the countrys international
obligations. However, before its removal from power, the expresident Amadou Toumani Tour promulgated this code. There is a danger that with the instable political climate in the country, the issue of women's rights will fall into the background. FIDH and its partners must ensure that this will not happen.
lese lawyers to come together to develop a strategic litigation action plan to outline the support to be given to victims of symbolic cases at the national level and before the African Commission for Human and Peoples Rights. In Guinea Conakry, many women were raped during the 2009 bloody repression of peaceful demonstrations by security forces. FIDH and its members and partners are working very hard to assist these victims to overcome the obstacles that deny them access to justice. FIDH and its member organisation in Guinea, the OGDH, have acted as civil parties for more than a hundred victims of crime, including those that were sexual in nature. FIDH and the OGDH provide assistance throughout the long legal process by ensuring victims protection, helping victims through their appearance before judges, supporting victims' lawyers and requesting certificates, thus consolidating the judicial file of the victimes. In Ivory Coast, where sexual crime was prolific during the post-electoral violence of 2010-2011, FIDH is assisting victims to appear before national courts. Following an investigation mission in April 2012, FIDH and its member organisations and partners assisted 75 victims of grave human rights violations before national courts. The goal of these legal procedures is to contribute to truth, justice and reconciliation and to ensure the impartiality of allegations, no matter who committed the violations. RESULTS The following are some examples of the results achieved by work under this priority: The publication "Women in the Arab Spring: taking their place ?" informed and alerted the international human right protection mechanisms on the opportunities and risks of the Arab spring for the women rights. This publication became a reference material for activists, academics, NGOs and journalists both within and outside the MENA region. The 20 Measures of Equality have been adopted by many NGOs in the region and have been cited by the European Council. On the basis of this report, FIDH was consulted on the European Parliaments adoption of a resolution on the situation of women in North Africa during political transition. This resolution incorporated most of the recommendations made by FIDH and its partners; in Tunisia, FIDH mobilisation contributed to the UN Working Group on Discriminatory Laws and Practices appeal to the Tunisian government to adopt constitutional clauses enshrining equality between the sexes and nondiscrimination, and for measures to increase womens participation in all areas of public life; in Morocco, in November 2012, the government submitted a legislative proposal to implement the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW, which must now be passed by parliament; mobilisation by FIDH and its partners led in April 2012 to Guinea Conakry ratifying the Protocol to the African Charter, on Womens Rights in Africa;
> To promote access to justice for women

With its member organisations and national partners, FIDH provides support for the adoption and application of laws penalising all forms of violence against women in accordance with international human rights law. FIDH identifies barriers preventing victims of crime from accessing justice and promote reformes. It provides legal assistance, particularly to organisations working in countries where sexual crimes are perpetrated during conflict or political instability. Faced with barriers accessing justice at the national level, FIDH developed actions aimed at reinforcing the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in combating these crimes. Thus FIDHs goal was not only to reenforce the ICC Prosecutors strategy to systematically include sexual crimes in its investigations and prosecutions, but also to build the capacity of national NGOs to document these violations and support legal access for victims at the national level.
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Mission to Jordan to document the experiences of Syrian refugees In fleeing the conflict in Syria, thousands of Syrians, mostly women and children, have sought refuge in Jordan. The situation for Syrian women inside and outside Jordans official refugee camps is particularly disturbing. It is deeply intertwined with the conduct of hostilities on-going Syrian conflict where sexual violence is used as a weapon of war, creating a high incidence of, amongst other things, forced and early marriage, and prostitution. At the end of 2012, FIDH conducted an investigation mission with its Jordanian partner, the Arab Women's Organisation (AWO), endevouring to document gender specific violence targeted at women during the Syrian conflict. FIDH supports the implementation of an AWO project that provides psychological support to Syrian women who are refugees in Jordan.
Rape continues to be perpetrated on a large scale in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), especially the East. FIDH is working alongside its members and partners to secure access to justice for victims, as well as compensation. This work forms part of a program dedicated to combatting impunity for sexual violence in the country. Faced with a lack of capacity in the national justice system, FIDH has called for reforms including the adoption of harmonising legislation to bring domestic law in line with the ICCs Rome Statute, and the creation of mixed tribunals to judge the most serious offenses, with the assistance of an international staff, experienced in investigating and prosecuting those responsible of international crimes. In December 2012, FIDH held a seminar in Kinshasa for Congo-
in the DRC, FIDH contributed bringing together NGOs working to combat impunity for perpetrators of sexual crimes to establish a consolidated legal strategy; in Ivory Coast, FIDH and its member organisations enabled the inclusion of sexual crimes in judicial investigations into post-electoral violence; in Guinea, FIDH with its members and partners advocated for the inclusion of womens rights as a priority of the 2012 presidential and governmental programmes. It also advocated for the re-activation of the process for adopting proposed legislation on the rights within the family;
in Guinea, victims of sexual violence appeared before the investigative judges. The ICC prosecutor addressed formal requests for information to the State of Guinea, including those concerning efforts made to ensure that sexual crimes are included in investigations and prosecutions. FIDH mobilisation lead to the indictment of high ranking officials in the case of the 28th of September 2009 and the charges for rape of a policemen under committal order.

International Judicial Monitoring and Investigative Missions: 7 (Jordan, Ivory Coast, Guinea) Solidarity and Contact Missions: 2 (Libya) National Advocacy Missions: 5 (DRC, Tunisia) Press releases: 20 (FR), 15 (ENG), 3 (AR) Meetings: with relevant NGOs in Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, Tunisia Partnerships: Coalition for Equality without Reservation; Africa for Womens Rights: Ratification and Respect!; International Coalition for the International Criminal Court; International Trade Union Confederation.
Reports
MENA: Arab World: What Spring for Women? (AR, FR, ENG), see: www. arabwomenspring.fidh.net Uganda: Women's rights in Uganda: gaps between policy and practice (ENG), March 2012 Afghanistan: Human rights at a crossroads: The need for a rights-centred approach to peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, (ENG), May 2012 MENA: Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia: the role of women in the workplace, (FR, AR), May 2012, jointly by Equality, CSI, FIDH, FDHT
Mali: War Crimes in Northern Mali, (FR) July 2012 Guinea: The Fight against impunity in Guinea: Significant advances, expected actions, (FR, ENG), September 2012 Tunisia: The Adoption of a new constitution for Tunisia: a unique opportunity to protect all human rights, (FR), October 2012 Egypt: Egypt : Post-Revolution Constitution - Universal Human Rights Standards Set Aside, (ENG, AR), December 2012
Camp in Jacmel, May 2012
Priority 3
Promoting and protecting migrant rights

Tighter controls on the movement of persons are making migrants increasingly vulnerable to abuse. Within the European Union (EU) and elsewhere, migration policies are increasingly centred on hunting down illegals detecting phony refugees and criminalising migrants, who may be detained in camps uniquely because their papers are not in order. With nationalistic and xenophobic sentiment being stirred up for electoral purposes and policies favoring a circular migrations are developed, migrants are reduced to tradable commodities. Seeking like the United States to build an illusory wall to shield it from migrants, the EU and its Member States are increasingly shifting border control to countries of transit and departure to provent migrants reaching their borders. The bilateral agreements concluded for that purpose are rarely made public. The operations of the European border control agency, Frontex, whose means were increased in 2012, remain opaque. International attention focuses predominantly on South-North migration, but most migrants move between countries in the South, and the countries of the South recieve the overwhelming majority of refugees. In 2012 as in the past, huge flows of refugees and displaced persons fled fighting in Syria, Mali and elsewhere. EU Member States maintained their Fortress Europe policy, and sought to develop reception possibilities in the countries of the South. The situation on the borders of Libya, which continued to deteriorate in 2012, is typical: hundreds of statutory refugees remain without protection for want of proposals for resettlement in countries in the North. rights organisations, including those specialized in migrant rights, trade unions and other civil society actors. FIDH works in countries of departure, where the authorities are encouraged to adopt tangible measures, in keeping with their international obligations, to provide their citizens abroad with better protection. For several years, FIDH has been documenting the situation of migrants in countries of the former Soviet Union, in an effort to strengthen the ties of cooperation between NGOs in countries of departure (e.g. Tajikistan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan) and destination (e.g. Russia, Kazakhstan). In 2012, FIDH, working with its member organisations and its Russian and Tajik partners, pursued activities in Tajikistan to analyse the impact of migration policies on human rights. It further addressed the measures required to enhance protection of migrant rights and to mobilise international mechanisms in that regard. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Tajik citizens are forced to go abroad in search of work. Remittances from these migrants are estimated to account for 40 to 50 per cent of Tajikistans national GDP. 90 per cent of migrants go to Russia, where they risk exploitation by recruitment agencies, their employers and other intermediaries, and violations of their economic and social rights. These migrants face regular extortion and xenophobic aggression. In 2012, FIDH and ADC Memorial submitted a joint report to the UN Committee on Migrant Workers, in the framework of its examination of Tajikistan. FIDH analyses the models promoted by international bodies as examples of best practice, in order to gauge their real impact on the situation of migrant rights. FIDH also helps strengthen corporate social responsibility with regard to labour migration. In Spain, for example, within the framework of a cooperation project with the multinational Carrefour, the worlds second largest retailer (see Priority 5), FIDH documented the plight of Moroccan seasonal strawberry pickers. In January 2012, it published a report "Imported labor for exported strawberries" illustrating the human rights impact of the system of circular migration, which is promoted by the EU and other international bodies as a triple-win model. FIDH made recommendations to the Spanish and Moroccan governments, to Carrefour and to the EU.
FIDH in action
> Strengthen national policies and legislation for the protection of migrant rights
Through FIDHs network of organisations in the countries of origin, transit and destination, enable it to document migrant rights violations at each stage of the journey it is able to provide long-term support for legislation and policy reform advocacy, and forge intra- and interregional alliances between human
FIDHs work also focuses on the situation in countries of transition, where the question of how migrants are treated, a vital building block of the rule of law, is often relegated in importance by numerous other priorities. In some cases, migrants can actually be rendered scapegoats for other problems. In the countries south of the Mediterranean, FIDH analyses the impact of migration policies in the EU and its Member States.
In October, FIDH published a report entitled Libya: The hounding of migrants must stop. The report includes a detailed analysis of these violations, including the way in which the Gaddafi regime manipulated the migration issue for political ends (pan-Arabism, pan-Africanism and attempts to restore ties with the EU). In December 2012, FIDH conducted an advocacy mission during which it presented its recommendations to local organisations, the authorities and the diplomatic corps in Tripoli. It also shared its recommendations with the EU and some of the migrants countries of origin.
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Hounding migrants in Libya Before the conflict, Libya was host to an estimated 2 million migrants who made up one third of the population. The countrys economy relied heavily on their work. Under the Gaddafi regime, the situation of these migrants was dramatic but rarely documented. FIDH was able to investigate the grave violation of migrant rights as soon as the uprising started. Today, the situation remains cause for deep concern. At the end of 2012, FIDH observed that numerous migrants were arriving in Libya to work in the resurgent construction and service sectors. Libya will clearly remain a natural magnet for inter-African immigration and migrants will clearly be needed to reconstruct the country. Migrants in Libya, particularly those from sub-Saharan Africa, continue to be arrested on the basis of ethnic profiling, and are arbitrarily detained in inhuman conditions for unlimited periods. At the same time, the EU and its Member States are negotiating cooperation agreements and pursuing past policies that rely on outsourcing the control and repression of migrants. Such policies are grounded in a mistaken analysis of the nature of migration to Libya, which is in fact a country of destination for most migrants looking for work not just a transit country. Only a minority, essentially refugees from Somalia and Eritrea, are seeking the international protection to which they are entitled but cannot obtain in Libya. It is these refugees who then try to reach Europe. In June 2012, FIDH travelled to Benghazi, Tripoli and the Nafusa mountain area in Libya, where it visited eight migrant detention camps and met with migrants, civil society representatives, the Ministry of the Interior, coast guards, and international organisations. FIDH observed hundreds of migrants being held in camps control by militias, simply because they had no residence permit a document they could not possibly obtain in the reigning chaos. The migrants had no remedies available to them and no prospect of release. Their conditions of detention were extremely precarious. Most were young men who had already worked or wished to work in Libya. The camps also hold people from the Horn of Africa who fled conflict and persecution. In the absence of a system of asylum, and given that the UNHCR has no formal status in Libya, they are unable to obtain refugee status in that country. There are more women and children in this category of migrant, and they make up the majority of those who set out for Europe on flimsy boats, at the risk of their lives.
> Strengthen the responsibility of stakeholders for the violations of migrant rights
Since 2010, in order to fight impunity, influence policies and prevent new violations from occurring, the FIDH has developed strategic judicial activities in cases involving violations of migrant rights. In 2012, it continued to denounce human rights violations on the Mediterranean Sea in the context of the migration policies of the EU and its member States. The case of the "left-to-die" migrant vessel In 2012, FIDH continued to denounce violations of migrant rights on the Mediterranean Sea in the context of the migration policies of the EU and its member States. In cooperation with several member and partner human rights organisations, it considered the possibility of holding certain States to account for the deaths of migrants fleeing the conflict in Libya. An investigation was launched concentrating on a case in which 63 migrants died at sea. In late March 2011, while States were conducting patrols as part of a NATO operation, 72 migrants fleeing Libya on board a makeshift vessel were left to drift for two weeks. Distress signals were sent to the Italian Coast Guard, NATO and all ships present in the area. According to the survivors, helicopters and a navy vessel saw the boat, but did not come to the aid of the passengers. Only nine survived. Investigators questioned the survivors, drew up a map of the vessels route and established the presence of other ships using satellite images. The outcome served as input for an investigation conducted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe into the circumstances of the case. In April 2012, four survivors filed a complaint in France in which they accused members of the French armed forces with failure to render assistance to persons in danger. The complaint was dismissed in December. Partner NGOs then became civil parties to the complaint, thereby obliging the examining magistrate to open an inquiry. In September, FIDH hosted a workshop that brought together lawyers working in several countries with a military presence in the area at the time of the incident: Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada and the United States. The participants agreed to file complaints in Spain and Belgium and to request information (on the basis of Freedom of Information legislation) in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. Those proceedings will be pursued in 2013.
The Hirsi case In 2008, Italy and Libya concluded an agreement allowing migrants to be intercepted at sea and returned to Libya. This agreement was in contravention of international human rights law. Implementation of the agreement resulted in hundreds of migrants being intercepted at sea by the Italian authorities and forcibly returned to Libya. FIDH supported its partner in Italy, Unione Forense per la Tutela dei Diritti Umani (UFTDU), when it brought an action against Italy before the European Court of Human Rights concerning the interception of 24 Ethiopian and Somali migrants on the high seas and their return to Libya in 2009 (Hirsi et al. v. Italy). Together with Amnesty International and Centre AIRE, FIDH filed an amicus curiae brief with the Court. In February 2012, the Courts Grand Chamber ruled that Italy had violated the prohibition on inhumane and degrading treatment (ECHR, Article 3), collective expulsions (Protocol 4, Article 4) and the right to an effective remedy (ECHR, Article 13). By its action, Italy had exposed the migrants to the risk of ill-treatment in Libya and repatriation to Somalia and Eritrea. According to the Courts decision, States intercepting individuals on the high seas are bound to uphold international human rights law. This is the first case brought before the European Court of Human Rights on the question of refoulement in international waters. The Court condemned Italys migration control policy and confirmed that the high seas were not beyond the reach of the law. The Italian authorities publicly pledged to ensure that the decision implemented. They also stipulated that future agreements with Libya would be based on human rights and the need to safeguard human lives at sea. In April 2012, however, Italy concluded another agreement with the Libyan authorities on the control of migrant flows. That agreement has not been made public.
RESULTS On strengthening national policies and laws for the protection of migrant rights France The Human Rights Defender, after being seized by an NGO coalition including FIDH, issued a decision on police harassment and violations of rights suffered by the Calais migrants for several years. Tajikistan Dialogue engaged in with the authorities of Tajikistan on measures intended to enhance the protection of migrant workers. FIDH was asked to comment on new draft legislation on migration; the conclusions of the United Nations Committee on Migrant Workers sent to the Tajik government reflect the recommendations by FIDH and its partners; closer cooperation between Russian and Tajik NGOs. Libya In Libya, in December 2012, FIDH was invited to discuss the recommendations made in its report on migrants with the Minister for Justice, the Director of the Ministry of the Interiors department against illegal migration and an adviser to the Prime Minister. The authorities appeared to be aware of the importance of migration for the countrys future. After the FIDH mission, the Deputy Prime Minister was asked to chair an inter-ministerial group on migration. The authorities asked for FIDHs assistance in implementing its recommendations, in particular regarding planned legislative reform; the EU and its Member States (particularly Italy) are in the process to renewing their migration cooperation with Libya. In response to its report of November 2012 FIDH obtained the co-signature of a panel of 23 members of parliament and four political parties denouncing this situation.
Gharyan. Bou Rashada Camp. Migrants are detained all day long in overcrowded shelters under the supervision of armed militia. Photo by Sara Prestianni and Genevive Jacques.
It also secured the adoption by the European Parliament of an emergency resolution on the plight of migrants in Libya calling for greater vigilance by EU representatives involved in the negotiation of cooperation agreements with the new authorities, and for the introduction of migrant protection mechanisms; in February 2013, FIDH was invited to share information with a delegation of European Members of Parliament just before their visit to Libya. As a result, the issue of refugees and migrants was included among their priorities; the UNHCR office in Tripoli underscored the need to emphasise capacity-building for Libyan stakeholders on migrant and refugee rights. It has expressed an interest in cooperating with FIDH in that regard.
Indonesia was targeted by the campaign launched by FIDH and over organisations in 2010, has ratified the international convention on the protection of rights of All Migrant Walkers and Members of their Families. On strengthening stakeholder responsibility regarding migrant rights violations The European Court of Human Rights ruled against Italy in the Hirsi case (February); FIDH helped draw media attention to the case of the leftto-die vessel and heighten international public awareness of the role played by EU and Member State policy in the deaths of shipwreck victims in the Mediterranean; in-depth analyses of the impact on human rights of the circular migration system; public advocacy in Europe and Morocco on the plight of seasonal workers in Spain.
FIDH in collaboration with its member and partner organisations

International investigation and advocacy missions: 2 (Libya) Press releases: 28 (13 ENG, 11 FR, 2 AR, 2 RU) Judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings: ECHR: Hirsi et al. v. Italy, on the interception and refoulement of migrants at sea France: Case holding members of the French armed forces to account for failure to assist persons in danger (case of the left-to-die vessel) Workshop: Partnerships: International Trade Union Confederation; Union Network International; The Global Campaign for the Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Migrants; Justice without Borders for Migrants; Migreurop; Boats4people. Spain: Imported labour for exported strawberries, (ESP, ENG, FR), January 2012 Libya: Preliminary note on Libya Mission, (ENG, FR, AR), January 2012 Libya:Libya: Hounding of migrants continues Preliminary findings of an investigation mission, (AR, FR, ENG), June 2012 Libya: Libya: The hounding of migrants must stop, ( AR, FR, ENG), October 2012 Russia: Police abuses against Roma, migrants and activists: Russias record before the UN Committee against Torture, (ENG), November 2012 On the case of the left-to-die vessel, September 2012
Reports
Lampedusa, August 2011 Sara Prestianni
Priority 4
Promote the administration of justice and the fight against impunity

