Human Rights Defenders, activists and whistle-blowers are agents of justice: they sacrifice their lives for the wellbeing of their fellow community members, while performing a responsibility which should be borne by the government, which has a Constitutional obligation to protect the rights of its citizens.
The South African government must live up to the ideals of our Constitution and South Africa’s reputation for protecting human rights. It must:
publicly condemn the killing of Human Rights Defenders
make laws that recognise the important role that Human Rights Defenders play and ensure they are protected
take urgent action to investigate and arrest the killers of Human Rights Defenders
honour the commitment that South Africa made in November 2022, when the state agreed to protect Human Rights Defenders as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council.
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GroundWork, the Centre for Environmental Rights and several other civil society organisations marched to police headquarters in Pretoria to demand widespread protection for human rights activists and whistle-blowers. This follows a spate of threats, attacks and killings of land rights and climate activists and whistle-blowers in South Africa.