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South Africa: Trust to Support Human Rights Defenders
10th September 2009
The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) is launching Southern Africa's first formal mechanism designed to provide financial and technical support to individuals who have been subjected to harassment, intimidation and inhumane treatment in the course of their work to defend the human rights of others. Based in Johannesburg, the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Trust (SAHRDT) will provide support to human rights defenders from Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Across Southern Africa, the human rights situation remains dire. While most countries in the region have adopted multi-partyism, genuine and robust democracies in which freedom of expression and association are respected, remain elusive. Those who speak out to expose corruption and mismanagement, and who defend the rights of the vulnerable and marginalised, often face personal risk. The consequences for those who have defended the human rights of others are often dire. The needs of these individuals are varied. For some, evacuation and safe passage are the only requirements, for others, legal counsel and medical treatment are necessary, while for others more elaborate measures may be neccessary. The Trust will provide a range of services for human rights defenders, offering creative ways to ensure tha they are able to continue with thier important work.

With initial support from OSISA, the Southern African Human Rights Defenders Trust (SAHRDT) will be launched in Johannesburg on the 14 September 2009. to support the work of Human Rights Defender's in promoting, protecting and encouraging the culture of human rights in the region. The Trust will provide assistance to human rights defenders who are under threat, supporting them and where necessary, their famillies. The Trust will have as its core mandate, the devleopment of tools and strategies at a country level to ensure that a culture of human rights is promoted.

Commenting on the need for the Trust, Leopoldo de Amaral, a Trustee said, "Every country in this region is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet in many countries, speaking up to protect the most vulnerable in society is seen as a crime. Our support to human rights defenders is a step towards ending the culture of impunity that reigns across this region. As long as human rights abuses continue, the Trust will work to protect the journalists, lawyers, public officals, doctors, researchers and civil society activists who put their lives on the line every day to defend the human rights of all of us."

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