Strengthen the right to effective recourse for the victims of international crime
The year 2012 was marked by the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), by the end of its first case, and the arrival of the new prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda. The 10th anniversary had as a back drop the global financial crisis which also affected the Court. By refusing any substantial increase in the Courts budget, the state parties limited its capacity to investigate and judge while the reform underway in part aimed at reducing expenditure for legal aid for the defence of victims overturns the rules for a fair trial. The judges of the ICC have strongly criticized the Prosecutors strategy in the cases brought against Thomas Lubanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo, for acts committed in the DRC, for reasons such as the use of too many intermediaries and weak evidence. These shortcomings are in part due to budgetary constraints and point to broader issues relative to the carrying out of investigations and the protection of witnesses and intermediaries. The shortcomings led to the acquittal of Mathieu Ngudjolo in December 2012. On the whole, the Court successfully met significant challenges: increase the universality of its activities, strengthen failing cooperation among States in the execution of arrest warrants issued by the Court, guarantee the effective enforcement of the rights of victims, and strengthen the effects of the Courts actions. The closing of the Lubanga case confirmed the importance of victim participation in proceedings before the ICC. Victims rights reform, which was started in 2012 and will take up much of the agenda of the States and the ICC, shall take these factors into account. This was also the year the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) published its second report on the advancement of preliminary examinations, which precede the opening of investigations; they also published their analysis of the situation in Colombia. The opening of investigations on other continents will serve to strengthen the universality and legitimacy of the ICC. After initially convicting Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, former director of detention and torture centre S-21 under the Khmer Rouge, to 35 years of prisons, the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts in Cambodia (ECCC) convicted him, on appeal, in February to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity. At the same hearing the ECCC decided to grant collective remedy for non-economic losses (pain and suffering), to the 93 parties claiming criminal indemnification who participated in Case No. 001, interpreting very narrowly victims rights to remedy which are set down in the Rules of the Chambers. The decision will
Panel on legal aid organised by FIDH during the 11th session of the ICC Assembly of States Parties, 2012. From left to right: David Hooper, defense lawyer, Ester Waweru, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Paulina Vega, FIDH Vice-President, Lon Marc, ambassador of Slovenia, and Luc Walleyn, victims legal representative. Copyright: FIDH.
serve as a basis for the arguments on remedy put forward in Case No. 002. The first hearings in Case No. 002, against three former Khmer Rouge high officials accused of acts committed during the forced evacuations of cities to rural areas, took place in 2012. Approximately 4,000 victims were allowed to participate in Case No. 002. The ECCC will have to deal with the challenges inherent to a trial of this size: making the participation of such a high number parties in criminal proceedings as effective as possible, ensuring guarantees to a fair and speedy trial. The events of Case No.s 001 and 002 arise in a context of budget constraints for the Chambers and, for cases No.s 003 and 004 of attempted political interference involving six other suspects who Cambodian officials would like to see left alone. This hybrid tribunal experience in a country with a RomanoGermanic legal tradition is all the more interesting because it can useful to other hybrid tribunal models of this nature, such as the one in Senegal, where the African Chambers of the Courts in Senegal were established in December 2012 to try crimes committed during the regime of Hissene Habre (1982 to 1990) in Chad. Significant progress continued to be made in certain countries where the courts heard cases for crimes committed in the past. In Guatemala, proceedings were initiated in January 2012 against General Efran Ros Montt who came to power after a coup dtat in March 1982 - he was overthrown in August 1983 and against the head of his military secret service, Rodriguez Sanchez. They were charged with genocide and crimes against humanity. During his 17 months in power, General Ros Montt intensified his scorched earth policy by attacking communities of the indigenous Ixil people who were accused of aiding guerrillas. Over 1,700 persons were murdered. Until 2012, it was feared that he would benefit from amnesty; his trial that opened on 19 March 2013 is a beacon of hope. In Guinea and Cte dIvoire, the opening of judicial inquiries into serious human rights violations generated enough hope to lead to the creation of national judicial systems, in both countries, the challenge left to be met is that of conducting inquiries with fairness and independence. While in Guinea important milestones in the fight against impunity have been reached, the courts in Cote dIvoire have yet to prove their impartiality by bringing to trial the persons, from both sides, responsible for the violent clashes which took place after the 2010-2011 elections (see priority 6). In both cases, the participation of victims in national proceedings comes with the risks that are inherent to the fragile independence of these judicial systems. When national courts in countries where serious crimes have been committed have neither the jurisdiction nor the desire to initiate proceedings, and international justice systems cannot intervene, extra-territorial jurisdiction is then only recourse remaining to victims.
In 2012, certain authorities in countries targeted by foreign complaints continuously criticised extra-territorial jurisdiction and exerted pressure on European countries (Belgium, France, and Spain) who had initiated proceedings on this legal basis so that they would limits their laws. And yet, never before had it extraterritorial jurisdiction been exercised as often by victims seeking to assert their rights. Investigations were opened on the basis of extra-territorial jurisdiction in various countries in Europe, Canada and the United States. Authorities in these countries, sometimes reacting to pressure from civil society, are seeking ways of increasing the effectiveness of these proceedings. In certain cases this has led to the creation of specialised international crime units of magistrates, prosecutors and investigators; such was the case in France in January 2012.
FIDH in action
1. Action before courts and quasi-judicial bodies
FOCUS
The FIDH is involved in approximately 80 proceedings before courts or quasi-judicial bodies, providing support to approximately 500 victims with a view to bring to trial and sentence the perpetrators of serious human rights violations committed in almost 35 countries. Although most of these proceedings are to establish individual criminal liability; this is the case for the proceedings before national courts, the FIDH is also increasingly involved in proceedings before regional bodies aimed at establishing the criminal liability of States. Any FIDH involvement in criminal law proceedings is done in close cooperation with member organisations and partner organisations. These proceedings concern cases that are symbolic in nature, either because of the scale of the violations, because of the type of offence, or because of the quality of the victims or the perpetrators. The objectives are to gain recognition of victims rights to judicial recourse, to create deterrence, to establish a basis for reconciliation, and to strengthen the rule of law. The decision to take cases before courts or before quasi-judicial bodies is also based on admissibility as well as legal and political significance.
a) National activities In 2012, the FIDH Legal Action Group LAG mobilised lawyers to work pro bono for the victims of serious human rights violations in cases in Cte dIvoire and Guinea (Priority 6). Additionally, the LAG lawyers continued to work on extraterritorial jurisdiction cases before French courts, such as the Brazzaville Beach case and the one involving the alleged perpetrators of genocide in Rwanda; this was the only possible form of recourse for the victims represented by the FIDH. The case of the disappeared persons in Relizane (Algeria), the FIDH efforts led to the finalisations of pre-
b) Actions before the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts in Cambodia (ECCC) In 2012, the FIDH continued to provide support to ten Cambodian victims living in France, who are represented as parties (partie civile) at criminal proceedings (Case No.002) before the ECCC. The lawyers from the LAG worked with the lawyers representing the Cambodian victims living in France to defend the victims interests, and to participate in the legal representation, coordinated by the two main lawyers, of approximately 4000 persons represented as parties civiles in Case No. 002. The FIDH organised a unextended mission in March and April to prepare important hearings in case No. 002. The last part of the mission included a trip to Phnom Penh made by one of the victims represented at the trial and by a lawyer. Another mission was organised in August, so that a lawyer from the LAG could attend and participate in the preparation for the hearing of a witness in Case No.002, the brother-in-law of one of the victims represented as a partie civile by the FIDH. The FIDH also pursued its advocacy activities directed at the ECCC by organising a debate that followed the screening of the documentary Khmers rouges: une simple question de justice (The Khmer Rouge: A Simple Issue of Justice), directed by Rmi Lain and Jean Raynaud, in Paris in June 2012, and by publishing the report The victims' rights in front of the ECCC : a mitigated record for the civil parties". In December . The report is an in-depth and original analysis of civil partie participation in cases before the combined-jurisdiction ECCC, its contents were discussed at a conference held in Phnom Penh in late December. The report provides ideas that may be useful to similar combined-jurisdiction tribunals. c) ICC Activities To fight impunity in the case of serious offences and to strengthen the universality of the ICC and its role in prevention, the FIDH and its member organisations submitted a communication to the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC on crimes committed in Honduras, which are the object of a preliminary examination (see Priority 6). After the publishing of the report by the Office of the Prosecutor on the Situation in Colombia, FIDH, the Jos Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Group and the Colombian Jurists Commission met on several occasions with the Office of the Prosecutor to communicate their reactions to the report. The FIDH continues to send, to the Office of the Prosecutor, information on Mali, the Cte dIvoire, and Guinea and on other situations of interest to the ICC and thus contributes to its examinations and investigations (see Priority 6). d) Activities with Regional Human Rights Commissions and Courts For several years, FIDH has regularly presented amicus curiae briefs (third-party comments) before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to clarify points of law and the context
Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the international Criminal Court, meets with the FIDH team in Guinea. Copyright: FIDH.
trial procedures and the final referral of the case to the criminal court. The FIDH also bolstered activities in the area of corporate criminal liability. The FIDH opened a case against Amesys (a French systems integration company) for complicity in torture (priority 6). At a time when a large number of companies are being exposed for having sold similar systems to authoritarian regimes, the FIDH wanted to use this case to send out a clear message to businesses: they cannot, without impunity, reach agreements to provide operational, material or technical support to regimes who commit serious violations of human rights. In July 2012, the FIDH used the same arguments to provide information to and to request judicial intervention from the Paris Prosecutors Office against Qosmos, a French company that sold surveillance equipment to the regime of Bachar El Assad in Syria. The LAG / JAG also provided assistance to migrants left to die on a boat adrift in the Mediterranean, by supporting the initiatives undertaken in various European countries (see Priority 3). Since 1988, the FIDH and its member organisations, the CALDH and the CDHG, have been part of a very small number of organisations actively working to end impunity for the perpetrators of genocide in Guatemala. The FIDH provided assistance to the Spanish and Guatemalan organisations with the Spanish proceedings against then President of Guatemala Efrain Rios Montt; and, participated in advocating for the creation of a International Commission to fight impunity in Guatemala (Commission international contra la impunidad en Guatemala - CICIG) and for justice for the victims of genocide through missions that addressed national authorities represented in European Union entities based in Brussels and in International organisations in Geneva. In December 2012, The FIDH approached Guatemalan embassies and published along with others, in the Guatemalan press, an insert to alert the public to the risk of amnesty being granted to General Rios Montt.
for human rights violations, specifically in cases questioning the rights of the persons who are members of the LGBT community and the rights of migrants and asylum seekers. The aim is to advocate for the harmonisation of laws in the EU relative to the rights of members of the LGBTI community and of migrants so that they are respectful of fundamental rights, particularly equality and non-discrimination. In May, FIDH, along with its member-organization in Finland and ILGA-Europe, requested to intervene as a third-party in A.E. vs. Finland, in which an Iranian citizen contested his denial for asylum in Finland, on the basis of the risk of discrimination he would face in his country because of his homosexuality. In July, FIDH and other organizations acting as a third party, submitted written comments on X vs. Austria; the case involved a same-sex couple who were denied second-parent adoption. Subsequently, in October 2012, the legal representative for the FIDH participated in a hearing, for the same case, before the Grand Chamber of the ECHR. On 31 December 2011, the FIDH requested evidence from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in a case against the Chile involving racial discrimination of the indigenous Mapuche people in the application of anti-terrorist legislation. During the course of 2012, Chile attempted to tamper with two witnesses by getting them to sign documents in which they unknowingly agreed to pull out of the case. In October, the InterAmerican Court ruled in favour of the FIDH and declared the signed agreements null and void. That December, a delegation from FIDH went to La Araucana region to collect depositions made by approximately forty witnesses. The depositions will be submitted to the court during the trial, which is scheduled to start in May 2013.
After the hearing, the PSC made a public declaration in which it, [] reiterated the commitment of the AU to the fight against impunity, and stressed the importance of international and transitional justice in the promotion of peace and security in Africa, and the need, in the context of the search for solutions to crises and conflicts and in view of the fragility of the peace and reconciliation processes on the continent, to ensure that they are mutually reinforcing. This was the first time that the AU had used such positive language with regard to the role of the ICC, a clear turnaround from previous decisions. This newfound perspective may open the door for greater cooperation between the ICC and the AU. The hearing was followed by a seminar on justice, jointly organised at AU headquarters by FIDH and the Regional Bureau of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The seminar was aimed at ambassadors who are members of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) of the African Union and who had expressly requested the seminar, which sought to promote exchange on the issues, challenges and future of the fight against impunity in Africa. The seminar further sought to support the application of the recommendations expressed through independent human rights evaluation mechanisms, including UN treaty bodies and special procedures.
Applications before the African Commission and the Court on Human and Peoples' Rights are addressed in the section on Priority 1 (statements against Soudan) and Priority 6 (the application against Libya). Advocacy activities In 2012 FIDH worked to counter restrictive legal aid reforms that had been initiated by State Parties to the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the end of 2011. A large number of advocacy activities were conducted and position papers published in collaboration with the International Coalition for the ICC. FIDH presented a position paper focusing on legal aid at the 11th Assembly of State Parties in November 2012. The paper was presented during a panel on reform that was attended by all delegates involved with the ICCs Registry, the focal point for States, legal counsel for victims, and NGOs. In a bid to tackle the strong sentiment that the ICC is partial towards prosecuting African crimes reinforced by the fact that all cases so far heard by the Court involve African States FIDH has, for many years, sought to engage AU members on the issue of international justice and to raise awareness on the role of the ICC. These advocacy activities culminated in 2012, with a session before the Peace and Security Council, followed by a seminar on international justice (see Focus 1).
FOCUS
The African Union and International Justice In December 2012, FIDH was invited by the Presidency of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) to provide comments during a hearing on human rights protection and the prevention and settlement of conflicts in Africa. FIDH is the first international human rights organisation to be asked to speak before this body during a public session. FIDH called on the PSC to make the fight against impunity for the most serious offences a priority. It asked the PSC to support efforts to administer justice before national courts and before the ICC when national authorities lack the capacity or desire to effectively bring perpetrators to trial. FIDH also called on the PSC to promote stronger and more universal action on the part of the ICC to put an end to the doublestandard bias, wherein there are no cases involving countries outside of Africa before the Court.
FIDH has had a longstanding involvement in legal cases and advocacy activities aimed at bringing former Chadian President, Hissene Habre, to trial. Habre has been exiled in Senegal since 1990. Efforts to bring about his prosecution led to the signing of an agreement on 22 August, between the AU and Senegal on the creation of Extraordinary African Chambers. These Chambers would enable thousands of Hissene Habres victims to exercise their right to justice and remedy. The agreement provides for the first case to be heard in Africa of a former head of state accused of crimes against humanity on the basis of extra-territorial jurisdiction. FIDH and its Legal Action Group will continue to work with the international coalition to help victims in Chad fully participate in proceedings set to start in 2013. FIDHs advocacy for the creation in France of a police unit specialised in investigating international crimes were instrumental to the establishment of such a unit in January 2012. Initially the unit was designated insufficient resources in light of the high number of cases with which it was entrusted (90% being cases started by FIDH or in which FIDH and the French LDH were defending victims). FIDH continued to lobby the French authorities, eventually obtaining more appropriate resources than initially granted. French legislation dated 9 August 2010, aimed at aligning French law with the Rome Statute, introduced mechanisms for extraterritorial jurisdiction for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. However, this law was unanimously decried by human rights NGOs, the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) for the incorporation of four conditions that made it impossible for victims to present their cases before French courts. In 2012, FIDH, together with the French coalition for the ICC, continued to advocate for draft legislation to abrogate this four conditions. These conditions require that a suspects usual place of residence be France; that only the Public Prosecutor is able to initiate proceedings; that the condition of double criminality be met (i.e. the offence must be an offence in France and in the country where it was committed); and a prior decision by the ICC on competence must be issued.
RESULTS The following are examples of some of the results achieved in this area: International Criminal Court FIDH recommendations were followed: legal aid reform was, in part, postponed by the States to 2013 to allow for better consultation, and was made part of a more global reform of victims rights; the Peace and Security Council of the African Union adopted a declaration on the importance of international justice and the need for its integration into conflict settlement; African Union ambassadors were made aware of existing regional and international justice mechanisms. National level In January 2012 criminal proceedings were initiated against former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt in Guatemala; in May 2012, a judicial investigation was opened to look into the possible criminal liability of French firm Amesys and that of the firms management for complicity in torture for the its supply of surveillance equiptment to the Libyan regime; in July 2012, the State Prosecutors office in Paris opened a preliminary investigation into the French company Qosmos for complicity in abuses related to its relations with the Syrian regime; in July 2012, the International Court of Justice asked Senegal to bring Hissene Habre to trial on the basis of its obligation to prosecute or extradite. An agreement was reached between the African Union and Senegal to establish Extraordinary African Chambers to bring Hissene Habre to trial. These accomplishments were the fruit of ten years of advocacy by FIDH; France created a unit specialised in international crime and, after significant FIDH campaigning allocated it additional resources (September), including three investigating magistrates, two assistant prosecutors and two specialised assistants. Cases assigned to various tribunals were transferred to the unit; among them were the Brazzaville Beach (DRC) case and the Ung Boun Hor (Cambodia) case. French senators presented draft legislation to abrogate the four conditions for the application of extra-territorial jurisdiction in crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in September 2012.
ssisting more than 100 victims of the Nahibly and post-electoral crisis in front of the Ivorian justice, FIDH and its members are the only ones to actually act in the fight against impunity and for the targeting of all criminals, indifferently of their side. This is crucial in the present and future context .
Drissa Traor, President of the Ivorian Movement for Human Rights

International fact-finding and judicial missions: 15 ( Chile, Colombia, Haiti, Panama, Cambodia, Libya, Syria) Advocacy Campaigns: 5 (Cte d'Ivoire, Guinea, DRC) Press releases: 120 Judicial and quasi-judicial procedures: 80 judicial and quasi-judicial procedures in support of 500 victims seeking justice for serious human rights violations committed in 35 countries. Strategy meetings and training: - Strategy seminar on fighting impunity for sexual crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo; - Regular strategy meetings with the ICC concerning situations in Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, DRC, and Guinea; - Strategy meetings with lawyers working on a case involving migrants left adrift in the Partnerships: Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Working Group on victims rights, International Committee for the Fair Trial of Hissene Habre, TRACES and National coalitions for the ICC. Mediterranean to die. -Strategy meetings and training seminars organised with the LAG for West Africa and European Union contacts points for international crimes. - Training seminars organised for ambassadors who are members of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) of the African Union (Addis Ababa); training also organised for lawyers on: how to document international crimes (Libya), justice systems (Tunisia), and judicial and quasi-judicial procedures (Syria) Guinea: Fight against impunity in Guinea: progress observed, actions awaited (FR, ENG), September 2012 Mali: War crimes in North Mali, (FR, ENG), July 2012 West Africa: Conjuguer la paix, la scurit et la justice pour construire un espace respectueux des droits humains, (FR), June 2012 Colombia: The war is measured in liters of blood. False positive, crime against humanity : those enjoy impunity (SPA, ENG), May 2012 Cambodia / ECCC: Victime's rights before the ECCC: a mix record for several parties (FR, ENG) December 2012 ICC: 2002 - 2012: 10 years, 10 recommandations for an efficient and independance International Criminal Court (FR, SPA, ENG, ARAB), September 2012 ICC: Position paper for the 11th Assembly of the States Parties to the Rome Statute Cutting the weakest link - Budget Discussions and their Impact on Victims Rights to Participate in the Proceedings, (ENG), November 2012
Reports
Kenya: On the road to the general elections in 2013. Justice is still a key element to avoid post-electoral violence to occur again. Copyright: Getty Images / AFP.
Promoting effective and fair justice systems

In 2012, the movement to abolish capital punishment made progress. Mongolia and Benin ratified the second optional to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on abolition of the death penalty. The Dominican Republic also ratified the protocol additional to the American Convention on Human Rights (thePact of San Jos) to abolish the death penalty, whilst Latvia abolished it for all types of crime. In the United States, Connecticut became the 17th state to abolish the death penalty. Activism on the death penalty led to a United Nations resolution for a universal moratorium on the death penalty, adopted by the General Assembly, with 110 countries in favour, 36 abstaining and 39 against. This vote reflected heightening consensus on the need for the penaltys cessation since the last vote on this issue. Mobilisation around this matter is important as in 2012 nevertheless also many countries brake the moratorium by conducting executions, including Taiwan, Japan, India, Pakistan, and the Gambia. Iran and China continued their broad application of death sentences, which were frequently imposed following unfair and opaque trials. The movement to abolish the death penalty encountered many challenges in 2012 that FIDHhas worked to overcome. The first of these challenges was obtaining information; many countries conduct executions with secrecy. The second challenge was strengthening the advocacy tools used by human rights organisations working to abolish the death penalty. FIDH has sought to better equip organisations to deal with the broad range of resistance they encounter, including sectarian, political, social, and religious arguments. Of pivotal importance is the creation of regional and international standards that are conducive to the abolition of the death penalty. Part of the joint action carried out by FIDH and its members and partners on the effective and fair administration of justice is focused on combating torture and freeing political prisoners. FIDH has been working to combat enforced disappearances for many years, its involvement contributing ultimately to the drafting and adoption of the InternationalConventionfor the Protection of All Persons fromEnforced Disappearance, which entered into force in December 2010. Only 36 States have ratified this instrument. and these crimes are still committed on a large scale, particularly in conflict and crisis situations in Africa. Documenting these cases remains complex and any legal remedies available nationally to the families of victims are frequently hindered by a lack of independent justice systems.
In 2012, terrorist attacks continued and the fight against these terrible acts gave way, in certain cases, to violations of rights guaranteed by international human rights conventions. Certain states continued to use the fight against terrorism as a pretext to repress non-violent forms of protest. Certain intergovernmental mechanisms and instruments used to fight terrorism, such as the Shanghai Coordination Organisation, are still used to violate human rights. The main actions undertaken by FIDH in 2012 were in line with agreed target situation.
Chinese soldiers marching in front of the flags of the Shangai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States. FIDH Report: SCO: A Vehicle for Human Rights Violations. Copyright: AFP Photo / Maxim Marmur
FIDH in action
Progress on the universal abolition of the death penalty FIDH continued to denounce the death penalty in Belarus, Gambia, Iran, Japan, and Taiwan. It reacted to the renewal of executions in Gambia by contributing to enhansing pressure from the international community for the Gambian authorities not to execute those on death row. FIDH organised two death penalty fact-finding missions to Asia: one to Taiwan and one to Seoul on the death penalty in North Korea. The objective of these missions was to shed light on failures to apply rules of procedure which resulted in death sentences, to obtain information on the number of executions taking place and the conditions under which they were conducted, and, on the later mission, to document testimonie provided by North Korean nationals who had fled to South Korea. In Asia, the continent with the greatest number of death-penalty retentionist countries, FIDH and its member organisation the UCL organised a seminar on the death penalty in Thailand. During the seminar activists from several countries in the region (Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Indonesia) were
able to share their experiences. The seminar took place at a time when Thai authorities had decided to open a national debate on the abolition of the death penalty. The Thai authorities attended this seminar and actively participated in discussions, giving them an opportunity to hear arguments in favour of abolition. FIDH also continued to advocate for the adoption of a Protocol to the African Charter on the abolition of death penalty.In April, FIDH contributed to the public launch of a Study by the Working Group on the issue of Death Penalty in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR). FIDH contributed to the Working Groups study, which recommends the adoption of the Protocol; in August 2012, FIDH, acted as an observer, and also participated in a meeting of this Working Group in Johannesburg. On 10 October, the World Day Against the Death Penalty, FIDH helped to organise a panel discussion on the abolition of the death penalty in Africa during the 52nd session of the ACHPR. It also contributed to a seminar on the same issue organised at the French Embassy in Addis Ababa for ambassadors of the African Union. On these occasions FIDH advocated for the adoption of the Protocol and to that end produced several short video recordings of African human rights defenders calling for the abolition of the death penalty on the continent. The videos were posted on FIDHs website. FIDH pursued cooperation with the World Coalition against the Death Penalty, in working towards the universal abolition of capital punishment and, in the interim, on establishing a moratorium in countries that still apply it. FIDH Deputy Secretary General Florence Bellivier is currently president of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Promoting independent justice systems and the fight against torture FIDH has supported two of its member organisations to submit alternative reports to the United Nation Committee on Torture, during the examination of Russia and Armenia. The report on Russia documented police violence against marginalised groups (the Roma, migrants, members of LGBTI communities, dissidents, and human rights defenders). These violent acts constitute a violation of international law as well as Russias new law on the police, which entered into force in March 2011 and establishes principles on police responsibility and non-discrimination. The report on Armenia was submitted by FIDH member, the Civil Society Institute (CSI), and describes instances of State failure to prevent and repress torture and abuse. In October, FIDH called upon the President of Armenia to follow the recommendations made by the Committee on Torture. 2012 also saw FIDH conduct a fact-finding mission to Moldavia investigate torture and the administration of justice. Issues addressed included the video recording of police interrogations, which have yet to be put in place; obstacles in the system of court appointed lawyers for defendants; the weak medical assessment system and complaints about lawyers and judges not being followed up or concluding with very low penalties where wrongdoing is found. FIDH worked with its local partner organisation, PROMO-LEX, meeting with authorities, visiting three prisons and speaking to numerous victims of human rights violations, some of them in Transnistrie.
This region has unilaterally declared its independence, but has not been recognised by any member of the international community, though it does have a government and independent agencies. The report published in November 2012 on a fact-finding mission to Mauritania shed light on the deficiencies of judicial power and pointed to the practice of torture in prisons with impunity. The report also looked into the illegal removal or demotion of magistrates in 2011. FIDH, its member organisation the AMDH and the International Conference of Bars of Common Legal Tradition submitted the case to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. Finally, subsequent to an international fact-finding mission to South Sudan, FIDH published a report that can be used by authorities, a year after independence, as a road map to consolidate the framework for constitutional and legal standards protecting human rights. The authors of the report specifically emphasised the need to reform the judicial system and to improve conditions in prisons. The fight against enforced disappearances In November 2012, FIDH participated in the first meeting of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances to be held on working methods. At the meeting FIDH presented its recommendations to the Committee on how it could strengthen its interaction with civil society and make its actions more effective. In addition to the legal activities conducted by FIDH and its member organisation in Guinea, the OGDH, to bring perpetrators of serious crimes committed on and around 28 September 2009 to justice (part 6), 25 cases of enforced disappearances where documented in 2012 using oral reports provided by victims families. The cases will be submitted to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in 2013. In April, the publication of FIDHs conclusions from its factfinding mission to Chad gave rise to a survey on how the authorities politically and legally attend to serious human rights violations committed by all belligerents, and specifically to those committed by the army during the coup dtat in 2008. FIDH made explicit reference to the authorities failure to react to enforced disappearances, including that of the main political opponent Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh. One of the objectives of the report was to call for the publication of the report of the National Committee that monitors the investigation conducted by the National Commission on the events that occurred in 2008. FIDH and its member organisation the CFDA followed up the proceedings regarding the communication they submitted to the ACHPR against Algeria on disappearances that occurred during the civil war years. FIDH also submitted to the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances the case of two Mexican human rights defenders.
Press conference in Taipei in April 2013, on the occasion of the launch of FIDH and Taiwan Association for Human Rights investigative report on "The hidden face of Taiwan: lessons learnt from the ICCPR/ICESCR review process". Copyright: TAHR.
RESULTS The following are some of the outcomes achieved in this area: The death penalty The mobilisation of the international community led to the halting of executions in Gambia; ambassadors to the African Union supported the adoption of the Protocol additional to the African Charter on the death penalty in Africa; the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution for a moratorium on the death penalty. Enforced disappearances The United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances accepted certain FIDH recommendations on how to improve its working methods, in particular the use of working languages that correspond to the situation, the use of video-teleconferencing technology to increase access and provide greater confidentiality in communicating with civil society representatives;
Thailand signed the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (January 2012) and promised to accelerate the ratification procedure.
Promoting independent justice systems and of the fight against torture Recommendations made by FIDH and its member organisations were included among the final observations made by the United Nations Committee on Torture to Russia and Armenia; in Mauritania, four magistrates who had been removed from the positions arbitrarily were reinstated (April); the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted (October) a resolution that created a definition for the term political prisoner subsequent to research and advocacy activities conducted by FIDH and its member organisations in the region.

