SOS-Defenders is a platform collecting cases of human rights defenders (HRDs) arbitrarily detained worldwide and coordinating joint action among civil society organisations and other partners for their liberation. Together, we work to reaffirm the right to defend human rights.
SOS-Defenders is a collective mobilisation of HRD-protection organisations from all parts of the world under the auspices of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OMCT-FIDH). See here the full list of partners.
SOS-Defenders adopts the following eligibility criteria to be featured on the database:
- The person has acted to promote and/or protect human rights as guaranteed by international instruments
- The person has acted peacefully
- The person has acted to promote and/or protect not only their own rights but also the rights of other people
- The person recognises the universality of human rights
- The person is victim of arbitrary detention in retaliation for their human rights action
The platform is updated at least quarterly and at shorter intervals on an as needed basis.
SOS-Defenders is currently being road-tested in pilot countries. Additional countries and cases will be uploaded in the coming months.