Front Line Defenders, or The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, is an Irish-based
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
organisation founded in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
in 2001 to protect those who work non-violently to uphold the human rights of others as outlined in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...
.
History
The organisation was founded by
Mary Lawlor, former director of the Irish Section of
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...
with a US$3 million donation from businessman and philanthropist
Denis O'Brien. Front Line Defenders has Special Consultative Status with the
United Nations Economic and Social Council, and has Observer Status with the
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.
In 2006 Front Line Defenders established a
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
office in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
.
Front Line Defenders received the
King Baudouin International Development Prize in 2007 and the
United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 2018. On 3 July 2014, Lawlor was presented with the Order of Chevalier of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...
by French Ambassador to Ireland, Mr Jean-Pierre Thebault, on behalf of the French government.
Front Line Defenders' overall goal is to enable human rights defenders, as key agents of social change, to continue their work without the risk of harassment, intimidation or arrest.
Notable work
In October 2021, Front Line Defenders found evidence that various Palestinian citizens belonging to human rights groups which had been outlawed by Israel, had been targeted by spyware made by the Israeli technology company,
NSO Group
NSO Group Technologies (NSO standing for Niv, Shalev and Omri, the names of the company's founders) is an Israeli cyber-intelligence firm primarily known for its proprietary spyware Pegasus, which is capable of remote zero-click surveillance o ...
.
Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk
In 2005 this award was established, which according to the organisations website is awarded to a human rights defender "who through non-violent work, is courageously making an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the human rights of others, often at great personal risk to themselves". The award brings international attention on its recipient's cause, and a 15,000 euros cash prize.
The recipients of this award since its inception are as follows:
[ Front Line Defenders.]
*2005 –
Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, Sudan
*2006 –
Ahmadjan Madmarov, Uzbekistan
*2007 –
Gégé Katana, Democratic Republic of Congo
*2008 –
Anwar al-Bunni
Anwar al-Bunni ( ar, أنور البني, born 1959) is a Syrian human rights lawyer who has defended clients such as Riad al-Turk, Riad Seif, the owner of ''The Lamplighter'', (an independent newspaper shut down by the Syrian government), Kurdi ...
, Syria
*2009 –
Yuri Melini, Guatemala
*2010 –
Soraya Rahim Sobhrang, Afghanistan
*2011 –
Joint Mobile Group, Russian Federation
*2012 –
Razan Ghazzawi, Syria
*2013 –
Biram Dah Abeid, Mauritania
*2014 – SAWERA –
Society for Appraisal and Women Empowerment in Rural Areas, Pakistan
*2015 –
Guo Feixiong, pen name for
Yang Maodong, China
[Thoolen, Hans (12 September 2015)]
2015 Front Line Defenders Award to Chinese Guo Feixiong (Yang Maodong)
''Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders''. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
*2016 –
Ana Mirian Romero, Honduras
*2017 –
Emil Kurbedinov,
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...
[Sorcha Pollak]
Crimean Tatar lawyer honoured at Dublin ceremony
''Irishtimes.com'', 26 May 2017
*2018 –
Nurcan Baysal,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
See also
*
List of human rights organisations
References
External links
Front Line Defenders websiteInternational Human Rights Funders Group
{{Authority control
Human rights organisations based in Ireland
Imprisonment and detention
Organizations established in 2001
International human rights organizations