International fact-finding missions and legal missions: 5 (Mauritania, South Sudan, South Korea, Taiwan, Moldavia) Press releases: 30 Judicial and quasi-judicial procedures: - UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances: Communications submitted against Chad and Mexico - UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances: Syrian and Mexican Cases Advocacy and training activities on the abolition of death penalty: ACHPR, African Union, Thailand (with Asian NGOs). Partnerships: World Coalition Against the Death Penalty; Anti Death Penalty Asia Network; International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances. Mauritania: Criticizing governance a risky business (FR, ENG), May 2012 South Sudan: South Sudan : First Anniversary of Independence: Time to Act for Peace and Human Rights Protection (FR, ENG), November 2012
Reports
Priority 5
Strengthening respect for human rights in the context of globalisation

In a climate of heightened economic crisis, this year was marked by both progress and regression in the recognition of economic, social and cultural rights and corporate responsibility. The year 2012 saw an increase in ratifications of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR, permitting this instrument to come into force in the first quarter of 2013. In addition, the adoption (in 2011) of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights proved to be a turning point in debates on businesses and human rights in 2012. Despite their imperfections and divergent approaches to their interpretation, the Principles have precipitated the launch of discussions at national and regional levels on how States should fulfil their responsibility to protect human rights against corporate activities. On the other hand, the economic crisis and the wave of austerity policies with which it has been met have weaken the social and economic rights of the most marginalised and vulnerable in society, including in developed countries. Crisis and growing competition with emerging economies create further arguments for not placing additional demands on companies in the global North. States are particularly reticent with regard to imposing legal regulation on companies domiciled in their territory when they operate abroad. Despite formal reaffirmation of the right to effective recourse for victims of human rights violations involving companies, available remedies remain extremely vague (particularly notable are the risks of damage caused by the United States ATCA). Moreover, the non-judicial remedies often promoted in current debates on this issue are presently wholly inadequate remediation. Finally, in the face of a global race for access to natural resources, defenders of rights to land, water and a healthy environment who denounce the effects of investment projects, are particular targets of repression (see priority defenders). In order to refine its strategy in the area of corporate responsibility, FIDH brought together over twenty of its member and partner associations at an international seminar in Lima in July 2012. This seminar allowed for the formalisation in the Lima Declaration of the various approaches to be implemented by FIDH, its members and partners.
FIDH in action
> Contributing to the accountability of economic stakeholders

Documenting the impact of corporate activities on human rights In 2012, FIDH published a report of its fact-finding mission on the rights of migrant workers in strawberry fields in Spain, highlighting the effects of circular migration. The report was given broad press coverage and resulted in commitments by the Carrefour distribution group to respect the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and also to attend to the rights of workers in its supply chain in Europe. Two missions to China and Bangladesh were undertaken through FIDHs partnership with Carrefour. A report on important recent developments in the field of workers rights in China will be published in 2013. In order to support civil society organisations that have for years denounced the destructive impact of the La Oroya metallurgical complex in the Peruvian Andes, FIDH carried out a factfinding mission in July 2012, resulting in the presentation of a report at the first annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in December. The report, published at a time when the US corporation in question had begun international legal proceedings against Peru, highlights the risks that those proceedings allow trade law considerations to trump human rights and environmental norms.
Training workshop of representatives of the Bolivian civil society on mecanisms of corporate accountability (Santa Cruz, Bolivia, July 2012). Copyright: FIDH
At the request of its affiliate in Bolivia, at the end of 2012 FIDH undertook a mission to evaluate the conditions in which consultations took place with indigenous communities in Bolivias TIPNIS National Park and Indigenous Territory. These communities had been confronted with a plan for a highway between two oceans that would cut cross their land. Use of legal levers and redress mechanisms FIDH continues to monitor cases on which it has worked with its member leagues to make use of the various levers to bring about changes in behaviour. On the effects of the mining and steel industry in Brazil, FIDH pursued its dialogue with mining giant, Vale, on the recommendations made in its 2011 report. A report on the effects of large scale mining in Ecuador was also communicated to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights together with documents updated by FIDH organisations at the time of the Committees review of Ecuador. In Cambodia FIDH again met the Socfin corporation in order to obtain improvements for the indigenous peoples affected by the companys rubber plantations. FIDH supported victims of house demolitions in the village of Kawama in the DRC, bringing their case against Forrest International to the Belgian OECD National Contact Point in the hope of securing compensation for the victims. FIDH and its partners, RAID and ACIDH, regretted that the mediation initiative failed without offering a satisfactory solution for the villagers. This illustrates the shortcomings of non-judicial remedies for victims of corporate abuse. An investigation has been opened in the case against Amesys, a corporation against whom FIDH filed a complaint in 2011 for complicity in torture for supplying surveillance equipment to
Libya. FIDH helped 5 Libyan victims to be admitted to this case as civil parties. FIDH also brought to the attention of the French courts information concerning the Qosmos corporation, which has also provided this type of service to Syria (see Priority 4). Corporations are a focus of FIDH advocacy because they are powerful stakeholders and can make both positive and negative contributions to change wherever they invest or obtain supplies. For example, FIDH has questioned European banks concerning their activities in Belarus. FIDH also encourages distribution companies to monitor the correct labelling of products from Israeli settlements in Palestinian Occupied Territories, whilst holding talks with national and European authorities on ways to implement the European stand on these illegal settlements and, at the same time, laws on consumer protection. Reinforcing the legal framework In addition to litigating against corporations, FIDH works to reinforce the legal framework in which they operate by formulating proposals to improve the regulation of companies and make it easier for victims to obtain effective remedies, especially in the home states of transnational corporations. FIDH particularly builds on the alleged willingness of European States to put into practice their obligation to protect human rights. For example, at European Union (EU) level, FIDH contributes to discussions on the content of corporate human rights due diligenceand ways of incorporating this obligation with respect to corporations into European legislation, within the framework of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ). In 2012, the ECCJ (chaired by FIDH in that year) took action to promote greater transparency among European corporations by supporting a new European Commission legislative proposal on an obligation for large companies to report on their social
and environmental impact. To encourage the UN Working Group on business and human rights to steer its work towards a theme it considers crucial, FIDH tried to raise the Working Groups awarness of the extraterritorial obligations of States as laid down in the Maastricht Principles an expert opinion adopted in 2011. FIDH also agreed to organise a session on victims access to justice during the first UN Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights in December 2012. Here, victims and lawyers illustrated the often insurmountable obstacles that victims continue to encounter in their search for justice against powerful corporations. FIDH agreed to make proposals to the Working Group as to its future activities and also drew attention to the threats and repression that people who denounce economic projects continue to suffer. The applicability of the US Alien Tort Claims Act to economic stakeholders is currently being argued in the United States Supreme Court in the Kiobel case. This debate risks narrowing the conditions under which foreign victims of corporate actions may file complaints in US courts. In order to defend a progressive interpretation of the Act, FIDH and its US affiliate, the Center for Constitutional Rights, jointly submitted two amicus curiae briefs to the Supreme Court. The amicus briefs argue that on the basis of international law and practices in other countries, it is appropriate for violations committed abroad to be tried on US territory and that there is a need to hold legal entities responsible for serious human rights violations. FIDH took part in drafting a civil society contribution on corporate responsibility in ASEAN countries submitted to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), whose study on corporate social responsibility (CSR) is due to be published shortly. In 2012 FIDH rejoined the Finance Watch coalition in order to support efforts aimed at regulating the activities of financial stakeholders who have been criticised for their role in the current crisis.
Encouraging corporations to put due diligance into practice In parallel to its work to reinforce the regulation of corporations regarding human rights, FIDH encourages businesses to take measures to ensure their activities are respectful of human rights. As part of its cooperation with French retail group Carrefour, FIDH undertook two missions to the groups suppliers in China and Bangladesh. These missions are to lead to discussions with Carrefour on ways of improving supplier working conditions. FIDH is taking part in discussions within the Global Social Compliance Programme, which brings together major global distribution corporations to speed up harmonisation of practices with regard to social rights vis vis their suppliers. In addition, through its philanthropic ethical fund, Liberts et Solidarit, which invests in State shares and bonds, FIDH analyses corporate practices in relation to human rights and respect for the environment. In 2012, FIDH published a study of the 27 countries in the European Union on respect for human rights and the environment. This study was based on 12 human rights-related criteria and 2 criteria relating to the environment comprising over sixty indicators. It enables an investment strategy to be defined for investment in public sector bonds on the basis of human rights considerations. Training local activists FIDH has continued to support training for local activists regarding available mechanisms for challenging corporate responsibility, presented in its guide on corporations and human rights. For example, FIDH has published an updated version of this guide in French and English. This tool was used as the basis for a civil society training seminar in Santa Cruz in Bolivia, at a presentation during the civil society alternative forum to the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, and at an international seminar held in Lima in Peru in July 2012 where over 20 FIDH members from different continents participated in discussing the best strategies for our movement in this field. The Lima Declaration is, in a way, a roadmap for future action.
Tag against the NGOs who denounce the negative effects of the poly-metallic smelter in operation in La Oroya on human rights and the environment (Peru). Copyright: FIDH. Crdit : FIDH
International seminar in Lima, Peru (July 2012), on corporate accountability in matters of human rights with the participation of more than 20 FIDH member organisations from different continents. Copyright: FIDH.
> Promoting State respect for economic, social and cultural rights
Supporting local activists FIDH tries to increase the mobilisation of its member organisations in promoting economic and social rights. As such, it enabled some of its francophone members to take part in a seminar organised by ESCR-Net in South Africa on litigation strategies for ESCR, and on the African strategy with regard to the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR. In partnership with the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, FIDH organised an event in collaboration with the International Commission of Jurists and ESCR-Net in Tunis in May 2012 to discuss Tunisias opportunities, during its transition, to reinforce the protection and implementation of ESCRs in its future Constitution, as well as to ratify the ICESCRs Optional Protocol. Protect and reinforce legal responsibility for ESCR In relation to the documentation of violations of economic and social rights, following up on the denunciation of appalling working conditions in ship-breaking yards in Bangladesh and India, December 2012 saw FIDH support a Pakistani NGO Ship-breaking Platform, to gather data on the rights of workers in yards in Pakistan, on which very little information has thus far been available. FIDH supports its member organisations to use existing human rights protection mechanisms, especially the UN Committee on ESCR. In 2012, FIDH invited its leagues in Ecuador to present their concerns to this Committee, particularly relating to the development of mining in the country. FIDH supported the visit of a Kuwaiti organisation to Geneva to discuss with Committee experts the little known situation of womens economic and social rights in Kuwait. FIDH is assisting its Iranian member organisation in the preparation of a report on fundamental rights in the workplace in Iran for a review of that country due to take place in 2013. FIDH also drew the Committees attention to the findings of its mission to Spain (see above). In 2012, FIDH
monitored the collective complaints filed with its Greek and Belgian leagues with the European Committee of Social Rights. In order to reinforce legal responsibility for ESCR, FIDH argued before the Tunisian Constituent Assembly for provisions protecting ESCR in the future constitution. Through its role on the Steering Committee of the NGO Coalition for the Optional Protocol, in particular, FIDH encourages States to ratify the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR. FIDH has focused its efforts on the African continent as no African State has yet ratified the instrument. FIDHs work with the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) in April resulted in the adoption of an ACHPR resolution in support of the Protocol. FIDH has also seen its efforts over the past years come to fruition in France, where the government announced its signature of the instrument. FIDH continues to advocate for the implementation of States extra-territorial obligations. In particular, it pushes States to ensure that free trade agreements do not contribute to human rights violations by encouraging the carrying out human rights impact assessments. In 2012, FIDHs work particularly focused on the negotiation of a free trade agreement between the EU, Colombia and Peru. Thanks to the mobilisation of European MPs, FIDH managed to ensure that implementation of the agreement be conditional upon the development of a roadmap (see Priority 6 on Colombia). RESULTS The following are some examples of the results achieved by work under this priority: The Decision of the European Committee of Social Rights on the right to housing for Travellers in Belgium (21 March 2012) confirming the rights violation after a collective complaint was filed on behalf of the Belgian League, and recalling the States obligations to guarantee access to housing with respect for Travellers traditional way of life;
the Decision on the admissibility of another complaint against Belgium concerning persons with disabilities (22 March 2012); the signature of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR by France in December 2012; the opening of an enquiry in France against the Amesys corporation for complicity in torture; the adoption by the Cambodian government of a directive to temporarily suspend the granting of land concessions (May), and the adoption of a resolution by the European Parliament in October on trade between the EU and Cambodia (see Focus 1); the appeal by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights to African States to ratify the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR (April); the expression of concern by the Committee on ESCR about the lack of consultation with indigenous peoples
on projects for the mining of natural resources and its call to Ecuador to ensure that it does not criminalise social protest (December); the Kuwaiti organisation invited to Geneva by FIDH expressed its wish to continue working with FIDH and has applied for membership; the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for a roadmap for human rights to be drawn up as a condition for the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement between the EU, Peru and Colombia (May); the adoption by Panama of a new law to protect indigenous people from mining concessions, which FIDH had called for in several press releases that were well-publicised in the national press; Carrefour has made commitments on ways to improve working conditions at its suppliers in Bangladesh and in China.

International fact-finding missions and judicial missions: 5 (Bolivia, Peru, Bangladesh, China, Libya) National advocacy missions: 2 (Cambodia) Press releases: 40 Judicial and quasi-judicial procedures: - OECD National Contact Points: mediation procedure before Belgiums OECD National Contact Point concerning forcible evictions in Katanga, DRC - Before the French courts: proceedings opened in the Amesys Case for complicity in acts of torture in Libya and investigation instigated into the Qosmos Case concerning Syria - European Committee of Social Rights: two cases brought against Belgium (discrimination against travellers; the rights of persons with disabilities) and one against Greece (pollution). Advocacy activities: support for defendPartnerships: European Coalition for Corporate Justice; ESCR-Net, International Trade Union Confederatio, RAID, ACIDH, Finance Watch, NGOs coaltion for Optional Protocol to the ICESCR. Strategy and training seminars: - Training and discussion seminars on corporate responsibility (Bolivia), economic and social rights (Tunisia), the litigation strategy for ESCR, and the African strategy with regard to the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR (South Africa) - International seminar in Peru in July 2012 ers in Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos to discuss the influence of agreements between the EU and these four countries on economic and social rights in these countries; and assistance to groups from Haiti, Kuwait and Ecuador with UN mechanisms. Peru: Metallurgical Complex of La Oroya: When investor protection threatens human rights, (SP, ENG), December 2012 Cambodia: Briefing note on the right to land: Cambodia: A Mounting Human Rights Crisis, (ENG), September 2012 Spain: Importing workers, exporting strawberries, (FR, SP, ENG), January 2012 Israel/OPT: Trading away peace: How Europe helps sustain illegal Israeli settlements, (FR, ENG), Collective report October 2012
Reports
FOCUS
FIDH action on the negative effects of agricultural land concessions to corporations in Cambodia Following the publication of a fact-finding mission report on the negative effects of agricultural land concessions to corporations (see Land cleared for rubber rights bulldozed, published in 2011), and in response to the increasing repression of defenders of the right to land in Cambodia, FIDH and Cambodian and international organisations developed their advocacy on land concessions to the national authorities and European institutions. In particular, they call for the European Commission to open an enquiry under the System of tariff preferences Everything But Arms initiative, of which Cambodia is a beneficiary, and whose perverse effect would be to speed up the accumulation of land in order to export agricultural produce to the EU. In line with the recommendations of FIDH and its Cambodian member organisations, on 7 May 2012 the Cambodian Prime Minister published a directive to freeze the granting of land concessions. The directive also stipulates that concessions may be withdrawn from any company that has violated applicable procedures and contracts. However, the directive has not completely ended the granting of concessions and there is no systematic review of those that have already been granted such a concession. Indeed, attacks against defenders have increased, as FIDH showed in a briefing note entitled A mounting human rights crisis, published in September 2012. Calls for a European investigation into the situation have been made repeatedly over the past two years to the European Commissioner for Trade, Karel de Gutch. Requests were made again through a joint letter in June 2012, written by ten Cambodian and international organisations, including FIDH, and once more most
recently by representatives of Cambodian communities affected by land-grabbing for sugar plantations. On 24 September 2012, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Cambodia, Surya Subedi, stated that: there are well documented, serious and widespread human rights violations associated with land concessions, thus providing considerable support to the repeated allegations of NGOs. A resolution was adopted by the European Parliament on 26 October, calling on the European Commission to investigate human rights violations in Cambodia. Although the Commission is reluctant to begin an investigation, it has assured that greater importance will be placed on this issue. EU Strategic framework and Action Plan on Human Rights On 25 June 2012, the European Union adopted its new strategic framework on human rights and democracy, accompanied by an action plan detailing objectives, responsibilities and timetabling. FIDH has been consulted throughout the development of this framework and seen a number of priorities that it has defended in recent years enshrined in the document. The strategic framework stresses the EUs commitment to reinforcing the coherence of its policies and respecting the universality of human rights. The strategic framework emphasises the EU undertaking to integrate human rights in all areas of its external action without exception. It therefore encompasses EU policies on trade, investment, technology and telecommunications, Internet, energy, environment, corporate social responsibility and development, as well as the EUs Common Security and Defence Policy, the external dimensions of employment and social policy and the area of freedom, security and justice, includ-
ing counter-terrorism. Priorities have been identified regarding freedom of expression, support for defenders, the fight against torture and impunity, and stronger collaboration with multilateral institutions. FIDH recommendations have also been translated into numerous points of the action plan. As an example, the European Union has committed to incorporating human rights into impact assessments, in particular those carried out prior to the finalisation of trade agreements. It has also agreed to developing a methodology to assist consideration of the human rights situation in third countries in connection with the launch or conclusion of trade and/ or investment agreements. The European Union has made various specific commitments to deepen its partnership with civil society and strengthen the links between its activities and human rights assessment. It commits to developing priorities and closer monitoring procedures, especially in relation to dialogue with third countries, including at the highest level, as well as in relation to the development of its policies and programmes and their implementation. The action plan offers perspectives for working towards the more coherent application of its conditionality strategies. Finally, the European Union has committed to developing working methods to ensure the best articulation between dialogue, targeted support, incentives and restrictive measures. FIDH will pursue its advocacy to the European Union with a view to securing the effective implementation of its strategic framework and action plan. In addition, it will work to reinforce tools, whether for monitoring the coherence or complementarity of European policies, actions and instruments or to reinforce further the integration of human rights in all areas of the Unions external action.
Priority 6
Conflicts, closed countries and countries in transition

