The Strategy Paper adopted by the European Commission has specific objectives of enhancing respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in countries and regions where they are most at risk; strengthening the role of civil society in promoting human rights and democratic reform, supporting the peaceful conciliation of group interests and consolidating political participation and representation; supporting actions on human-rights and democracy issues in areas covered by EU guidelines, including dialogues on human rights, human rights defenders, the death penalty, torture, and children and armed conflict; supporting and strengthening the international and regional frameworks for the protection of human rights, justice, the rule of law and the promotion of democracy; and building confidence in and enhancing the reliability and transparency of democratic electoral processes, in particular through election observation.
Human rights defenders in different countries, particularly in situations of conflict and post-conflict, continuously face risks and challenges in carrying out their work. “Because of the nature of the rights they seek to protect certain categories of human rights advocates, among whom women human rights defenders, defenders of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTI) rights, journalists and media professionals, trade unionists, defenders’ lawyers, defenders of environmental, land and other economic, social and cultural rights, children rights’ defenders and defenders of rights of indigenous peoples, are particularly vulnerable to repression and discrimination.” Human rights activists also find themselves in direct confrontation with the state when the latter thinks that their activities are creating security problems and often violate their rights to control and suppress them. “According to the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, activists continue to be the target of executions, torture, death threats, harassment, arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention in many parts of the world, and increasingly face considerable obstacles to the registration of their organisations and to their financial operability.”
