Venice School for Human Rights Defenders

Overview

About the course

Not only do human rights defenders fight for rights in situations of oppression and abuse, they also act as monitors, drawing attention both to their respective communities and to the international community to otherwise neglected violations and threats.

They assist victims in claiming their rights and contribute to holding those in power accountable, thereby combatting cultures of impunity, which serve to cloak systematic and repeated breaches of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Furthermore, by linking the local level to the global and the global to the local, human rights defenders contribute to sustaining a circle of empowerment at all levels.

Whether acting individually or as part of an organised group, human rights defenders are often the target of reprisals and may themselves be subject to human rights violations. Because their work is in many contexts systematically hampered, there is an increasing understanding within the international community of the importance of safeguarding and facilitating human rights defenders at national, regional and international level.

This Venice School for Human Rights Defenders summer course is offered by EIUC - European Inter University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation.