Who obstructs human rights defenders?
Across the globe, obstacles are put in the way of human rights defenders by: • governments • security forces • business interests • armed groups • members of their community. This is because they think that the protection and promotion of certain rights challenges the existing political economic or cultural power structures and the social status quo. A range of pretexts or justifications are invoked to curb the legitimate work of human rights defenders, including the protection of national security, public order or morality.