North Africa and the Middle East
Context and issues
The 2011 revolutions in the Arab world have changed the political and social landscape in the region. Civil society and the governments of the region now face major challenges. Syria has been the scene of the most heinous crimes, which according to the United Nations, led to over 60,000 deaths by the end of 2012. The indiscriminate repression practised by the authorities, which can be qualified as crimes against humanity, has been compounded by war crimes committed during the fighting between government forces and the armed opposition. The population is suffering a major humanitarian crisis and there are now several million internally displaced persons, while hundreds of thousands have sought refuge, principally in neighbouring countries. Despite the severity of the crisis, the Security Council, faced with Russian and Chinese vetoes, has been unable to adopt a resolution on the Syrian situation, let alone condemn the international crimes and threaten their perpetrators with criminal prosecution through the International Criminal Court. In Bahrain, repression has been stepped up against government critics and those who speak out against the failure to implement commitments made by the King and, in particular, the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI). Arrests, criminal trials and other forms of intimidation have been visited on human rights defenders and more influential political campaigners to deter them from the work of documenting violations and engaging in advocacy, especially on the international plane. For instance, Nabeel Rajab, FIDH Deputy Secretary General and President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was sentenced to two years in prison in December 2012. Other countries in the region, including Morocco, Algeria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are still experiencing sporadic waves of protest, which, at times, have contributed to the authorities adopting partial reforms. It is very likely that further protests and high political and social instability will ensue where governments have been unable or unwilling to respond to the aspirations of their citizens. In Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen transition has been marked by many challenges: the emergence of new political players who do not promote democratic values, the rise of political Islamism, the remains of old regimes and persistent internal conflicts. These circumstances hamper the ability of democrats to effect reforms, as many of them are coming under great pressure. This may well reverse the progress achieved by the revolutions. The risk of the reemergence of nationalism and divisive cultural approaches threatens human rights and their universality, including women's rights. In these conditions, it is essential to support national democrats to help them influence reforms. In Egypt, more than a year after the popular uprising of 25 January 2011 and the blatant human rights violations perpetrated by the security services in its wake, victims are still denied justice. With the notable exception of the criminal proceedings against former President Mubarak and his Minister of the Interior, just one sentence has been handed down, in absentia, against a police officer for the murder of demonstrators on 28 January 2011. Demonstrators who continued on many occasions to crowd onto Tahrir square in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt to protest against the policy of the High Council of the Armed Forces (HCAF), in power until June 2012, were faced throughout the country with almost systematic with acts of violence on the part of the security forces. The year 2012, moreover, was marked by political debate on the New Constitution and regression regarding, inter alia, the participation of Egyptian women in political and public life. In Libya, the transition process has made great strides forward, in particular, with the holding of the first general elections in more than forty years. This has led to the establishment of a constitutive as-
Demonstrators in Bahrain showing posters calling for the liberation of Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, FIDH Deputy Secretary General. FIDH report - Silencing Dissent: A Policy of Systematic Repression. Reuters.
sembly and the appointment of a caretaker government. However, the challenges ahead for the new authorities are huge: control must be regained of some parts of the territory, particularly in the east and south; a national army and a police force must be built; and a judicial system must be restored to enable the effective prosecution and sentencing of perpetrators of serious human rights violations under a transitional justice mechanism. Furthermore, numerous local militia chiefs who fought Muammar Gaddafi's forces finally gave up their arms, thus asserting their will to preserve their independence and influence the political decision making process. In this context, civil society activists have created NGOs to actively contribute to democratic transition. Unheard of under Gaddafi, these NGOs have little or no experience and many seek training and exchanges of expertise. In Tunisia, events in 2012 threatened not only human rights and democratic principles, but the very stability of the country. There was lively debate on the draft constitution which, by the end of the year, had still not been finalised. Some political groups, principally Ennahda, the majority party in power, tried to introduce several provisions that contravene international norms, especially regarding equality, freedom of opinion and belief. A clash between cultural universality and cultural distinctiveness was also reflected in the judicial procedures taken against citizens accused and, for the most part, sentenced for the legitimate exercise of rights guaranteed under International human rights law. In economic and social terms, the demands that helped trigger the revolution are still intact and have led to many demonstrations and strikes some of which have been ruthlessly crushed. Social tension has, furthermore, been aggravated by a growing number of acts of violence mostly perpetrated by radical groups who target defenders, artists, opposition political campaigners and trade unionists. Recognition of the Palestinian State by the United Nations General Assembly in November 2012 constituted a crucial stage in the struggle for justice and the establishment of responsibility for the perpetration of war crimes and crimes against humanity on Palestin-
ian and Israeli territories. Recognition of the international legal status of Palestine within the United Nations is not the mere enjoyment of a right. By acquiring access to international human rights treaties and mechanisms, Palestine can now benefit from a new political and legal framework to bring pressure to bear on the international community to compel Israel to comply with international law. The Palestinian state also now has a heightened responsibility to respect universal norms pertaining to human rights. Finally, from the regional standpoint, the Secretary-General of the Arab League called upon Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi to submit proposals to reform the structure of the organisation and strengthen cooperation with civil society bodies. High expectations are placed on the Arab League to support the new dynamics of the region, by backing national efforts in favour of human rights.
fidh in action
Fact-finding and advocacy Responding to the challenges ahead and the needs of member organisations, 2012 saw FIDH step up its documentation work. In Bahrain, examined the situation of defenders and progress on the implementation of the recommendations by the Independent Bahrain Inquiry Commission. On Yemen, FIDH published a report on violations associated with the protest movement. For Libya, missions were carried out to Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi to address the struggle against impunity and the protection of migrants rights (see also migrants section of report). On Egypt, FIDH published a series of papers on the growing number of violations of freedoms of association and peaceful assembly, the continuing deterioration of respect for the rights and liberties of Egyptians and the failure of the High Council of the Armed Forces to conduct a peaceful transition, as well as impunity as an obstacle to democratic transition. FIDH also spoke out against Israeli settlements in occupied territories, in particular by contributing to a report published by 22 NGOs. This report was the first to compare available export data from Israeli
settlements and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It underscores the contradictions of European Union policy and calls on European governments to adopt a series of concrete measures to put an end to support for settlement expansion and to adopt clear-cut guidelines on product labeling so that European consumers no longer unknowingly purchase goods produced in the settlements. This documentation bolstered advocacy efforts towards national authorities. FIDH visited Bahrain on three occasions to convey its recommendations and Libya on four occasions where it met with the highest authorities. Furthermore, FIDH and its partner organisations are in regular contact with the Egyptian authorities through its Cairo office. FIDH and its members organisations have also approached relevant mechanisms to persuade them to act to protect human rights. In particular, FIDH supported defenders appearing before the Council of Security (Yemen), the UN Human Rights Council (Bahrain and Yemen) and European Union Institutions. As regards Egypt, advocacy was directed at the 16th African Union summit in Addis Ababa, where FIDH submitted a series of recommendations to the Heads of State and Government. Some of these recommendations related to civilians tried in military tribunals since March 2011 and the failure to prosecute police officers who committed serious human rights violations during the revolution. Reports and position papers on Egypt were also submitted to the Arab Human Rights Committee and to the Human Rights Department of the Arab League with a view to informing them of these new mechanisms and to encouraging their member states to respond to the situation in the country.
To boost the impact of FIDH and its member organisations and partners in the region, FIDH concentrated its 2012 actions on strengthening Arab human rights protection. Here, FIDH took part in several strategic meetings held in Cairo, with the main regional NGOs involved in reforming the League of Arab States. As a consequence, a decision was made to work together (FIDH, the Arab Human Rights Organization, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights) to organise a seminar for the beginning of 2013, bringing together FIDH members and partners representing some forty national human rights organisations from fifteen countries and representatives of mechanisms and institutions of the OAS, the AU and the EU. The purpose of this conference was to identify those solutions most likely to help the LAS tackle challenges in the region in securing rights and freedoms. The idea was to foster ongoing reform of the Arab League in terms of human rights and the role of civil society. Action relating to litigation Following the fall of Tripoli disclosures were made in the European media on the sale of surveillance equipment by French company, Amesys. This equipment was allegedly used by Libyan intelligence services to spy on and repress the Libyan population. FIDH decided to lodge a complaint in France against Amesys in respect of these matters. This complaint, which was lodged in 2011, drew on the extraterritorial competence of the French courts concerning complicity to torture. In December 2012, FIDH also sent a mission to Libya charged with collecting witness statements of those Libyan victims who wished to be part in the French proceedings. Along the same lines, in July 2012, FIDH lodged a complaint with the French Prosecutor's Department against Qosmos, a French company involved in shipping surveillance equipment to the Syrian regime of Bashar El Assad. Following Libyas referral to the African Court on Human and People's Rights by the ACHPR (prompted by FIDH, its Libyan member organisation, Human Rights Watch and Interights), FIDH and its partners drew up a file of evidence to flesh out the Commissions case before the Court. In 2013, FIDH will continue to take an interest in the proceedings to secure Libyas condemnation for crushing demonstrations under the Gaddafi regime during the revolution. Finally, FIDH also acted to support Libyan migrants in the so-called left-to-die migrant vessel case by coordinating the lodging of a complaint in France with initiatives undertaken in other European countries (see priority 3). Capacity building Capacity building needs in the transitional context were great. FIDH contributed to the response to these needs by holding a series of training courses. In this regard, a training course was held for a group of lawyers in Libya involved in prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated during the 2011 armed conflict. This course, requested by the lawyers, focused on capacity building in terms of documenting serious violations and studying national, regional
FOCUS
FIDH action on Tunisia FIDH supported the reform process underway in Tunisia, especially as regards the drafting of the Constitution. It issued position papers on the incorporation of economic and social rights into the draft constitution, published in August. Four advocacy missions visited the national authorities dealing with justice (the administration of justice; the fight against impunity and transitional justice). A high-level mission by FIDHs President and Honorary Presidents addressed the main transitional issues in light of recent developments, especially the universality of human rights and gender equality. FIDH also conducted several judicial observation missions focused on freedom of expression (e.g. the Nessma TV case), the Manouba dean case, and various procedures relating to suspected perpetrators of the violent acts that killed demonstrators in December 2010/ January 2011. The main purpose of these observation missions was to promote respect for the right to a fair trial and to assess the independence of the justice system in Tunisia. In terms of international advocacy, FIDH concentrated its efforts on getting its concerns and those of its partners taken up by international mechanisms such as during Tunisias Universal Periodical Review (UPR). Moreover, it referred the 7 year incarceration of 2 young bloggers for alleged violation of sanctity to 4 UN Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression, opinion and religious belief.
and international judicial mechanisms and quasi- and extra-judicial mechanisms. The seminar also provided an opportunity to debate cooperation with the International Criminal Court and participation in judicial procedures initiated by FIDH in France and at the African Court on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR). These lawyers, members of 2 organisations in Misrata, have stated their wish to continue working with FIDH. FIDH also held a training course for Syrian lawyers on human rights documentation for litigation purposes. Further, FIDH mobilised to support the establishment of networks of Syrian journalists with a view to fostering an independent Syrian media capable of cultivating democratic and egalitarian values.
RESULTS Some of the results achieved by FIDH and its member and partner organisations under this priority include the following: Libya A parliamentary bill on decentralisation was addressed by the Libyan Prime Minister to the National Transition Council following a position paper issued by FIDH in January; the Paris Court of Appeal handed down a ruling to continue the judicial investigation of the Amesys case; the status of migrants issue (including workers) was placed on the agenda of the Council of Ministers and given priority following FIDH briefings of the Prime Minister. Tunisia Recommendations made following the Universal Periodical Review of Tunisia included FIDH positions in particular on gender equality and non-discrimination, justice reform and the independence of the judiciary, the fight against impunity, respect for freedom of expression, belief and opinion and the protection and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights; wording in article 1 of the 1959 version of the Tunisian Constitution on the secular nature of the State was retained in the Tunisian draft constitution; powerful mobilisation of the media (especially in Tunisia and France) in support of Nessma television currently facing litigation and as regards the violence perpetrated during the cultural demonstration against Manoubas faculty dean. Syria Local human rights defenders networks receive material assistance and support; state signatures calling for referral to the ICC initiated by Switzerland. Bahrain Adoption of FIDH recommendations by several institutions and mechanisms: specifically, in two European Parliament resolutions; a declaration of the High Representative of the Union Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Lamenting rising human rights violations; and a Universal Periodic Review report which took up many of FIDHs recommendations (September); at the behest of Switzerland, the first joint declaration on the part of several states denouncing the human rights violations addressed to the United Nations Council of Human Rights meeting in June. At the September session of the Council, declarations condemning the deterioration of the situation were on the increase among main economic and military partners (United States, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom); strengthening of the stance taken by the United States on the human rights situation in Bahrain as expressed in the declaration of the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton in May 2012 and then by the Deputy Secretary of State for Human Rights in December 2012.
FOCUS
FIDH mobilisation on the situation in Syria In 2012, conflict in Syria prevented the deployment of a fact-finding mission in situ. Thus, FIDH focused on mobilising external leverage (League of Arab States, UN) to seek the release of imprisoned or missing peaceful campaigners, securing a referral by the UN Security Council to the International Criminal Court, strengthening defenders' capacity to document violations and raising international awareness of mobilisation campaigns. In particular, in conjunction with the anniversary of the uprising, FIDH entered into partnership with Telecomix, creating a dedicated site (Syrian stories) to draw on and organise video pictures of the fighting and exactions posted on Youtube. FIDH also cooperated with national and international human rights organisations at events held mainly in France and Egypt. In April, as part of a white wave to celebrate the anniversary of independence, FIDH supported a grassroots event calling for an end to violence in Syria, which it publicised through its network. In addition, FIDH sent a fact-finding mission to refugee camps in neihbouring Jordan, where Syrian civilians -mostly women and children fleeing the conflict - have sought asylum. The mission concerned violence perpetrated against Syrian women, as well as the current situation in Jordan (reception conditions and response on the part of the international community).
Finally, FIDH deemed it important to compare the analyses and experience acquired in the various regions of the country. With this in mind, the Arab Institute for Human Rights (IADH) and FIDH held a strategic thinking workshop on the new issues and challenges facing the human rights movement in North Africa and the Middle East during the transition process (Tunis, December).Some fifty defenders from several countries in the region (Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Tunisia and Yemen) and international experts took part. As well as analysing the issues and pinpointing the means to respond to the challenges faced by human rights defenders, this event illustrated the importance of more robust networking. On this occasion, FIDH and the IADH announced the signing of a cooperation agreement, in particular as regards training trainers and mobilisation activities.
FIDH report: Violence against women in Syria: Breaking the silence. (2013) AFP Photo / Sam Tarling
FIDH mission in Tunisia, visit of support to the strikers of Dar Assahab (October 2012). Copyright: FIDH
FOCUS
Supporting civil society in Tunisia FIDH held a strategic workshop for Tunisian lawyers, magistrates and human rights defenders on the independence of the judiciary and justice reform processes in January 2012. Subsequently, in conjunction with the Tunisian Bar Association, it designed a course on the right to a fair trial and recourse to international instruments in national jurisdictions, which was delivered in July. Twenty five lawyers attended this event. During Tunisias transition, which has been fraught with the flawed administration of justice, training young professionals on universal norms related to justice and its administration, and recourse to international case law in Tunisian courts is essential to foster respect for international norms and garner the much needed reform of the justice system. FIDH also held a training course in June 2012 on economic, social and cultural rights, a topic that had received little attention from Tunisian organisations who tended to concentrate on civil and political rights during Ben Ali's regime. Finally, FIDH helped to stage public events for civil society, particularly a day against violence (November), organised in conjunction with the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH) and the Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network. It also helped to organise the gathering of Tunisian civil society in December 2012, together with four Tunisian human rights organisations: ATFD, Doustourna, the FTDES and the LTDH; as well as the REMDH. This gathering attracted more than 500 participants from all over Tunisia with a view to putting forward a draft for a society based on democratic principles, universal rights, equality and non-discrimination.
Yemen Impact of FIDH report on the recommendations contained in the resolution of the Human Rights Council (March) and in the final comments of the Human Rights Committee (April) concerning the need for impartial and independent investigations into the crimes perpetrated during 2011 events; Human Rights Council instructs the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on impunity in Yemen, thus pledging to pay attention to this issue at future sessions; the European Parliament delegation's mission report on the status of human rights in the United Arab Emirates stresses the need for an independent and impartial inquiry. United Arab Emirates European Parliament resolution on the status of human rights in the United Arab Emirates, particularly violations of the freedoms of opinion, expression and association and against the arbitrary arrest of human rights defenders and opposition campaigners all matters raised as part of FIDHs advocacy. Arab League Contribution to promoting synergy amongst local, regional and international NGOs for strategic thinking on the reform of Arab human rights protection.

International fact-finding missions, judicial missions and judicial observation missions: 12 (Bahrain, Libya and Tunisia) Bahrain: 1 fact-finding mission on the implementation of the recommendations of the independent fact-finding mission commission and 3 observation missions of the Nabeel Rajab trial and 1 observation mission trial of doctors, teachers, Khawaja and other defenders (OBS) Jordan: 1 fact-finding mission on violence against Syrian women in Syria and Jordan. Libya: 2 missions on the status of migrants (June) and to collect witness statements for the Amesys case and 2 contact missions Tunisia: 5 Judicial observation missions concerning respectively the trials of the Manouba dean, Nessma TV and the victims of the revolution. National advocacy missions: 6 (Tunisia, Libya and Egypt) Tunisia: 4 national advocacy missions on institutional reforms Libya: 1 national advocacy mission on migrant issues Egypt: 1 EMHRN/FIDH/OMCT joint advocacy mission on freedom of association Training seminars: Libya: Training a group of lawyers involved in prosecuting the perpetrators of war Bahrain: Silencing Dissent: a Policy of Systematic Repression (ENG, AR) September 2012 Libya: Putting an end to the persecution of migrants (FR, ENG) October 2012 Egypt: Status report on the continuing deterioration of the freedom of association, of peaceful assembly, the rule of law (FR, ENG, AR) (OBS) February 2012 Tunisia: The adoption of a new constitution for Tunisia: a unique opportunity to protect all human rights (FR) May 2012 Yemen: Status report on Enshrined impunity, transition in peril (ENG) March 2012 Regional: Women in the Arab Spring: taking their place ? March 2012 Israel/PTO: Peace on the cheap how the EU is strengthening illegal Israeli colonies (Collective report) (FR, ENG) October 2012 Advocacy work: Participation of 24 defenders (from Algeria, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, Sudan and Yemen) in 18 advocacy training and advocacy activites with the EU, the UN, the African Commission for Human and People's rights and the Arab League. Partnerships: REMDH, Crisis Action, POMED, ACHRP; Judicial and quasi- judicial procedures: French courts: Ben Said (Tunisia) and Relizane (Algeria) cases. African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights: communication against Algeria regarding forced disappearances African Court for Human and Peoples' Rights: communication against Libya (Gaddafi regime) UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions: Bahrain (OBS) UN Committee on Forced Disappearances: Syria (OBS) Press releases: 140 crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 2011 armed conflict Libya, Syria: Training of a group of Syrian lawyers on documenting human rights violations for litigation purposes. Tunisia: 3 training courses (designed for lawyers, magistrates and defenders) covering the independence of the judiciary (January), the right to a fair trial and to recourse to international instruments in national courts (July) and on economic, social and cultural rights in June. Regional: Co-organisation with the Arab Institute for Human Rights (IADH) of a strategic thinking seminar on the new challenges and issues facing the human rights movement in North Africa and the Middle East during the transition process (Tunis, December).
Reports
Syria, Aleppo: Photo distributed by the Media Center of Aleppo. It shows Syrians, who, on 19 February 2013, inspect a site in the city of Aleppo in the North of the country, that is said to have been destroyed after a missile strike. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 19 persons, including 6 children, are said to have died after this strike in the night of the 18th of February. AFP Photo / HO / Aleppo Media Center
Sub-Saharan Africa
2012 was a year of numerous conflicts characterised by seriousandunpunishedviolations of human rights and international humanitarian law. In Mali, the Azawad National Liberation Movement, with assistance from armed Islamic groups (Ansar Dine, Al Qaida in Islamic Maghreb (ADMI) and the Movement for Unity and Holy War in West Africa (MUJAO)) captured the cities of Kidal, Timbuktu and Gao in a lightening raid at the beginning of the year. By March they had control over 75% of Malis territory. During the fighting, all parties to the conflict, including the Songoi army and militia, committed war crimes. Meanwhile, the army overthrew Malian Head of State, Amadou Toumani Tour, just a few weeks before the presidential elections. Under pressure from the international community, a transition regime was established in April, with a twofold mandate: restore the territorial integrity of the State and organise free, multipartie and transparent elections. Efforts were made to reach agreement with armed groups in the North at the same time as the United Nations, ECOWAS and the African Union were preparing a military intervention.
Central Africa again seriously destabilised in 2012. In November, rebel groups resurfaced in the north of the Central African Republic (CAR), whilst in the Democratic Republic of Congo the M23 rebellion of former Congolese army troops, supported by Rwanda, launched a successful offensive on Goma, in North Kivu, before withdrawing from the city. The civilian population in the Central African region has continued to live in a state of great insecurity heightened by the existence of numerous rebel movements and the criminal behaviour of certain members of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) who wreaked havoc between the DRC and the CAR. In the DRC, the November 2011 presidential and legislative elections, whose irregularities were unanimously condemned by the international community, contributed to destabilising the country further in 2012. Guinea-Bissau also underwent yet another coup, followed by the establishment of a transition government run by soldiers who attacked opposition parties and representatives of civil society. The authoritarian government and the sine die postponement of legislative elections in Mauritania created sharp political tensions in the country where mass protests against poor governance were systematically and violently crushed by the security forces. Furthermore, many countries that had gone through serious conflict and political crises embarked on the road to transition in 2012. Here, risks of reversing progress arose highlighting the need for reconciliation and consolidation on the rule of law, including in Ivory Coast where 2011 post-electoral violence had caused 3,000 deaths. Guinea too is emerging from 50 years of dictatorship and continued to suffer the aftermath of the 28 September 2000 massacre that left 150 people dead and over 100 women raped. In Kenya and Zimbabwe the governments standing for national union found themselves unable to dress the wounds caused by the grave violence that marred the last presidential elections.
FIDH in action
Fact-finding, Alerts and Proposals FIDH is in constant contact with its member and partner organisations and has been able to publish reliable, and authoritative information on human rights in countries living through conflict or crises (Sudan, South Sudan, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau, DRC,Mali). In doing so it has also engaged in the dissemination of press releases, open letters and urgent appeals from the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. Media transmission, especially in Africa, allowed this information to reach appropriate authorities and institutions and lead to actions or reactions that contribute to the protection of human rights. FIDH specifically documented grave human rights violations perpetrated in some target countries by carrying out international fact-finding missions and consulting the work of its member organisations. On the basis of information obtained by its local sections in the north of Mali, the Malian Human
FIDH Report: South Sudan, First Anniversary of Independence: Time to Act for Peace and Human Rights Protection. AFP / Adrianne OHANESIAN
Further east, the armies of Sudan and South Sudan clashed in the oil-rich region of Heglig. Since South Sudans independence the two countries have disagreed over the demarcation of the border, the status of the Abeyi region, the amount of the customs duties that the Sudanese authorities charge South Sudan for transporting the latters oil to the sea, national and property rights and citizens rights to freedom of movement. Furthermore, serious human rights violations have been committed during fighting between the Sudanese army and rebels in Darfur, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile regions, where carpet bombing, summary executions and pillaging occurred. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced to leave and to take refuge in the neighbouring countries.
FOCUS
Ivory Coast in search of impartial justice One and a half years after the post-electoral crisis that pitted pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara military factions against each other, occasioning four months of conflict that claimed 3,000 victims; Ivory Coast has yet to tackle many challenges related to security, justice, memory and politics. A judicial mission in April 2012 enabled FIDH and its member organisations the Ivorian League of Human Rights (LIDHO) and the Ivorian Movement for Human Rights (MIDH) to make a preliminary assessment of the legal proceedings applied to
Statement of Sidiki Kaba, FIDH Honorary President, before the African Union Peace and Security Council (December 2012). Copyright: FIDH.
crimes committed during the post-electoral crisis and to file as plaintiffs in the case underway concerning 75 victims from both sides. During that mission, it became clear that the investigation assigned to the three investigating judges did not include sexual crimes. Following intervention by FIDH, MIDH and LIDHO, the public prosecutor expanded the scope of the case to include sexual crimes in the investigations and prosecution. A second mission was organised in October 2012. This mission sought to prompt the political and judicial authorities to increase their involvement in the fight against impunity for the main perpetrators of crimes committed during the post-electoral crisis, regardless of sides. FIDH was informed that 120 proGbagbo activistsand not a single pro-Ouatarra activisthad been charged by the Ivorian judiciary. The mission also investigated violence in the Nahibly displaced persons camp near Dukou in July 2012, and at the outskirts of the city discovered a mass grave from which the bodies of six summarily executed persons were exhumed. France 24 had exclusive rights to cover the event and showed FIDH in action. On the same day, President Ouatarra published a communiqu confirming that the bodies will be autopsied [] and the case will be continued until it has been completed. Our organisations decided to ask the FIDH Legal Action Group (LAG) to help the victims next-of-kin file as parties in this case (partie civile). At the United Nations, information submitted by FIDH resulted in the Human Rights Council expressing the concerns raised by FIDH in its resolution on Ivory Coast. Here again, FIDH, the only international organisation in Geneva that plays an active role in this issue, largely influenced the Councils analysis of the situation in Ivory Coast.
Rights Association and FIDH were able to obtain a detailed description of violations committed by all parties to the conflict during assaults by the MNLA and Islamist groups, identifying them as war crimes. FIDH also supported the Ligue des lecteurs, a member organisation carrying out an investigation and producing a report with important evidence of irregularities before, during and after the November 2011 presidential elections in DRC. Through their work in Mauritania, FIDH and the Mauritanian Human Rights Association were able to alert the international community about a little known political and institutional crisis going on in the country; here, discussions between the authorities and the opposition following the postponement of legislative elections had been disrupted, and security forces systematically quelled all protest against poor governance. FIDH also went on a mission to Juba during the conduct of hostilities between Sudan and South Sudan in the oil-rich region of Heglig at the border between the two countries. FIDH was able to report on the humanitarian consequences of this conflict, as well as on the conflict between Sudanese forces and rebels in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile region. This mission also enabled it to issue alerts on the serious human rights violations committed during inter-ethnic clashes in the Jonglei state of the Republic of South Sudan. These reports cite detailed evidence and testimony on violations committed, identifying violations of international law and establishing responsibility. Together with advice and recommendations on the protection of human rights, the reports were addressed to national authorities, influential diplomats and intergovernmental organisations. Fighting impunity and promoting reconciliation As impunity is often a prevalent factor in the development of conflict and crises, FIDH has continued to support the rights of victims of the most serious crimes to obtain justice at the national and international level.
In Guinea FIDH has continued to provide support for victims of the 28 September 2009 massacre, helping them through the national legal procedures now underway. In doing so, it has expanded its support for victims of enforced disappearances, as well as broadening its judicial activities to include serious violations of human rights committed in 2007 and 2010 (see Focus). Furthermore, FIDH has sought to contribute to the im-
The President of the Republic of Guinea meets with the FIDH delegation composed of Sidiki Kaba, Honorary President, Clmence Bectarte, LAG coordinator, Martin Pradel, LAG member, Florent Geel, Head of the Africa Desk, Antonin Rabecq, Programme Officer of the Africa Desk. Copyright: FIDH
partial legal treatment of post-electoral violence in the Ivory Coast, filing as a party to the legal proceedings (partie civile) launched by the Ivorian judiciary in a move to discern responsibility for the events which took over 3,000 lives. Here, FIDH was joined by its member organisations the Ivorian League of Human Rights (LIDHO) and the Ivorian Movement for Human Rights (MIDH), who also filed as parties to the proceedings together with victims of all parties to the conflict. These organisations also filed as partie civile in the case before the national courts on summary executions carried out in 2012 by the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast in a displaced persons camp at Dukou in the west of the country. A strategy workshop was held in the DRC with local human rights organisations based in Kinshasa and the east (Beni and Goma) to prepare the way for future FIDH involvement in national procedures. This workshop formed part of a programme on fighting impunity for sexual violence in the country. FIDH has regularly worked with the ICC throughout the year in order to advance the protection of victims from international crime. For instance, FIDH contacted the Office of the ICC Prosecutor, who opened a preliminary investigation on the situation in Guinea and persuaded the national authorities to take action to fight impunity for the authors of the 28 September massacre. FIDH further requested the ICC Prosecutor to contribute to the impartial judgement of the perpetrators of post-electoral violence in Ivory Coast at the national and international level, and prompted the ICC to warn the parties to the conflict in the DRC that the ICC may have jurisdiction over international crimes committed during M23 attacks. FIDH also informed the ICC Prosecutor of the war crimes committed in northern Mali and continued sharing its knowledge on the degree to which the authorities applied the positive complementarity principle in situations submitted to the Court, such as that of Kenya. Alongside these justice promoting activities, FIDH has continued its support for and follow up on truth and reconciliation
mechanisms essential levers in enabling war-torn societies to cope with their past in order to pave the way for a peaceful future. Besides its work in Guinea (see Focus), FIDH shared its expertise and recommendations in discussions on the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in Burundi and followed through on the installation of the TRC in Ivory Coast and the work of the TJRC (Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Committee) in Togo. Urging national authorities and the international community to include human rights considerations in crisis prevention and settlement In 2012, FIDH and its member organisations met with representatives of the national authorities of countries in crisis or transition, as well as with legal authorities, opposition parties, trade unions, journalists, and representatives of the diplomatic corps to discuss the prevalent human rights situation and share concerns and recommendations in this regard. Many meetings with the Guinean Head of State, two discussions with the President of the French Republic and an interview with the President of Ivory Coast, all led to visible progress in the protection of human rights. Through advocacy and interfacingand carried out with the representatives of its member organisations in Sudan, Mali, Guinea, DRC and Ivory Coast, FIDH was also able to have its appeals to the national authorities transmitted or taken into account by various international and regional organisations, such as the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and the African Commission for Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR). During this same period, FIDH urged the United Nations Security Council to include human rights issues, recommendations on strengthening the rule of law and the creation of specific mechanisms on human rights protection into its resolutions on Mali and the DRC. Further, as a follow-up to its efforts to bring African Union (AU) bodies closer to human rights organisations and persuade them to change their negative attitude
towards the International Criminal Court, FIDH organised advocacy sessions with representatives of member organisations from Sudan and Mali during the AU summit of Heads of State and Government. FIDH was the first international human rights organisations that the AU Peace and Security Council grounded a hearing on the subject of human rights protection. It focused especially on the fight against impunity and the prevention and settlement of conflicts in Africa, using Mali and the DRC as case studies. Furthermore, FIDH and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights held a training/awarenessbuilding workshop on international justice for ambassadors who are members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) that greatly influences AU decisions. RESULTS The following are some of the outcomes achieved by FIDH work on this region: National level Guinea Indictment, by the Guinean examining judges, of Moussa Tigboro Camara and Colonel Diaby for their alleged responsibility in the 28 September 2009 massacre; hearing of dozens of victims by the examining judges in the case of the 28 September 2009 massacre; opening of judicial inquiries into 2007 and 2010 cases; strengthening the capacity of the examining magistrates to act, as evidenced in indictments pronounced in 2012; firm, repeated commitments by Guineas Head of State, Minister of Justice and Minister of Human Rights to fight the impunity of the perpetrators of the most serious crimes; removal from government of persons suspected of being responsible for serious violations of human rights; firm commitment by Guineas Head of State, the international community and donors to support the Commission de rflexion in charge of promoting reconciliation prior to the launch of the national consultation process that should lead to the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission; creation of a platform of civil society organisations to fight impunity in Guinea; creation of a Ministry of Human Rights; and creation of an Observatoire des manifestations by the Minister of Human Rights and civil society representatives. Ivory Coast participation in national proceedings of 75 victims of grave violations committed by all parties to the conflict in Ivory Coast during the post-electoral crisis, and examination by the judicial police of about 30 Duku victims; enlargement by the examining judges of the scope of the investigation into crimes committed during the post-electoral crisis to include sexual crimes; opening of judicial inquiry into the grave human rights violations committed in 2012 by the FRCI (Ivorian State forces) in Duku; and
commitments to impartial justice by the highest authorities of the State.
Mali referral to the Office of the ICC Prosecutor by the Malian authorities, regarding the situation in Mali. Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continued focus on the importance of keeping the adoption of the law on specialised mixed chambers and the harmonisation of national law with the Rome Statute prominent in discussions between the diplomatic corps and the national authorities and in public debate. Chad acceleration of the process for producing a report from the follow up committee on recommendations from the national fact-finding commission on violations of human rights committed by parties to the conflict during the attempted government overthrow in February 2008. The report includes conclusions similar to those in FIDHs situation report. Regional level Adoption of a decision by the summit of African Union Heads of State on the situation in Mali that includes concerns expressed by AMDH and FIDH on the protection of human rights; adoption of a decision by the summit of African Union Heads of State on the situation in Sudan that urges the ACHPR to investigate human rights violations in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile region; and adoption by the ACHPR of resolutions on Mali and Sudan.
International level United Nations Human Rights Council Adoption of a resolution on Guinea calling especially for the prosecution of perpetrators of grave violations including sexual crimes committed on 28 September 2009; adoption of a resolution on Mali that especially emphasises the fight against impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes; renewal of the mandate of the independent expert on the situation in Ivory Coast; adoption of a resolution on Sudan that is, on the whole, stronger than the one adopted last year since it mentions the right for the independent expert to travel throughout the area, even in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur and clearly defines the monitoring function of this mandate which had been opposed by authorities in Khartoum during the experts first visit; adoption of a resolution on the DRC that calls for the installation of liaison units on human rights; combating impunity; the creation of specialised mixed chambers, and the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission.
United Nations Human Rights Committee Due attention, in the Final Observations of the United Nations Human Rights Committee on Kenya, to the importance of the fight against impunity at the national level and the organisation of free, pluralistic and democratic elections. United Nations Security Council The Secretary Generals report on the situation in Mali contains recommendations on the importance of providing training on human rights to the troops in the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA); resolution 2085 on AFISMA calls for the establishment of a mechanism to protect human rights. This includes human rights training for Malian troops; a mandate for the United Nations Office in Mali to observe the human rights situation as part of its intervention; a mandate for the United Nations Secretary General to report regularly on the human rights situation in northern Mali; and AFISMA support for national and international efforts to combat impunity of the perpetrators of the most serious crimes; inclusion of human rights as a theme in the ambassadorial discussion on the settlement of the Sudan-South Sudan conflict. Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) Organisation of a forum on human rights as part of the OIF summit in Kinshasa; in the final resolution of the NGO forum, recommendations were included on the protection of human rights in the French-speaking countries, in particular in the DRC, and the establishment of human rights mechanisms within the OIF.
European Union the Council of the European Union deployed a technical support mission for AFISMA that included trainers to instruct troops on international humanitarian and human rights law, and help strengthen the forces assistance to the Malian authorities efforts to consolidate rule of law in the country; the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in the DRC that reiterated FIDH concerns and recommendations and denounced the situation of human rights defenders, especially the impunity surrounding the assassination of Floribert Chebeya. The resolution called for reform of the DRCs Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) and predicated European aid on the results of the electoral observation mission. International Criminal Court A preliminary analysis was issued by the ICC Prosecutor on the determination and capacity of Guinean national courts to fight impunity for the perpetrators of the 28 September 2009 massacre and public statements were made calling for the national authorities to make greater efforts along these lines; a preliminary analysis was issued by the ICC on the situation in Mali and referral made to the Office of the ICC Prosecutor by the Malian authorities. These actions were particularly affected by the FIDH-AMDH report on war crimes committed in the north of the country; an analysis was issued by the Office of the ICC Prosecutor on the human rights situation in DRC and on developments in national legal proceedings on post-electoral violence.
War crimes in Northern Mali. AFP / ROMARIC OLLO HIEN

