The criminalization of human rights activism remains a cause for concern

Waves of anti-rights movements, combined with the repressive apparatus of various states, are putting defenders of humanitarian causes in jeopardy around the world. Warnings from international bodies.

Although the struggle to defend human rights has become a central focus worldwide from the middle of the 20th century to the present day, the persecution of its activism also persists to this day. The criminalization of human rights defenders is a constant in many contexts and regions of the world. International bodies are warning about this issue and calling for a stronger fight to protect the activists and civil society organizations that fight for humanitarian causes.

Indeed, the fight against the criminal character that certain systems attribute to human rights activism is a constant in various fields. Climate change, the right to identity, the fight against crimes against humanity, organizations opposing genocide, LGTBI+ activism: many are the sectors that have seen their respective causes singled out by the authorities, for one reason or another.

So much so that Amnesty International (AI) decided this week to release a document setting out a series of foundations and recommendations for confronting this type of criminalization in the courts. The international organization based this presentation on the growing global trend of punishing and prosecuting actions such as civil disobedience and peaceful mobilizations. 

“Dissent on trial” is the title of this campaign of strategies to provide defense arguments to human rights activists who often face criminal cases, trials and the possibility of prison for their activities. According to the organization's findings, the arguments governments use to persecute these sectors almost always revolve around national security, organized crime and “anti-subversive” laws, among other legal frameworks that political sectors use to discredit, if not directly attack, human rights.

One of the areas where this can be seen most clearly is environmental activism. The persecution of environmentalist protesters or activist organizations often has to do with how these activities clash head-on with business and political interests in certain territories. In June of this year, the Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos (APEDH, Permanent Assembly for Human Rights) in Argentina expressed its concern about the “widespread and systematic” increase in rights violations linked to local security forces against environmental activists. According to the APDH statement, many of these attacks are “endorsed” by regional authorities, whether “by action or omission.”

This discussion is not new. In 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released its document “Criminalization of the Work of Human Rights Defenders,” in which it carried out an exhaustive analysis of this phenomenon. There it already set out key definitions on how to identify and address this problem. Even then, the IACHR observed a growing attack on representatives or activists linked to areas such as demands for the right to land or the environment, labor claims by trade unions, or sexual, reproductive or gender identity rights. 

Likewise, as early as that year the IACHR stressed the importance of protecting the integrity of human rights defenders, considering them fundamental actors for the development of democracies. For this reason, the document calls on states to strengthen their institutional transparency and their legal frameworks so that they are not used “improperly” against these activists.

The situation in Latin America

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) released an extensive document this year warning about the most visible consequences of the persecution of human rights activism in Latin America. In it, the international organization warns that the harassment of organizations and activists has become “recurrent” in the region, in many cases with the “complicity” of actors within the judicial apparatus. 

In its document, the OMCT places special emphasis on environmental claims and the consequent persecution of regional activists, in many cases Indigenous people and territorial community associations, mostly rural or peasant groups. The document also highlights the role of business sectors in these conflicts, since they are usually the ones who turn to the courts with complaints against these activists, in many cases invoking “anti-terrorism” laws.

According to Amnesty International, in countries such as Mexico, El Salvador, Ecuador and Guatemala, among others, land defenders are at particular risk of attack and persecution. According to a 2024 report by the organization, half of Brazil was not covered by the Program for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. Peru had no protocol at all for the protection of human rights defenders. 

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia