Minister Erkki Tuomioja: Support for human rights defenders is a priority for Finland
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs published guidelines for the protection and support of human rights defenders at a seminar held on 27 November 2014. The guidelines provide the staff of the Ministry and its diplomatic missions with practical tools for cooperating with human rights defenders.
Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said at the event that the aim of the guidelines is to encourage the Foreign Service staff to be active in supporting and protecting human rights defenders.
Minister Tuomioja pointed out that in many countries, civil society’s freedom of and space for action have been narrowed. Restrictions to freedom of association and freedom of speech, and imprisonment of human rights defenders on the basis of their human rights work, are common in many countries.
The international community must act in order to prevent this development.
Director General Kirsti Kauppi stressed that extensive consultations were conducted to ensure that the guidelines are pragmatic and provide examples of good practices. Not all of the diplomatic missions have the resources for all actions, but all of them are able to do something, Director General Kauppi said.
International support is important
The panellists were Wilder Tayler, Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists, Stefania Kulaeva, Head of the Anti-Discrimination Centre ‘Memorial’, Ziad Abdel Tawab, Deputy Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and Niina Laajapuro, Policy Director at Amnesty International Finland.
Mr Wilder Taylor noted that, considering from a long-term perspective, the adoption of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in 1998 in particular has made human rights defenders’ work more widely known and recognized. In addition, he emphasized that there is still much work to be done so that the right to defend human rights included in the Declaration is realized.
Ziad Abdel Tawab spoke about the narrowing of the space for human rights defenders to act. He also said that they have to spend time to maintain their opportunities to act instead of promoting the rights. Abdel Tawab considered it important that human rights defenders make their voice heard in international discussions, among other things, by participating in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the UN’s human rights review process.
Stefania Kulaeva highlighted in particular the grave situation of persons most at risk of discrimination and of human rights defenders promoting the rights of these persons. These groups include, for instance, the Roma and LGBTI persons.
Kulaeva also spoke about legislation affecting the activities of the organizations, which to a worrying degree narrows Russian human rights defenders opportunities to act.
According to Niina Laajapuro, education and increased awareness are important in implementing the human rights defender guidelines. Laajapuro pointed out that in many countries, human rights defenders risk their lives, and at the very least their work should be supported.
Finland now works very actively in protecting and supporting human rights defenders. Work is done at many levels as well as bilaterally and through the EU, said Ambassador SirpaMäenpää from the Finnish Embassy in Addis Ababa. Advocacy work done through quiet diplomacy is often more effective but remains largely invisible to the public.
Head of Unit Jyrki Nissilä pointed out that the civil society work done by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs reaches 1,000 projects in 100 countries.