International fact-finding missions, judicial and judicial observation missions: 10 (Ivory Coast, Guinea, DRC, Mauritania, South Sudan) National advocacy campaigns: 7 (Ivory Coast, Guiea, DRC) Press releases: 130 Judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings: - Before the French courts: the case of the Brazzaville Beach Enforced Disappearances; case against the alleged perpetrators of the Rwanda genocide; case against the French army (in Opration turquoise in 1994 in Rwanda); case of Said Abeid (Comoros Islands), Baba case (Mauritania); - Chad: Hissne Habr Case before the Senegalese extraordinary chambers; - Guinea: Support for victims of violations in 2007, 2010 and the 28 September 2009 massacre; - Ivory Coast: Support for victims of 2010 post-electoral violence and other violations committed in 2012; - OECD National Contact Points: mediation procedure before the OECD-Belgium Contact Point concerning a case of forced Partnerships: Crisis Action, Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples Rights, Interights. Strategic and training seminars: - Awareness-building workshops for members of COREP on regional and international justice, Addis Ababa; Strategic workshop on strengthening the FIDH Legal Action Group (LAG) network in Africa, Abidjan. Workshop on the national proceedings on sexual violence in DRC. eviction in Katanga, DRC; - ACHPR: Communication against Sudan for acts of torture; - ICC: Support for Congolese victims participating in this stage of the situation and contribution to the preliminary analyses of Mali and Guinea; - Work Group on forced disappearances (UN): Communication concerning Chad. Advocacy: 20 human rights defenders (from Burundi, Sudan, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Zimbabwe, DRC, Mali and Kenya) lobbying selected regional and international mechanisms. Burundi: Des dfenseurs sous pression, (FR),December 2011 (OBS) Guinea: The Fight Against Impunity in Guinea; Progress Observed, Actions Awaited, (FR, ENG), September 2012 Mali: War Crimes in northern Mali, (FR, ENG), July 2012 Mauritania: Criticising Governance, a Risky Business, (FR, ENG), November 2012 Uganda: Women's rights in Uganda: gaps between policy and practice, (ENG), February 2012 DRC: An Urgently Needed Reform of the Security Sector, (FR, ENG), Joint Report, April 2012 DRC: lections tronques en Rpublique dmocratique du Congo, (FR) Report by Groupe Lotus and supported by FIDH, March 2012 South Sudan: First Anniversar y of Independence: Time to Act for Peace and Human Rights Protection, (FR, ENG), November 2012 Chad: 4 ans aprs les vnements de fvrier 2008 : l'impunit plombe les espoirs de rformes, (FR), March 2012 Zimbabwe: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period, (ENG), November 2012 West Africa: Conjuguer la paix, la scurit et la justice pour construire un espace respectueux des droits humains, (FR), June 2012 Reports:
FOCUS
Remarkable progress in fighting impunity for perpetrators of the most serious crimes On 28 September 2009, a demonstration by Guinean opposition parties was violently repressed by the security forces of Captain Moussa Dadis Camaras putschist regime. This repression left 150 persons dead, a hundred disappeared, about the same number of women raped, and over a thousand persons wounded. In a bid to lance impunity for these crimes this highly sensitive case was referred to three Guinean judges in February 2010; however, the investigation soon encountered obstacles. To ensure respect for victims rights to justice and contribute to consolidating the rule of law, FIDH and its Guinean member organisation, OGDH, filed as civil parties to the proceedings (partie civile) alongside the victims of the 2009 violations. Since 2011 FIDH has run a special programme to combat impunity for perpetrators of the most serious crimes committed in Guinea. As part of this programme, and with support from the team in Conakry (composed of a member of the FIDH International Secretariat, representatives of OGDH and victims associations) FIDH has strengthened the capacity of victims, their associations and Guinean lawyers to act, by introducing a security protocol for victims and creating and running a civil society platform on fighting impunity. In February 2012, FIDH accompanied a mission sent by TRACES to set up victim associations and councils to work on the psychological aspects of supporting victims. Victims are kept informed about the legal proceedings and are assisted by lawyers during their hearings before investigating judges. In 2012, in the presence of international lawyers from FIDHs Legal Action Group, FIDH carried out three judicial missions.
These encompassed strategic meetings with the Guinean lawyers acting in the proceedings and special sessions with the examining judges and the Public Prosecutor of the Guinean Republic. FIDH consulted the evidence used in the proceedings, and filed requests for official records to consolidate the case files. The FIDH mission also held report-back meetings with the victims. To avoid any obstacles to the impartial exercise of adjudication, FIDH lobbied the national authorities twice and was able to meet several times with the Head of State and the Minister of Justice, who repeated their pledge to fight impunity for perpetrators of the most serious crimes. This pledge was followed by action in the form of the provision of adequate logistical support for the judges in charge of the 28 September case. The Office of the ICC Prosecutor had started a preliminary analysis of the situation in Guinea in 2009. By updating the it on the legal proceedings in Guinea, FIDH contributed to ensuring that Prosecutors Office continued to exert pressure on the political and judicial authorities. Following contact with OGDH representatives, the UN Human Rights Council and the European Union also exerted pressure. This advocacy work led to the adoption of a resolution on the situation in Guinea. FIDH was the only organisation promoting this subject in Geneva. FIDHs various actions had major repercussions in 2012: in addition to the four people already indicted in this case, Lt. Col Moussa Tigboro Camara, Secretary General at the Presidency in charge of special services and the fight against drugs and crime, and Col. Diaby, former Minister of Health, were indicted respectively in February and September for their alleged responsibility in the 28 September 2009 massacre. Moreover, persons suspected of being responsible
for serious violations of human rights were dismissed from governmental office, and by end 2012, investigative judges had heard close to 200 victims. Considering the importance of the fight against impunity, FIDH wanted to do more to support the victims of other grave human rights abuses committed in 2007 (violent repression of unionist demonstration during the Lansana Cont regime) and 2010 (acts of torture committed between the two rounds of the presidential elections). After FIDH, OGDH and victims filed as civil parties to the proceedings concerning the 28 September 2009 massacre, the prosecutor launched two procedures in respect of these two other cases. Further, during its meetings with the authorities, FIDH again spoke of the need for a special mechanism for a national reconciliation process. As a result, a study commission was set up at the end of 2011. FIDHs coordination of the actors involved (the study commission, national authorities, the United Nations, the European Union, the French Embassy, donors, etc.) set the stage for an action plan that led to a national consultation and thereupon the preparation of the mandate, statutes and composition of the future Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 2012 FIDH published a report and a dozen press releases (available on the FIDH site and the special website on FIDH actions in Guinea (http://justiceguinee.org/), and responded to numerous requests from the press, radio and television.
52 F I D H A nP uO aR lT RA e port 20 Rn AP NNUEL 21 02 12
The Americas
2012 was marked by the continuation of serious attacks on the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights. Not only did Venezuela withdraw from this System in September 2012 but the OAS National Assembly continued to reform the workings of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) with a view to weakening its role and its powers. The reforms heralded in by the Extraordinary Assembly in March 2013 have at least allowed the IACHR to retain the possibility of granting precautionary measures. Another disturbing event was the legislative coup detat which saw the President of Paraguay dismissed on 22 June 2012, after a trial in flagrant violation of fair trial standards. The President was informed of the trial only the day before it commenced, being allowed only a few hours in which to prepare his defence. On transition and conflict, FIDH continued its work in three countries where human rights violations are among the most serious on the continent: Colombia, Honduras and Haiti. It also initiated preparatory work to expand its activity on this topic next year in Mexico. Colombia has the second largest number of internally displaced persons in the world. More than 5 million displaced people between 1 January 1985 and 30 December 2012, more than nearly 10% of the population victims to this phenomenon. This year more than 200,000 persons were forced to flee the violence. Indeed, in 2012, the conflict in Colombia continued to be characterised by numerous human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law in spite of the initiation of peace negotiations with FARC guerrillas, which bring hopes of settling the conflict. Moreover, implementation of the Victims and Land Restitution Bill (Bill 1448 of 10 June 2011) remains a major challenge, in particular with respect to the protection of displaced persons who return to their lands. During 2012, 28 displaced leaders were assassinated. 2012 also saw the enactment of a law reforming the jurisdiction of military tribunals in a manner that promotes impunity for military officials in respect of human rights violations and crimes against humanity this in a context where more than 3,000 extrajudicial executions were committed by the military between 2002 and 2008. In May 2012, after more than a year of instability, Hati was finally given a government. However, three years after the earthquake, the situation remains particularly alarming. The Haitian authorities have not engaged their role in protecting the most vulnerable nor of coordinating relief and reconstruction plans and policies. Various international public and private actors have, for their part, offered solutions without the participation of key Haitian interest groups. This largely explains why the country
has not emerged from its massive dependence on humanitarian aid and why human security remains extremely poor today. In Honduras the human rights situation remains critical. A fragile rule of law and structural problems regarding corruption, justice, security and social exclusion have plunged the country into crisis. These issues have been exacerbated since the 28 June 2009 coup dtat. Impunity for crimes committed during the coup and the assassination of farmers demanding the return of their land in the Bajo Aguan region is particularly worrisome. Between January 2010 and December 2012, 48 persons were assassinated during agrarian conflict in the region. The October 2012 publication of a report by Honduras Truth Commission was an important contribution to realising the right to truth for victims of the coup dtat. In this context, the objective of FIDH and its member and partner organisations in the Americas has been to establish the facts concerning serious violations of human rights perpetrated by State and non-State actors. On this basis, the development of a litigation strategy must contribute to the establishment of accountability, to the right of victims to justice and consolidation of the rule of law. Moreover, FIDH intends to support local organisations in the fostering of a constructive dialogue with national authorities and other actors for concrete changes in the promotion and protection of human rights. This support for local organisations is also crucial with regard to the use of regional and international mechanisms to protect human rights. These have mostly proven to be effective, with the vast majority of Latin American countries being generally cooperative and showing goodwill when it comes to implementing recommendations.
FIDH in action
FIDHs strategy in the region is based on three lines of action: the fight against impunity for the most serious violations com-
FIDH Report: Colombia: The war measured in litres of blood - "False-positives", crimes against humanity: the impunity of the most responsible. Movimiento Nacional de Vctimas de Crmenes de Estado - Movice
mitted in the region (see the justice priority), corporate accountability and the fight against the criminalisation of the defenders and for their protection (see defenders priority). During 2012, FIDH followed three lines of action in Colombia, seeking to steer human rights road mapping, combating impunity for international crimes and denouncing the persecution of human rights defenders. The first axis included taking account of the human rights situation within the context of trade relations between the European Union and Colombia.
FOCUS
Packaging a free trade agreement between the EU and Colombia to establish a roadmap for human rights To endorse signing a free trade agreement among Colombia, Peru and the European Union in 2012, the European Parliament had to make full use of its co-decision powers in matters relating to trade pursuant to the Lisbon Treaty. Through the publication of a situation note, several interactions with various parliamentary sub-committees, MEP lobbying and the organisation of a seminar supported by parliamentarians from all political groups, FIDH requested that the vote on the ratification of the free trade agreement be conditional on prior compliance with a series of benchmarks relative to human rights in Colombia. This work culminated in a parliamentary resolution denouncing numerous human rights violations identified by FIDH and calling for the development of a road map to remedy the situation. The Colombian authorities responded to this pressure and agreed to these commitments, opening the way to the ratification of a free trade agreement by Parliament.
The third line of action concerns the situation of human rights defenders, which in Colombia remains one of the most serious in the world. Since 2009, FIDH and its member organisations have denounced the use of Colombias intelligence agency (DAS) to commit crimes and harass actors in Colombian public life, including human rights defenders. FIDH succeeded in having the DAS disbanded at the end of 2011 and the protection of human rights defenders is now managed by a unit within the Ministry of the Interior. In 2012, FIDHs Secretary General continued to represent victims in procedures against the former President Alvaro Uribe Velez. FIDH also organised a mission to Panama in January to provide evidence to the Panamanian authorities that Mara del Pilar Hurtado, former DAS director, currently being sought for extradition on charges of conspiracy, is not and never has been the subject of political persecution in Colombia. This visit aimed to support the extradition request by the Colombian authorities. In July, FIDH and CCAJAR (Colectivo de Abogados Jos Alvear Restrepo) presented a joint petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), requiring assent from the State of Panama which continues to refuse this extradition. FIDH, jointly with other European organisations, also commenced legal proceedings for unlawful acts committed in Belgium by the DAS. Finally, FIDH began documentation work on the situation of leaders of displaced communities (see priority 1), which it intends to continue doing in 2013. Following the earthquake in Haiti, in 2011 FIDH initiated a programme of activities with its member organisations to support them in reconfiguring their activities along two central themes: investigating the reconstruction and disaster situation following the earthquake and monitoring the necessary reforms required in the Haitian criminal justice system. It is within this framework that in 2012 FIDH continued its investigative work on these themes. FIDH conducted a fact-finding mission in Haiti in May 2012 which led to the publication of a report in November. This report led to a debate in the national Haitian press. Discussions included the issue of excluding Haitians from the reconstruction process, and especially the exclusion of human rights from the process, as well as the failure of urban policies to prevent, despite significant humanitarian aid, the extension and creation of new slums around Port-au-Prince. The reports findings and recommendations on the criminal justice system (police, justice, prison) were presented during a seminar on justice reform by the FIDH member organisation in Haiti (CEDH). This seminar brought together people from civil society, the judiciary and the international community. FIDH and its member organisations also brought their recommendations to the attention of the international community present in Haiti, as well as to advocacy meetings with members of the Grulac and Friends of Haiti. The fact-finding report contributed to the following deliberations:
The second line of mobilisation concerned the attention that the International Criminal Court has brought on the impunity prevalent in Colombia, particularly for senior officials responsible for crimes against humanity. In May 2012, FIDH submitted its 12th communication to the ICC, entitled War is Measured in Litres of Blood. This communication demonstrates that the extrajudicial executions committed by the military, whose frequency exploded between 2002 and 2008 with 3,345 executions listed, are crimes against humanity and have remained unpunished. This report was also presented during the Assembly of States that are members of the ICC in November. It was also relied upon by the United Nations Human Rights Council, during a parallel event in the presence of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions which supported FIDHs position (June). In Colombia, different public events intended for the international community and the judiciary were organised around the report. Finally, the report also served as a basis of discussion during high level meetings, including with the General Prosecutor in July. FIDH remains convinced that it is necessary to open an investigation into international crimes in Colombia and will lobby for Fatou Bensouda to visit Colombia in 2013.
RESULTS The following are examples of some of the results achieved by work on this region: National level Colombia Colombias Attorney General announced that extrajudicial executions will no longer be the object of individual investigations but would be studied as possible systemic crimes. He also announced the creation of a national unit for analysis and context, which will operate as a truth commission to allow current investigations to be joined together. Discerning cases of false positives (civilians assassinated by the military who passed them off as soldiers) will be prioritised; the reform project on military criminal courts rejected explicit reference to extrajudicial executions in elaborating crimes within its jurisdiction in October. Thanks in particular to FIDH mobilisation, this topic was discussed in numerous exchanges between the European Union and the Colombian government. However, the reference, in the latest version of the law as adopted, to the jurisdiction of these courts for the violations of international humanitarian law is feared that these executions not revert in this way to the jurisdiction of these courts. Haiti The voices of those affected by disasters and Haitian human rights NGOs were raised in the international press and in intergovernmental forums; the mandate of the UN Independent Expert on Haiti was renewed; the resolution adopted by the Security Council renewing the mandate of the MINUSTAH for a year again took up requests raised by FIDH in urging the countries contributing troops and police personnel to ensure that all acts involving their personnel be investigated in due form and punished. The Security Council also insisted in its resolution on the central role of the national Haitian police and the judiciary in defending human rights and emphasised the need to strengthen and reform the police to reduce the military contingent; the EU delegation in Haiti initiated a discussion on the relationship between humanitarian assistance and development aid; FIDH member organisations benefitted from new equipment replacing what was lost in the disaster. Honduras The Court of Tegucigalpa returned the lands of three farms out of seven in the Bajo Agun region to peasants. Sadly, the lawyer for these peasants and two peasants themselves were then assassinated, illustrating the impunity from which landowners benefit;
FIDH press conference on the human rights situation in Haiti. From left to right: CEDH representative, Claire Colardelle, Programme Officer of the Americas Desk, Jimena Reyes, Head of the Americas Desk, Genevive Jacques, mission delegate, Rosy Auguste, lawyer of RNDDH. Copyright: FIDH
In New York, as the Security Council was deciding on the renewal of the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force present in Haiti and after consideration given to mechanisms of coordination of foreign aid in Haiti; In Brussels with the bodies responsible for the European Unions humanitarian and development aid and also discussions in the European Parliament on the relationship between the management of natural disasters and human rights; in Geneva, during a session of the Human Rights Council where FIDH organised a parallel event on Haiti to call particularly for the reappointment of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the country. FIDH was one of the only NGOs mobilised on this deadline. in Washington, the fact-finding mission was also presented to US organisations and will the basis for discussion with the Haitian government as part of a hearing to be held at the IACHR in 2013.
In Honduras, since 2010 FIDH has mobilised with other international organisations against the assassination of peasants in the Bajo Aguan region. Following a hearing in Washington in October 2011, where FIDH denounced these extrajudicial killings in the presence of numerous representatives of the Honduran government and commissioners of the IACHR, the assassinations stopped for three months. They then resumed. At that time FIDH also met with several development banks present in this region. FIDH jointly organised with others public hearings in the Bajo Aguan region, which were attended by representatives from the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights and the international community. It also published a joint report with the CCR that formed the basis of a communication to the ICC denouncing the commission of crimes against humanity in Honduras, including those of Bajo Aguan, and the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators. FIDH will continue to give the ICC information on these issues, particularly after a fact-finding mission in autumn 2013.
the World Bank suspended its funding in the Bajo Agun region; contributions were made to the analysis of the Prosecutors Office which maintains the situation in this country under preliminary analysis.
Others Five Mapuche prisoners in Chile were transferred to a prison closer to their families, and as such ended their hunger strike in October. This was the immediate result of mobilisation by FIDH during a mission. International level Adoption by the European Parliament in June of a resolution pushing back the vote on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and requiring Colombia and Peru to prepare road maps for human rights, union rights and environmental rights. This is the first time that, beyond the human rights clause in the agreement, the European Parliament has required such a road map within the framework of the ratification of a bilateral trade agreement and announced
a monitoring mechanism for the implementation of such a road map. The agreement was finally ratified in 2012; the ICC prosecutor did not give in to heavy pressure from the Colombian government, which since 2003 has demanded the closure of the preliminary examination currently underway on Colombia. During a public meeting the prosecutor stated that FIDHs last report on Colombia was an example of the kind of information that could be useful to the prosecutors office; in December, the new ICC prosecutor published a report of more than 90 pages on its preliminary examination of the situation in Colombia. This acknowledges that the different actors in the Colombian conflict (guerillas, paramilitary, the army) have committed and continue to commit crimes against humanity and war crimes. The report refers often to FIDH as a source of information, particularly on extrajudicial executions, qualifying them as crimes against humanity and expressing concern about their impunity. The report also sets out five areas, including that of extrajudicial executions, where it considers that the situation of impunity warrants the ICC continuing its preliminary examination.

Press releases: 50 Legal and quasi-legal proceedings: Colombia: proceedings against the DAS (in Belgium and Colombia) Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Mapuche litigation ICC: Contribution to the preliminary analysis on Colombia and Honduras UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances: Mexico (OBS) Advocacy: Participation of 12 defenders in 9 interfaces including advocacy training and advocacy with institutions of the European Union in Brussels and Strasbourg, the United Nations in Geneva and New York, with US institutions and the International Criminal Court Strategic exchange and training seminars : Haiti: on the justice reform Peru and Bolivia: on the responsibility of the firms. Partnerships: HRDN, NGOs coalition before the Inter-American system, FIAN, ASF, CIFCA, Oidhaco. Reports Haiti: Human safety in danger, (FR, EN), October 2012 Colombia: The European Parliament can contribute to end the commission of international crimes and to respect the work of human rights defenders and trade unionists, (EN, SP), May 2012 Colombia: War is measured in litres of blood. False positives, crimes against humanity: impunity of senior officials, (SP, EN), May 2012 Colombia: Leaders of displaced communities among the most vulnerable of defenders, (Colombia) (SP) (OBS), May 2012 Peru: La Oroya Metallurgical Complex: When investment is protected over human rights, (SP, EN), December 2012
Asia
The year 2012 was marked by the spectacular opening of Burma. Here, the reforms begun in 2010 became a reality with the release of hundreds of political prisoners from 2012, the election of Aung San Suu Kyi to parliament in April, and the return of press freedoms. One by one, the European Union, the United States and Australia lifted their economic sanctions and strengthened their diplomatic relations with the regime. However, despite these breakthroughs, the Burmese army continued its abuses, especially in the state of Kachin. In late May major inter-ethnic tensions heightened in the state of Rakhine, where the central government intensified its discriminatory policy against the Rohingya minority. The fragility of the reforms currently underway in Burma and the total absence of effective means of redress for victims of violations have raised fears that the massive influx of foreign investment into the country will only contribute to abuses perpetrated with total impunity. In China, the prospect of leadership change in late 2012 did not effect the regimes authoritarian nature; on the contrary, the authorities reinforced their security apparatus to maintain domestic stability. For the second time in a row the budget devoted to public order was higher than for national defense. Repression continued, particularly with regard to meetings of attorneys defending writers, and human rights and pro-democracy activists. The Chinese criminal code was revised in March 2012 to legalise the secret detention of suspects for up to six months in matters of State security, terrorism and certain corruption cases. Furthermore, surveillance of the Internet and Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, by Chinese censors continued in a draconian manner. Meanwhile, numerous protest movements, essentially composed of workers, continued to expand throughout China. Whilst contributing to wage increases, these movements have revealed abuses in numerous factories. Chinas economic and military power has had a visible impact on the country's role as a permanent member of the Security
Council (Syria blockade) and in international organisations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is now expanding. Like China, the government of Vietnam stepped up the persecution of bloggers, often considered political dissidents and thus sentenced to severe punishments. The policy of repression in Iran, including the persecution of human rights defenders, has continued unabated. The death penalty was still widely applied and practiced. The Iranian government has been one of the main allies of the Bashar alAssad regime in Syria. The Iranian opposition has been greatly weakened and can no longer organise large-scale demonstrations. Consequently, Iranian NGOs and FIDH have been able to target only levers of influence that are mainly outside Iran (UN, EU, influential emerging States, etc.). Despite several international conferences seeking to consolidate the international communitys support for Afghanistan1, it has become increasingly obvious that a response capable of reestablishing stability in the country and ensuring the future of its democratic institutions has not been identified. The growing impunity of Taliban groups increased to the detriment of the civilian population. Extremist groups in neighboring Pakistan continued sowing terror in the region, as evidenced by the attempted murder of 15-year-old Malala Yusufzai on 9 October 2012, and the recurrent attacks on religious minorities. North Korea remains completely closed to the world despite Kim Jong-uns ascension to power. The perpetration of human rights violations in the country remains systematic. Two UN resolutions adopted by consensus demonstrated the regimes isolation. Military tensions with neighboring countries have risen to alarming levels. Among the transition States, the Maldives saw a coup in February 2012 and police violence that plunged the country into uncertainty and political instability. The first democratic test will not take place
1. Bonn conference in December 2011, NATO Summit in May 2012 and Tokyo conference in July 2012.
Speech of Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Price Laureat, founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), FIDH member organisation, before the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament on the situation in Iran (March 2012). Copyright: FIDH.
until September 2013 when a presidential election is due to be held. Three years since the end of the civil war, the rule of law has still not been reestablished in Sri Lanka; on the contrary, the country has been characterised by a drift toward authoritarianism, and offenses against the Tamil minority triggered international criticism of President Rajapaksas government. Recommendations published on 16 December 2011 by Sri Lankas national reconciliation commission, established in 2010, have been implemented only to a very limited extent. In the ASEAN countries repressive regimes such as those in Laos and Vietnam, as well as Cambodia, which took over ASEANs presidency in 2012, have continued to block any regional progress on human rights. The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) is still a parody of a regional mechanism for the protection of human rights. The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration adopted in November 2012, clearly below international standards, was unanimously rejected by civil society organisations.
continued its interaction with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and issued numerous press releases, especially in Farsi, in order to spread information to Iranians in inland areas of the country. In Sri Lanka, FIDH organised a solidarity mission in March 2012. This resulted in a submission on the precarious situation of human rights defenders in Sri Lanka in the framework of that countrys Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which took place in October. In July FIDH collaborated with a Sri Lanka human rights defense organisation as well as the Catholic Committee Against Hunger and for Development (CCFD) in organising a training seminar on advocacy techniques for some twenty activists from different ethnic and religious communities on the island. FIDHs work also touched on the issue of administration of justice and the fight against impunity (Cambodia, Iran, Taiwan), as indicated in priority 4. In 2012, FIDH sought to reinforce its action in closed country North Korea, enhancing its support to the International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), launched in September 2011. In April FIDH joined other ICNK member organisations on an advocacy mission to Seoul for the purpose of submitting a report to twelve United Nations special procedures to implement an international inquiry commission on political prison camps in North Korea. FIDH then organised advocacy visits to Paris and Brussels with North Korean activists and witnesses. In December 2012 an international inquiry mission was organised in Seoul on the use of the death penalty in North Korea. In view of the erosion of basic freedoms in Laos and Vietnam, FIDH, the Lao Movement for Human Rights (MLDH) and the Vietnam Committee on human rights stepped up their work on documenting racial discrimination and hindrances to freedom of expression. Of particular note was a memo on the situation in Laos presented at the Asia-Europe summit organised in Vientiane in November 2012. FIDH also invited its member organisation, the MLDH, to Brussels to submit recommendations to the European institutions in the early stages of talks on human rights between the European Union and Laos. In February 2012 FIDH and its member organisations in Vietnam and Laos submitted a joint memo to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination within the framework of the report on these two countries. In addition, the FIDH pursued its work in three countries targeted for action over the last few years. These endeavors are outlined in focus boxes 1 to 3, below.
FIDH in action
FIDH's action in 2012 has turned around three goals: reinforcing the capacity of local actors, documenting violations and carrying out advocacy activities nationally, regionally and internationally. The mobilisation of FIDH and its member organisation focused on human rights defenders (priority 1). Six missions were organised in Bangladesh, the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand with the aim of documenting cases of arrested or threatened defenders, as well as violations of their right to a fair trial. Seventy-four urgent appeals by the Observatory were published in 2012 relating to 13 countries in this region (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China,, India, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam). Two countries, one closed and the other in transition, were monitored in particular. In Iran, FIDH especially mobilised in support of defenders with several representatives of its member organisation, Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), made targets of persecution. FIDH also supported several campaigns in solidarity with Iranian students and teachers. A complete list of Iranian defenders under arrest was put online as a means of keeping the media and international organisations better informed. FIDH
FOCUS
FIDH prepares for transition in Burma FIDH organised an exploratory mission in Burma in September 2012. This was FIDHs first visit to the country after many years of working for economic sanctions, challenging impunity for international crimes and denouncing the role of Western businesses in repression in the country. The mission was authorised to consult with local stakeholders to determine their needs in terms of reinforcing capacities and in support of advocacy. FIDH talked with stakeholders about the principle and content of a training course on business and human rights to be held in Rangoon early in 2013. FIDH organised a meeting for Aung San Suu Kyi with NGOs on her visit to Paris in June 2012. Numerous advocacy appointments and public meetings were organised in Bangkok, Paris, Brussels and New York to alert the international community to persistent human rights violations in Burma. During the United Nations General Assembly in October, FIDH led a delegation of women activists representing the Kachin and Rohingya communities. In collaboration with its member organisation, ALTSEAN-Burma, FIDH organised two missions in India and Brazil to expand the range of its advocacy on Burma to emerging countries and strengthen its contacts with civil society in those countries.
FOCUS
FIDH addresses Chinas human and labour rights record In spite of the harsh constraints and risks imposed on human rights defenders working too closely with international organisations, in 2012 FIDH was able to visit mainland China to carry out a survey on working conditions in the country (see priority 5). FIDH also undertook advocacy actions outside Chinese territory. Together with its member organisations, Human Rights in China (HRIC) and the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), FIDH contributed to the EU/China talks on human rights and the annual EU/China civil society seminar, discussing individual cases and particular situations, especially the impact of environmental policies on the situation of the Tibetan people. Nonetheless, FIDH continues to denounce the lack of tangible results achieved by these initiatives, and, in the face of difficulties, their propensity to be interested less in obtaining real results than in sustaining the process itself. To prevent human rights from being confined to moribund talks, FIDH is calling on the European Union to implement a permanent independent civil society forum in Hong Kong, a site where it may be possible to create a real place for exchange of opinions that is likely to exert an influence on mainland China. FIDH also contributed to setting up an international committee to support Nobel peace prize laureat Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia, who are currently in prison and under house arrest, respectively. FIDH issued an alert to the international community
FOCUS
Pushing for stronger institutions and human rights protection in Afghanistan Continuing its work of 2011, FIDH actively called for an overhaul of the international strategy for supporting Afghanistan. Talks were facilitated by FIDH with the UNAMA during a public event of the Human Rights Council in March. At the Chicago NATO Summit in May, FIDH published a complete report presenting recommendations aimed at strengthening democratic institutions and protecting human rights in Afghanistan. In July, FIDH took part in the Tokyo international conference on Afghanistan through its member organisation Armanshahr/ Open Asia. Here it appealed for the international community to condition aid to the country on precise indicators of human rights progress, particularly concerning womens rights. FIDH and Armanshahr published a new edition of their glossary on transitional justice in Persian in 2012.
through the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders on the persecution of defenders in China. Lastly, together with the ICT, FIDH published testimonies by Tibetans in exile about ongoing persecution in Tibet and called on the international community to react to the crisis of selfimmolation by Tibetans.
Cover: Military parade marking the 100th birthday of late Kim Il Sung, Pyongyang, 15 April 2012, RIA Novosti / TopFoto 2012
FIDH also reacted to the crisis following the coup in the Maldives in February 2012. In view of the deteriorating human rights situation in the country and the lack of international mobilisation to support the fledgling democracy, in place since 2008, FIDH deployed an international inquiry mission in July. A report was published in September, together with the August publication of the national commissions report on the inquiry into the February events. These publications also coincided with the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) meeting, which decided in late September to maintain the suspension of the Maldives. FIDH also invited Hilath Rasheed, a Maldivian blogger and victim of an attack by religious fundamentalists in June 2012, to the Human Rights Council in Paris and Geneva. Together with its member organisation the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and the Maldivian Democracy Network, FIDH pleaded the cause for diplomatic intervention before the Commonwealth in London. FIDH also campaigned for the ASEAN to consult with civil society in Southeast Asian countries on the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration. In November, observing that the final version adopted by the AICHR was well below international standards, FIDH and other non-governmental organisations denounced the process and its outcome. In December the AICHR invited FIDH to take part in a training seminar on access to justice. FIDH continued its discussions with different authorities on the deterioration of economic and social rights in the ASEAN countries, as well as physical attacks on defenders of these rights. The issue of the social responsibility of companies will be the next area of work for the AICHR in 2013. RESULTS The following are some of the results to which FIDH has contributed in this region: National level Burma: More political prisoners released; Pakistan: The Pakistani government took measures to identify the perpetrators of the attack on Malala Yusufzai and promised to provide more resources for the education of girls in Pakistan. Regional and international level Afghanistan: FIDH continued its advocacy with international bodies, to ensure that human rights will be at the heart of peace and reconciliation processes in Afghanistan. The international conference on Afghanistan in Tokyo in July 2012 indexed specific indicators relative to human rights for international aid to be deployed;
Burma: FIDH contributed to sustaining the attention of the European Union and the United Nations on the human rights abuses committed against the Rohyingas in Arakan state. Resolutions adopted by the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly stress the importance of combatting the crimes reported by FIDH, and the European Parliament decried the inadequate reforms in the country; North Korea: Through its support of the International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea, FIDH lobbied for the creation of a commission of inquiry on the human rights situation in North Korea. Following initial statements along these lines by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution in March 2013 that included the creation of a commission of inquiry; Iran: Shirin Ebadi and Karim Lahidji, presidents of two FIDH member organisations in Iran, received the Sakharov prize awarded to Nasrin Sotoudeh in 2012 by the European Parliament. They are participating in a number of bilateral meetings with leaders of each of the political groups in the European Parliament; Laos: The President of the European Union, Herman Van Rompuy, described the human rights situation in Laos at the opening of the ASEM summit. The European Union undertook to follow up on the suggestions and recommendations made by FIDH on the human rights situation in Laos in the framework of its bilateral talks with the Lao authorities; Maldives: The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) sustained the suspension of the Maldives and defined indicators enabling the Commonwealth to monitor the human rights progress made by the Maldives. Pakistan: The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the situation of girls in Pakistan, denouncing the fate of Malala Yusufzai; Thailand: The European Union sent observers to the trial of human rights activist Somyot Prueksakasemsuk and spoke out against the outcome of this trial; Vietnam: Individual cases and concerns highlighted by FIDH regarding freedom of expression, political prisoners and freedom of religion were raised by the European Union in talks with Vietnam in Brussels in October 2012.

