The Regional Report on Human Rights Defenders before you has been compiled based on thematic reports published by the Human Rights Houses of Banja Luka, Belgrade, and Zagreb.
These reports shed light on the position, significant challenges, and obstacles faced by human rights defenders. This report consolidates issues from these three countries into three main categories: Attacks, threats, and intimidation of human rights defenders; Participation in socio-political life and involvement in public policy-making processes; Realization of rights to public assembly and peaceful protest; and Social and institutional pressures along with the lack of public support for human rights defenders.
The Regional report was created by synthesizing findings and conclusions from thematic reports. The methodology involved conducting qualitative research through semi-structured interviews with over 50 civil society organizations and human rights defenders actively engaged in areas such as refugee, migrant, and asylum seeker rights, women’s human rights, provision of free legal aid, rights of LGBTIQ persons, transitional justice, environmental protection, democratization, transparency, and the fight against corruption. The process also considered the rights of persons with disabilities and socially and economically vulnerable groups.
The House of Human Rights Foundation’s Manual, encompassing international standards and principles for human rights work, served as a guide during report preparation, aiding in selecting relevant standards for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia.
The Regional Report on Human Rights Defenders can be downloaded here.