International inquiry missions, judicial inquiries and court observation missions: 11 (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Maldives, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand) Solidarity and contact missions: 5 (Thailand, Sri Lanka) National advocacy missions: 4 (Burma, Cambodia) Press releases: 80 Judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings: C a m b o d i a : U n g c a s e i n F re n c h jurisdictions Extraordinary chambers in Cambodian courts: representation of 10 Cambodian victims living in France and civil parties in case no. 002 Partnerships: International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), Forum Asia Working group on arbitrary detention: Iran, Vietnam (OBS) Advocacy activities: Participation of 25 defenders in 13 advocacy training workshops and advocacy activities before the EU in Brussels and Strasbourg, the UN in Geneva and New York, and before United States, French, Indian, and brazilian goverment as well as before the ASEAN to discuss situations in Afghanistan, ASEAN, Burma, Cambodia, China, North Korea, Indonesia, Iran, Laos Maldives and Vietnam. Cambodia / CETC: Victims Rights before the ECCC: A Mixed Record for Civil Parties, (FR, ENG), November 2012 China / Tibet: Human rights violations and self-immolation: testimonies by Tibetans in exile, (FR, ENG), May 2012 Afghanistan: Human rights at a crossroads: The need for a rights-centred approach to peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, (ENG, PERSIAN) (with executive summary in French and Arabic), May 2012 Maldives: From sunrise to sunset, (FR, ENG), September 2012 Reports
FIDH Report - Human rights at a crossroads: The need for a rights-centred approach to peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Rafi Behroozian, 2011
Eastern Europe & Central Asia

Several regimes in Eastern Europe and Central Asia became even harsher in 2012, increasing their battery of repressive legislation. Impunity and arbitrary rule continued to prevail in several countries in the region. In Russia, the position of civil society has worsened considerably since Vladimir Putin began a third term as president in May 2012. A range of new measures were adopted in record time while repression aimed at muzzling members of the opposition, human rights defenders, artists and minority groups has been stepped up. The adoption of a law on demonstrations was swiftly followed by laws on the foreign funding of non-commercial organisations, defamation and libel, and treason. Real censorship of the Internet has been introduced under the pretext of protecting minors and several regional laws prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality have paved the way for their national equivalent to be submitted to parliament. In December, a new law introduced measures aimed at individuals violating the rights of Russian citizens. This law makes an unprecedented contribution to creating the image of an enemy of the nation both within and outside the State, seeking in particular to stifle local organisations. It bans a number of US nationals from entering Russian Federation territory and prohibits all US citizens from adopting Russian orphans. Moreover, the document bans any NGO involved in alleged political activities from receiving financial support from individuals or organisations based in the United States on the grounds that this could pose a threat to the interests of the Russian Federation. The deterioration of freedoms in Russia is all the more worrying given the countrys ever increasing influence on the regional and international stage. In addition, certain particularly vulnerable groups, like Roma, migrants and other minority groups, face police violence on a daily basis. This daily violence ranges from racial profiling to abuses of office, from special operations to beatings in police custody and potentially lethal acts of torture. The situation remains disturbing in the North Caucasus where conflict has spread to almost all republics in the region. A harsher stance by the regime is also very much in evidence in Kazakhstan. The authorities fired live bullets on demonstrators in Zhanaozen in Eastern Kazakhstan in December 2011. Civil society, particularly journalists and members of the opposition, responded to these acts of violence by calling for those responsible to be brought to justice. As a result, they were subjected to judicial harassment and attacks of all kinds. Azerbaijan, which will hold presidential elections in 2013, has also stepped up repression, particularly against journalists, human rights defenders, members of the opposition and cyber-activists.
Finally, the wave of repression that began in Belarus in 2011 has not subsided. The political opposition remains muzzled and human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists remain extremely vulnerable. Eleven political prisoners, including FIDHs own vice-president, continue to be held in deplorable conditions and freedom of movement has been significantly curtailed for dozens of activists. The other hand, major changes have been possible in Georgia without outbreaks of violence. A public and institutional realisation that human rights violations are still taking place in the country has opened the way to substantial changes. The year 2012 was noted for Octobers parliamentary elections in which, given the lack of a robust and organised opposition, the head of state faced a genuine opponent for the first time in eight years in the person of businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the Georgian Dream movement. Reforms introduced also led, especially at the beginning of 2013, to the release of numerous political prisoners. This had been a priority issue for FIDH since 2008. The challenge now will be to ensure that the changes are lasting.
FIDH in action
FIDH continued its documentation and advocacy work throughout the countries of the region. This was particularly important when it came to the protection of human rights defenders, with FIDH taking up 45 cases of urgent action, involving 40 human rights defenders in seven countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan). This work was also key to addressing the situation of migrants, particularly in Tajikistan and Russia (see priorities 1 and 3).
Street demonstration in Moscow (December 2011). Copyright: Memorial.
FIDH also targeted issues surrounding the administration of justice, especially arbitrary detention, conditions of detention and ill treatment. The topics of political prisoners and legislative reform to enhance the independence of the judiciary remained a focus of concern for FIDH and its member organisations. (see priority 4). FIDH action on these issues has been very diverse. It included an international mission of inquiry to Moldova to look into conditions of detention and reforms. It also encompassed documentation and advocacy regarding both Kyrgyzstan, where victims of the tragic events of 2010 are still not entitled to compensation, and Georgia. In the case of the latter, FIDH held an interface meeting in Brussels in July to brief European Union institutions about its concerns ahead of Georgias parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 2012. An advocacy note was published on that occasion. In addition, FIDH contributed to the EU-Georgia Civil Society Seminar on the criminal justice system, and to a regional seminar on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in order to help train Georgian human rights defenders to use this mechanism. FIDH has also used quasi-judicial levers in 2012, referring situations of arbitrary detention in Belarus and Uzbekistan to UN mechanisms. Lastly, it continued to work on a little known regional mechanism, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and its impact on the perpetration of abuses related to fighting terrorism. In September 2012, FIDH published a report outlining the human rights violations linked to the SCOs framework of action. The report was the result of joint work begun in 2011 by FIDH and several of its member and partner organisations from SCO member states. It considered specific aspects of SCO operations that contravene human rights or the rights of refugees as SCO member states justify the repression of religious and political activists, human rights defenders, members of the opposition and representatives of certain minorities, on the grounds of security and stability. A parallel event to present the report was held as part of the OSCE-ODIHR annual meeting. Human rights defenders from Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan took part. The event enabled them to talk to departments dealing with respect for human rights within the framework of the fight against terrorism, as well as to numerous national delegations. The General Assembly resolution on cooperation between the UN and the SCO, adopted at the end of 2012 demonstrates the great importance and necessity of work on security abuses by this organisation, which is a source of serious human rights violations that have now become institutionalised. There is expected to be follow-up with Security Council agencies responsible for the fight against terrorism and the US authorities in 2013. In parallel, FIDH has devised a series of actions aimed at three countries where the human rights situation has particularly worsened in 2012: Azerbaijan, Russia and Belarus. On Azerbaijan, FIDH has documented the situation of freedoms in that country in view of the presidential elections; a mission to Azerbaijan will be arranged at the very beginning of 2013. For Russia and Belarus, see focus boxes below.
FOCUS
FIDH responds to heightened repression in Russia FIDH has tried to respond to the increased pace of repression in Russia by combining analysis efforts with international advocacy to highlight the ongoing trajectory of State oppression. This resulted in public responses (press releases, open letters, advocacy notes) and participation in public events. Such participation included demonstrations in support of the members of Pussy Riot in Paris, a day of action with roundtables to mark the anniversary of the death of Anna Politkovskaya in France, a rally and concert for freedom in Russia, debates in several French towns and a major gathering in Paris on Chechnya, a topic that has been somewhat forgotten in Europe. During the March elections, FIDH published an advocacy note, entitled Elections and Human Rights in Russia: Recurring Violations and New Concerns and responded in the media. Advocacy work has been conducted with UN agencies and European Union institutions. FIDH supported its Russian partners in their submission of an alternative report to the Committee Against Torture (see Priority 4) and drafted submissions for Russias examination by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and for the Universal Periodic Review, scheduled for 2013. As for the European Union, an advocacy note was provided ahead of the EU-Russia Summit, a briefing paper was presented to the Special Representative for Human Rights and an open letter was made public.
RESULTS Below is a sample of some of the results achieved by FIDH on this region over the last year: Russia: The Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee Against Torture reflect recommendations made by ADC Memorial and FIDH on Russia regarding discrimination against, and impunity for attacks on, the Roma, migrants and minorities; Georgia: The release of political prisoners in Georgia at the very beginning of 2013 after five years of FIDH action alongside its Georgian member organisation; Belarus: The appointement of a United Nations Special Rapporteur on Belarus in July 2012 and continued EU sanctions; Belarus: European Parliament resolutions in February and July 2012 on Belarus included the individual situations on which the FIDH has campaigned as well as FIDH-proposed sanction criteria; Belarus: The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions found the detention of Ales Bialiatski arbitrary and called on the authorities to release him and to guarantee that NGOs have access to funding; Belarus: Condemnation of the detention of Ales Bialiatski by the European Union at the highest level (including Commissioner Stefan Fle and the European Parliament presidency) and the Council of Europe; and Shanghai Cooperation Organization: The first in-depth study of a very little known issue the impact of SCO security policy on human rights enabled the start of inter-regional campaigning on the issue.
FOCUS
FIDH Action on the Situation in Belarus FIDH action on Belarus in 2012 clearly highlights its use of various levers when confronted by a country in which defending human rights has become a real challenge. This action was centered on the following: documentation and condemnation of abuse by establishing specific communication tools; enhancing FIDHs local partners capacity for action and helping it define its action strategies through training and exchanges of experience; material support; recourse to litigation; and advocacy with influential players, such as the United Nations, European Union and United States. Condemnation and Communication: In 2012, FIDH continued its work to free Ales Bialiatski, Chairman of the Viasna Human Rights Centre and FIDH Vice-President, who has been in detention since August 2011. In 2012, the FIDH sought to expand this segment of its action in order to shed light on the harassment and stigmatisation of Belarusian civil society as a whole. As such, it widened the coverage of the Free Ales website to include all persecution of human rights defenders. In 2013, the website will be reformatted to improve compatibility with social networking website. In addition, FIDH issued regular condemnations of the situation of political prisoners and the conditions of their detention.
Strategic Support: FIDH has supported the Viasna Human Rights Centre, which has been subjected to the detention of its chairman and the closure of its offices, by holding a strategic seminar in Paris. The seminar brought several Viasna members together in Paris for four days, meeting in a safe environment to identify ways of working and additional security measures to be put in place. It also enabled the participants to acquaint themselves with international mechanisms for the protection of human rights defenders and respect for human rights in trade agreements, and to work on specific cases illustrating problems linked to court systems (universal jurisdiction, the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union). The meeting enabled Viasna to develop a concerted strategy to keep working over the long term despite material, political and psychological barriers. A mission then took place in October 2012 to assess the needs of the Viasna Human Rights Centre ahead of the loss of its office, which was locked and sealed in November 2012. Litigation: FIDH referred the case of Ales Bialiatski to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and secured an unprecedented decision, calling on the Belarusian authorities to release him and to guarantee NGO access to funding in general. FIDH also collected statements from victims
of torture in order to archive them with a view ultimately to prosecuting their torturers. Advocacy: In January 2012, when Ales Bialiatskis sentence was upheld by a court of final instance, FIDH arranged for Viasna Human Rights Centre representatives and members of the Committee on International Control Over the Human Rights Situation in Belarus to go to Brussels. This advocay contributed to several declarations and resolutions by EU institutions, referring to the case of Ales Bialiatksi and his colleagues, the situation of political prisoners and the application of the death penalty in Belarus. Another advocacy meeting was held in December with the emphasis more particularly on the situation of political prisoners and journalists subjected to numerous restrictions and reprisals in Belarus. The Viasna Human Rights Centre and the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) took part and their visit was given very good media coverage. There was also advocacy at the United Nations level aimed at establishing the mandate for a Special Rapporteur on Belarus. This Rapporteur was appointed in 2012 and will deliver a public report in 2013, to which FIDH will contribute. FIDH and Viasna also took part in an advocacy visit, organised with other international organisations, to US institutions and the IMF in Washington in 2012.
On 31 December 2012, 27 human rights defenders from FIDH member organisations were imprisoned (Turkey, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Iran, Belarus, Bahrain). FIDH and its 164 member organisations are mobilized to enable their liberation.
Memorial's headquarters tagged "foreign agents" and "I love USA" on 21 November 2012, day of the entry into force of the Russian restrictive legislation on NGOs. Copyright: Memorial
Stefan Fle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Valentin Stefanovich (Viasna), Sacha Koulaeva (FIDH) and Zhanna Litvina (Journalists Association) on the occasion of a meeting on 5 December 2012 on the human rights situation in Belarus. European Union, 2013.

international missions of inquiry and solidarity: 2 (Moldova and Belarus) Press releases: 38 Quasi-judicial proceedings: - Human Rights Committee: 2 (Uzbekistan and Belarus) - Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions: 1 (Belarus) (OBS) Advocacy: Participation by 12 human rights defenders in advocacy missions to relevant regional and international Training and strategic exchange seminars for human rights defenders: 2 (Georgia and Belarus) Partnerships: Civil Rights Defenders, Norwegian Helsinki Committee Russia: Kadyrov vs Orlov, the Defence of Human Rights on Trial, (FR, ENG, RUS), February 2012 Shanghai Cooperation Organization: The fight Against Terrorism within the Framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, (ENG, RUS) institutions to address the following situations (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan)
Rapports d'enqute
Organisational Challenges
Ensuring stronger interaction between the three FIDH pillars

Member Organisations - International Board International Secretariat
The FIDH+10 process, launched in 2009 to evaluate the functioning of FIDH and heighten its visibility and impact, identified several areas for focus. These included enhancing the synergies between the organisations three pillars, strengthening its universal character and increasing strategic exchange opportunities for the period 2012-2016. To this end, FIDH, as stipulated in its latest multiannual strategic plan, must further its efforts in three directions: FIDH bodies: A series of proposals concerning the role and links between different FIDH bodies have been made. Furthermore, the methods and tools for work organisation presented to the International Bureau at the end of 2011 by the president and the CEO contributed in 2012 to strengthening the interaction between FIDHs pillars. Thus 2012 saw the development of a handbook on Congress organisation and International Board meetings; monthly priority-setting meetings between the Presidency and the Steering Committee of the International Secretariat, a handbook on work organisation between the CEO and the Presidency, a new intranet platform for document sharing between FIDH and its member organisations, and a brochure outlining the relationship between the member organisations and their Federation.
A. Governance
> Clarify the role of the three pillars

Since July 2010, the International Bureau (following proposals from its FIDH+10 working group) has continued to examine a series of proposals clarifying the roles of the three FIDH pillars. In 2012 this led to a proposal to reform FIDHs statute, a matter that will be up for discussion and adoption by member organisations at FIDHs Congress in Istanbul in 2013. The proposed reform centres on three aspects: (1) FIDHs mandate; (2) federative links and modes of interaction between FIDH and its member organisations; and (3) FIDH bodies. FIDH mandate: It is proposed that FIDH broaden its social objectives to include references to combating (a) corruption, (b) discrimination based on gender identity and (c) violations resulting from the abuse of new technologies. Federative links and modes of interaction: It is principally proposed that the significance and uniqueness of the relationship between FIDH and its member organisations be highlighted. It is proposed that the notion of a universal movement that links organisations for the defence and promotion of human rights be introduced into FIDHs statute.
> Strengthen the universal representation of FIDH governing bodies and its member organisations
This objective was dealt with in 2012 within the framework of statute reform (see above) and preparation of the Congress. The International Boards working group on FIDH+10 tabled proposals for Statute amendments to encourage a more universal make-up of International Board members. The main stipulations were that there cannot be two vice-presidents of the same nationality, and that post holders can be re-elected to the same office no more than twice. The 5 general secretaries should also, as far as possible, be of different nationalities. In addition, the working group presented the International Board with amendments to internal regulations to enhance universality and secure equal male-female representation in International Board membership.
FIDHs Congress the sole entity entitled to admit new members has recieved 19 requests for admission from associations in emerging countries (such as South Africa and Indonesia) as well several countries in which FIDH has never to date had members (Angola, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kuwait). These applicants have been validated by the International Board.
> Strengthen opportunities for strategic exchanges between member organisations and within FIDHs political bodies
Strategic consultation and multi-year strategic plan Inside political bodies: in 2012 the International Bureau met twice at FIDH headquarters. Apart from an entire day devoted to meetings of the geographic teams, strategic exchange sessions were conducted on challenges currently faced by FIDH and leagues in Asia, womens rights, and respect for human rights as part of economic globalisation. The International Board also set aside part of its discussion to address the multi-annual strategic plan for 2012-2016, which was adopted at its May 2012 meeting. This plan reflects the desire to prioritise objectives, and strengthen FIDHs litigation strategy and international and regional advocacy work. The Boards thinking and the decisions it took were shared with member organisations via its web platform. Strategic tools and meetings Among the activities carried out by the geographic and thematic bureaus, a large amount of time was given to strategic exchanges with and between member organisations. Tools developed for this purpose, starting with the terms of reference for actions, were systematically deployed in 2012. These exchanges cover all projects undertaken, and involve the drafting of press releases, specific programs of action, terms of reference for international fact-finding and judicial observation missions, participation in public awareness-raising activities or advocacy before authorities and IGOs. Additionally, meetings were held for exchanges on responding to the particular needs of defenders in very different contexts. 2012 meetings concerned the transition process underway in Tunisian civil society; the security of defenders in FIDHs member organisation in Belarus; respect for economic and social rights, with defenders from all regions of the world meeting in Lima; the strengthening of the Judicial Action Group in Ivory Coast; and finally, strategies to adopt in combating the death penalty for relevant Asian member organisations.
Information and awareness-raising with the member organisations has been strengthened through periodic messages from the president, which complement the sending of communiqus and newsletters. Whilst not every branch of the movement responds in the same manner, this communication has ushered in a new relationship that can only enhance the movement: member organisations are asked to support situations outside their country and region, demonstrating their solidarity through gatherings and writing letters to the authorities, or relaying information through their websites, as each action requires. This was particularly the case in March, with our publication on the role of women in the Arab spring, and our campaign for the release of Nabeel Rajab and Ales Bialiatski. The value of the work accomplished by the member organisations gained particular attention in 2012 with the circulation of an annual report in comic strip format in French, Spanish and English, as well as through regular communication in the form of Impact Newsletters. A memo on stronger communication between FIDH and its member organisations has also been circulated to member organisations. A brochure has been produced showing the relationship between the member organisations and their Federation.
C. Operational matters
Strengthen interaction between member organisations, FIDHs regional offices (Nairobi, Cairo and Bangkok) and the FIDH delegations (New York, Geneva, Brussels, The Hague) This objective is a priority for regional offices and delegations. Some actions undertaken in 2012 show how critical this interaction is: over 90 human rights defenders were accompanied by FIDH delegations to the UN and EU where they presented joint recommendations; 6 contact and solidarity missions were carried out by the FIDH representative to ASEAN in South East Asian countries; at two sessions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHP), the team supported the participation of 9 delegates and mounted 10 joint interventions with member organisations before ACHPR and AU bodies; one of FIDHs Cairo bureaus priorities has been the preparation of a strategic meeting with the League of Arab States bringing together relevant national and regional organisations. This meeting took place in February 2013.
B. Institutional communication
To strengthen communication with and for its member organisations, 2012 saw FIDH step up its co-ordination of joint action with member organisations and develop new tools to support this interaction.
> Strengthen operational partnerships with the member organisations and interaction with regional networks
Operational partnerships with FIDH member leagues have taken many different forms. In 2011 and 2012, FIDH developed bilateral programs with member member organisations. As such, 2012 saw follow through with programs on Hati and Guinea, the setting up of new programs on Belarus and Tunisia and the
F I DH A NNU A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 67
preparation of future programs with leagues in Ivory Coast, Mali and Libya. FIDH has generally continued its effort to work more strategically on several situations and certain target countries to improve the impact of its action in partnership with its members. In addition, FIDH has continued to develop its partnerships with numerous organisations, including the World Organisation Against Torture, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, the International Trade Union Confederation, Union Network International, the Global Campaign for the Ratification of the Convention on Migrant Workers, Justice Without Borders for Migrants, the Victims Rights Working Group, TRACES, the International Coalition for the Fair Judgement of Hissne Habr, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, the International Coalition Against Forced Disappearances, the European Coalition for Corporate Justice,
Rseau DESC, Crisis Action, the Coalition for the African Court of Human and Peoples Rights, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, Forum Asia, the Inter-African Union for Human Rights, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
> Continue to support member organisation and local partners in high risk situations
This objective also lies at the heart of all FIDH activities, as shown in the present report. By way of example, in 2012, 80 defenders and 5 NGOs received material assistance (medical costs, relocation, home and NGO office security, legal and communication costs). 336 urgent appeals were issued on behalf of defenders living with harassment or threats, 61 field missions were conducted and 16 training seminars or exchanges were organised with member NGOs.
Towards a Consolidated International Secretariat

A. Prioritisation and Evaluation
Major external evaluations were held or completed in 2012. From the end of 2011 to mid 2012, the Swedish International Cooperation Agency (Sida) carried out an evaluation of FIDHs Freedom of Expression Programme and the implementation of FIDHs Strategic Plan (20092011). Its findings were very positive and confirmed the real progress made in recent years: The 12 recommendations included in the evaluation, which Sida carried out six years ago, have all been taken on board by the FIDH and largely implemented. The FIDHs success in maintaining a momentum of internal reform and systematic monitoring deserves to be acknowledged. Sida Evaluation Report (2012) The report was communicated to the appropriate departments by FIDHs International and Executive Board and by the International Secretariat. Its recommendations relate in particular to ways of improving prioritisation, to enhancing a more selective approach to activities on the basis of expected outcomes and to lessons learned from actions already implemented. The report was very useful in developing the 2012-2016 multi-year strategic plan. Work to monitor implementation of the recommendations has begun and will continue in 2013. FIDH is thus continuing efforts to deepen its evaluation culture with ongoing efforts to raise awareness. Several meetings on reporting and evaluation issues have been held for all or some members of staff. Participatory work to develop the 20122016 multi-year strategic plan was also very useful in this respect. Teams have been encouraged to tighten up their boards objectives in line with outcomes achieved and current challenges and to refine the indicators most suited to facilitating outcome measurement. Efforts made to highlight teams achievements are also part of this process. Moreover, there have been external audits of FIDHs financial monitoring for four programmes backed by the European Commission. These required large-scale involvement of the teams. The recommendations of these audits stressed the need to adjust the accounts management system, a process that began in 2011.
B. Improving Conditions of Work and Performance

To summarize, those conducting the evaluation felt that the new organizational structure, the clarification of jobs, and the introduction of a middle-management grade and a steering committee had made the Secretariat more efficient. Sida Evaluation Report (2012)
> Clarify roles and responsibilities within the International Secretariat

Two working groups were set up within the International Secretariat (IS) at the beginning of 2012. The first working group, which was tasked with defining jobs within the IS and the career development criteria as well as with redrafting the system for classifying jobs and positions, met nine times. By the end of 2012, 94% of job definitions had been produced and communicated to the members of staff involved. The process was highly participatory, allowing expectations to be expressed and responsibilities, and how they were understood, to be clarified. The criteria for potential internal development were also identified. In 2013, this process is to culminate in the finalisation of any remaining job definitions, the selection and specification of development criteria and redrafting the job classification system. The second working group, tasked with working on pay comparisons with other NGOs, met four times. In 2013, the information gathered will feed into a consideration of salary band changes. Work continued on clarifying the role of middle management and its relationship with the Executive Directorate team and the staff as a whole. The steering committee, which brings together the heads of the different departments and the members of the Executive Directorate team, met 20 times, enabling it to contribute to prioritising activities, balancing plans for activities against available human and financial capacities and preparing monthly prioritisation meetings with the chair.
> Continue pay improvements

FIDH policy continued to be based on the following principles: respect for a maximum ratio of 1:3 between the lowest and highest IS salaries and the retention of a minimum gross salary, set at 30% more than the French minimum wage (SMIC). Pay Adjustments: A 13th month of basic pay was adopted in 2012. Given the state of FIDH resources, it had not previously been possible to achieve this goal, which was enshrined in the 20092011 strategic plan. Securing a 13th monthly payment was a major demand by employees and the management team. An important milestone was therefore reached in 2012. From January 2011January 2013, the minimum increase in basic monthly pay (excluding one-off bonuses) was in the region of 10.3%. In 2013, work to redraft the job classification system will result in greater coherence between responsibilities and pay and in redrafting pay scales, particularly to allow greater career development within a single role.
> Continue to develop training and to implement the gender equality policy
As at 31 December 2012, 69% of the IS were women. For its part, the steering committee (comprising the Executive Directorate team and the managers) was 57% female. Following the International Boards adoption of a Gender Charter, a decision was taken to offer all staff training in how to incorporate womens rights into all FIDH activities. This training has particularly assisted in the adaptation of the FIDH mission handbook. The Operations Team mandate now requires womens rights to be systematically taken into account in all FIDH activities.
> Continue to internationalise the International Secretariat

The Secretariats staff is composed of representatives from 14 different countries.
C. Specialisation and External Competitions

In addition to the heads of mission volunteer experts from every continent who take part in all FIDH missions on the ground in 2012, FIDH held competitions for external professionals in certain areas of these activities. Given the new technological needs of member organisations and the International Secretariat, FIDH continued to rely on several service providers and partners when it came to data security, the intranet, the world-wide web and social networks. FIDH continues to draw on the services of a chartered accountant and, this year, together with an outside service provider, it completed the design and introduction of a new integrated management system. FIDH also stepped up its recourse to pro bono legal chambers as part of its Legal Action Group (LAG) in order to meet the need for legal analyses and amici curiae in legal actions brought or supported by FIDH in support of victims of serious human rights abuses. As envisaged by its multi-year strategic plan (2012-2016), FIDH signed an agreement with the Arab Institute for Human Rights and the Human Rights Research Centre at Paris II University. FIDH hosted 39 interns at its eight sites in 2012. Internships lasting between four and six months were preferred this year in order to improve the operational effectiveness of the training provided.
> Continue to explore other means of financial and non-financial valorisation for the International Secretariat
Staff training continued in 2012, with 26 members of the IS undergoing training of some kind. Training was provided in digital management systems, communications, promotion of womens rights in all FIDH activities and support for victims when gathering evidence. The possibility of setting up an employee savings scheme will be studied in 2013.
> Continue to improve working conditions

The strenghening of a team at the International Secretariat continued in 2012: In Guinea, the post of project coordinator was retained, and a support role was recreated in Tunis. In Brussels, the office of representative to the European Union was made permanent while in Geneva the post of representative to the UN was extended, as was its equivalent in New York. The fund-raising team was increased with the recruitment of a fund-raising officer and the Africa team has recruited an assistant. FIDH opened an office in Tunis and gained legal recognition in New York where it is based in the premises of the International Coalition for the International Criminal Court.
Enhancing the capacity to mobilise the public

A. Strengthening institutional communications
To strengthen its capacity to influence and to protect its members, FIDH decided in 2011 to develop its institutional communications in accordance with a communications master plan. For the FIDH network to benefit from a multiplier effect, communications needed to be strongly supported by interaction with the member organisations. In 2012, FIDH worked on strengthening this interaction. Corporate Identity In 2011, it was officially decided that the acronym FIDH would be used instead of the organisations full name. Since 2012 this acronym has been used on all documents and all actors and the media have been made aware of the change. As a result of reflection by the International Board on the nature of FIDHs movement, the most suitable strapline for the movement appears to be World Movement for Human Rights, which emphasises and describes the acronym. A FIDH Member logo was created to enhance visibility. The 2013 congress will provide an opportunity to encourage member organisations to adopt and use this logo. its successes, and a radio spot for the second anniversary of the Arab revolutions. The 2011 Annual Report was distributed in cartoon form in early 2012. Paper and electronic versions of five newsletters were circulated featuring the activities of the Asia, North Africa/Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa desks.
B. Enhancing communication with the media

In 2012, FIDHs media strategy was guided by the intent to increase our press coverage internationally, especially in the English and Arab language media, as well as to increase our interaction with member organisations. With this in mind, FIDH revised the concept of its press relations. FIDH decided to focus on quality and concentrate on obtaining in depth articles for certain media. FIDH also targeted its communications at selected countries to support its advocacy work. The publication of the Haiti, Human Security in Danger report is a good example of this strategy, which led to the publication of background articles in Le Monde (France), Le Devoir (Canada), The Miami Herald (U.S.A), La Libre Belgique (Belgium), and Le Nouvelliste (Haiti). During its missions abroad, FIDH systematically held meetings with the international media and the member organisations. In 2012, special interviews gave human rights defenders from North Korea, Mali, and Belarus the opportunity to tell international journalists about the situation in their respective countries. Our actions have been successful and the English-language media uptake this year has exceeded our expectations. FIDH has increased its visibility in the Arab-language press (a 60% increase over 2011) by strengthening its North Africa/ Middle East desk and providing more translations in Arabic. The exceptionnal results obtained in January and February 2011 were related to the Arab revolutions making it difficult to compare 2011 with 2012. If we take these two months into account, however, the number of articles referring to FIDH in the media rose by close to 20%, though the number of communications sent to the media remained much the same (571 in 2012, and 548 in 2011).
Publicise results and impacts In 2012, FIDH tried to present the results and successes of its actions in a more systematic and coherent manner. Fifteen issues of the newsletter Impacts were distributed which included a newly created column dedicated to the topic of the website. Develop tools that are readily accessible to the leagues In 2012, FIDH developed tools that describe its activities. These are readily accessible to the public-at-large and are easily shared on social networks. They include five films of 45 seconds presenting FIDH through its five priority action themes, a three minute Showreel giving some background to FIDH and
C. Developing and enhancing web communication channels

Great advances in digital communication were made in 2011, and these efforts were continued into 2012 to improve the FIDH web ecosystem. The website, social networks and the FIDH Newsletter were given special attention FIDHs website Close to 1,393 articles were posted on FIDHs website in 2012, in contrast to 1,545 in 2011 and 1,362 in 2010. This unusually high production figure in 2011 was related to the historical context of the Arab Spring. This situation makes it difficult to compare the figures for the two years. The number of site visits decreased by 16%, except for the English-language site, which enjoyed a slight increase due to efforts made to publish and translate documents into English.
Major investments were made in 2012 into several dedicated sites in order to increase the information flow on priority files. With over 100,000 pages viewed, the subjects put on the sites reached a level of popularity that the general site could never have achieved. These dedicated sites included: http://arabwomenspring.fidh.net, created on the occasion of March 8, 2012, freeales.fidh.net, created in 2011 http://www.africa4womensrights.org http://www.humanrights-defenders.org Geolocalisation: a site for mobile telephones was rolled out in English and in French at the end of 2012.
Referencing To adapt to the changes in the Google algorithm, changes were made to the sites URL management in August 2012. This adjustment has made it possible for fidh.org articles to be indexed again in Google News, which is still by far the leading search engine.
Twitter Twitter has been used increasingly in 2012 and accounts were created in French and Arabic. The accounts are used as tools for monitoring and interacting with our FIDH member organisations, to keep them informed, as well as to alert them to pertinent subjects and events.
72 F I D H A NNU A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2
highlighting stories from human rights defenders. However, video production efforts focused mainly on combating the death penalty in Africa this year, with the production of eight short films and one lengthy interview conducted by Robert Badinter with Sidiki Kaba, honorary president of FIDH. Several interviews were held with human rights defenders, as well as one with Richard Stallman, who had been invited by FIDH to a conference on Free Software and Human Rights. Lastly, seven minute reportage of an investigative mission by the Turkish Observatory was shown in May 2012 as the missions report on the situation of Turkish defenders was launched. The film remains current at the beginning of 2013, with FIDHs 38th Congress due to be hosted in Istanbul in May. The film produced at FIDHs press conference on arbitrarily detained Moroccan boxer, Zacharia Moumni, which amassed 60,000 viewers, shows the degree of interest that can be generated when only a single topic of interest is addressed.
Facebook The number of Facebook hits has increased to 13,400. In 2012, in accordance with a recommendation from the 2011 digital media audit, FIDH also implemented the use of story; for the Amesys affair, human rights defenders imprisoned in Turkey and Iran, the Nabeel Rajab case, FIDHs Deputy Secretary General in a Bahrain prison. Newsletter Improvements in the quality and frequency of the newsletter have led to a 99% increase in the number of visits. The communications team attended a training session in March on the creation of the Newsletter resulting in its more professional appearance. A 25% rate of logging in to the Newsletteris respectable, especially for the La Vague blanche (the White Wave) (Syria) and FIDHs comic strip Annual Report, which was up by over 40%. Lastly, several meetings and conferences on the role of human rights in the digital age took place in 2012, contributing to the bridging of the generation gap between new proponents of change from the digital world and human rights defenders. Links with the Telecomix hacktivists as well as with hackers who are defenders of basic rights were established through articles in the press and by taking part in several conferences. These conferences included Social Media Week, a forum held in Sweden on freedom of expression; the Jhack; and a presentation by Robert Stallman, champion of free software.
D. Develop and enhance the production of audiovisuals

The priority in 2012 was on the production of short films to better accommodate social media. Aung San Suu Kyis visit to France provided the opportunity to produce eight videos of two to four minutes in length,
Consolidate the increase and sustainability of the financial resources

Secure the activities and the development of FIDH
2012, much like 2011, was a challenging year for FIDH in mobilising resources. FIDH maintained its approach of consolidating its resources and diversifying sources of funding. The team was strengthened during the year with the recruitment of a Fundraising Officer. This enabled the team to further support its colleagues from the geographical and thematic desks in their fundraising activities. The fundraising strategy adopted by the International Board in 2011 was implemented with positive results despite the challenging funding environment. FIDHs budget increased by 5% from 2011 to 2012. FIDH successfully renewed and increased the support received from key partners (SIDA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway) and developed new partnerships with donors including Oak Foundation and Humanity United. In 2012, FIDHs resources amounted to 5.4 million from euros donors. 75% of the funds came from public donors and 25% from private sources In 2012, the top public donors were the Government of Sweden (Sida), Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and France. The most important private sources of funding were Sigrid Rausing Trust, Open Society Foundations, Liberts and Solidarits Mutual Fund, and Fondation de France. The top ten donors contributed 82% of the funds in 2012. Core funding has grown to represent one third of total funds. Bilateral programmes were developed with member organisations on the situations in Mali and Ivory Coast, Libya and Tunisia. The experience garnered through this kind of programme in Haiti, Guinea Conakry and Belarus was taken into account in the development of these new programmes. FIDH completed the installation of an Integrated Management System (IMS) to improve its financial management processes. This IMS includes management accounting (general accounting, expenses, treasury), analytical management (reporting and donors) and fiscal management (missions and FIDH) tools. The system became operational in January 2013.
FIDH Financial Overview (thousand )

2010 Income Expenditure 6 145 6 270 -125 24 61 39 2011* 5 366 5 085 281 33 61 39 2012* 5 480 5 362 118 34 75 25
Result
Core funding (%) Public sources (%) Private sources (%)
*Excluding Dedicated fund
Financial report 2012

In euro 222 760 122 810 35 756 634 619 329 367 522657 948 029 1 135 022 376 883 123 515 910 847 Total expenses*: 5 362 265 In euro 4,8% Membership fees and contributions 52,9% Earmarked grants and donations 33,9% Non-earmarked grants and donations 7,8% Reversal of provisions & other income
7,8% 26,2% 26,2% 0,6% 4,8%
EXPENSES
21,2% 7,0% 2,3% 17,0% 4,2% 2,3%2,3% 0,7% 9,7% 17,0% 11,8% 6,1% 25,1% 4,7% 25,1% 4,7% 4,1% 17,7% 4,1% 4,2% 33,9% 12,4% 2,3% 12,4% 0,7% 11,8% 16,4% 9,7% 6,1% 16,4% 7,8% 11,0% INCOME 11,0% 10,3% 10,3% 0,6% 0,5% 33,9% 0,5% 52,9%5,3% 5,3% 9,6% 1,1% 9,6% 1,1% 4,8% 21,2% 7,0% 17,7%
4,2% To protect human rights defenders 2,3% To promote respect for women's rights 0,7% To promote the rights of migrants, displaced persons & refugees 11,8% To promote the rule of law & fights against impunity 6,1% To promote the rule of law & fights against impunity 9,7% To strengthen respect for human rights in the context of economic globalisation 17,7 % To support respect for human rights & the rule of law in times of conflict, emergency or political transition 21,2% To reinforce FIDH network 7,0% To reinforce external mobilisation capacity 2,3% Logistic costs for actions 17,0% Fundraising and administrative costs (incl. 5,6% provisions)
264 421 2 901 101 1 855 918 429 560 29 310 Total income*: 5 480 310
0,6% Financial & extraordinary income

*Excluding Dedicated fund
52,9%
61,3% Financial report 2011 61,3% EXPENSES 24,7% 24,7% 13,4% 13,4% 4,7% 4,7%
4,8% 4,8% 0,3% 0,3% 7,4% 7,4%
In euro 561 526 25 246 55 063 489 127
11,0% To protect human rights defenders 0,5% To promote respect for women's rights 1,1% To promote the rights of migrants, displaced persons & refugees 9,6% To promote the rule of law & fights against impunity
5,1% 5,1% 14,1% 14,1%
5,3% To strengthen respect for human rights in the context of economic globalisation 267 227 10,3% To strengthen international & regional instruments & mechanisms of protection 16,4% To support respect for human rights & the rule of law in times of conflict, emergency or political transition 25,1% To reinforce the mobilisation capacity: FIDH network 4,2% To reinforce the mobilisation capacity: External outreach 4,1% Logistic costs for actions 12,4% Communication, fundraising and administrative costs Total Expenses: 522 041 833 087 1 274 468 215 499 206 373 634 962 5 084 979 In euro 7,4% Membership fees and contributions 61,3% Earmarked grants 26,2% Non-earmarked grants
5,9% 5,9%
7,3% 7,3% 4,4% 4,4% 17,4% 17,4%
7,4% 7,4% 1,0% 1,0% 0,5% 0,5%
INCOME
23,2% 23,2%
394 818 3 287 316 1 406 052 259 959 17 397 Total Income: 5 365 542
4,8% Reversal of provisions & other income 0,3% Financial & extraordinary income
63,2% 63,2%
0,1% 0,1% 7,6% 7,6%
N.B : The audited annual accounts are available and can be consulted on FIDH's website : www.fidh.org
Acknowledgements
FIDH would like to thank the institutions, foundations and corporations that support its actions, in particular:
Foundation, associations and other institutions

Paris Bar Association, Commonwealth Foundation, Evangelische Entwicklungsdienst (EED), FACT, Ford Foundation, Fondation de France, Infans, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Open Society Foundations, Sigrid Rausing Trust, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Fondation Un Monde par Tous, Mairie de Paris, OSISA, OAK Fondation, Humanity United.
Corporations
Caisse des Dpts et Consignations, Carrefour Solidarits, Dailymotion, FNAC, Gandi, Herms, Kyodo, La Banque Postale, La Banque Postale Asset Management, Le Guide du Routard, Le Nouvel Observateur, Limite, Macif, Palais de Tokyo, Sego, Thatre de lAtelier, Thatre de Chaillot, Les Visiteurs du Soir. The Support Committee, chaired by Denis Olivennes, interpretors, translators and other volunteers, as well as all the individuals, national and international non-governmental organisations and intergovermental organisations who responded to its requests for support.
International and national institutions

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), European Commission, United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, Irish Aid, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, International Organisation of La Francophonie, Unesco
Demonstration before the Pantheon in Paris to call for the end of the repression in Syria (2012). Copyright: FIDH.
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human rights organisations on 5 continents

FIDH represents 164

FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights

Annual Report 2012

Annual Report 2012

Organisational Challenges Financial Report 2012

Interaction: Local presence - global action

Our commitment: Three pillars of action

Guilding principle: The accountability of all

A system of governance: Universality and transparency

Ethics: Independence and objectivity

A Universal and Federalist movement

The International Secretariat

The International Board

The Executive Board

164 member organisations

Yusuf Alatas Turkey

Aliaksandr BialiatskI Belarus

Amina Bouayach Morocco

Juan Carlos Capurro Argentina

Katherine Gallagher United States of America

Soraya Gutierez Arguello Colombia

Asma Jilani Jahangir Pakistan

Dismas Kitenge Senga Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kristiina Kouros Finland

Karim LAHIDJI Iran

Fatimata Mbaye Mauritania

Raji Sourani Palestine

Arnold Tsunga Zimbabwe

Dan Van Raemdonck Belgium

Paulina Vega Gonzalez Mexico

Roger Bouka Owoko Congo

Khadija Cherif Tunisia

Luis Guillermo Perez Colombia

Artak Kirakosyan Armenia

Paul Nsapu Mukulu Democratic Republic of the Congo

DEPUTY SECRETARIES GENERAL

Michael Ellman before the Commonwealth

Mabassa Fall before the African Union (AU)

Vilma Nuez de Escorcia before the Organization of American States (OAS)

Antoine BERNARD Chief Executive Officer

Juliane FALLOUX Executive Director

Administration, Finances and Human Resources

MOBILISATION OF INTERNATIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS

Kate COLES Head of Fundraising

Nathalie LASSLOP Fundraising Officer

Sergue FUNT Financial Controller

Samia MERAH Finance Officer Tony MINET Assistant Accountant

Marie-France BURQ Human Resources Manager

Charline Fralin Assistant CEO and Executive Director

RESEARCH AND OPERATIONS Communication and Development

David KNAUTE Head of Asia Desk

Shiwei YE Permanent Representative ASEAN, in Bangkok

Antonin RABECQ Coordinator of the Guinea project, based in Conakry

Audrey COUPRIE Assistant Press Office

Jimena REYES Head of Americas Desk based in Brussels

Claire COLARDELLE Programme Officer Americas Desk

Cline BALLEREAU TETU Head of Publications

Christophe GARDAIS Publication Officer

Alexandra KOULAEVA Head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk

Lidya OGBAZGHI Executive Assistant - Secretary

Marie CAMBERLIN Head of Middle East North Africa Desk

Elin WRZONCKI Head of Globalisation and Human Rights Desk

Katherine BOOTH Head of Womens Rights and Migrants Rights Desk