Human rights defenders are all individuals, groups of people or organizations who promote and protect human rights through peaceful and non-violent means. They address all kinds of human rights concerns including summary executions, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention and enforced disappearances. They may work at local, national or international level. Some of the activities that they carry out are:

Human rights defenders are not only found within NGOs and intergovernmental organizations but might also, in some instances, be government officials, civil servants or members of the private sector. People involved in the struggle against enforced disappearance (relatives and their associations) are human rights defenders.

Many human right defenders may face acts of intimidation and reprisal. In certain cases, defenders have been the victims of executions, torture, beatings, arbitrary arrest and detention, death threats, harassment and defamation, as well as restrictions on their freedoms of movement, expression, association and assembly.

Human rights defenders themselves are entitled to protection by both international human rights law and domestic law. However, in certain countries, domestic legislation itself is used against defenders. Such laws contravene international human rights law.

In 1998 the United Nations adopted the Declaration on human rights defenders. The declaration is addressed to all people telling us that we all have a role to fulfil as human rights defenders and emphasizes that there is a global human rights movement that involves us all.

The Declaration, although not in itself a legally binding instrument, contains a series of principles and rights that are based on human standards enshrined in other legal instruments that are legally binding. In fact, the Declaration specifically states that Human Rights Defenders, while doing there human rights work, should be protected from human rights violations.

Following the Declaration, the European Union as well as Norway have adopted Guidelines for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. These guidelines are meant for diplomats and other government representatives of the EU and Norway on how they can contribute to the better protection of the human rights defenders in the states they are based in. To date, the actual policies and actions on the ground by the diplomats, however vary pretty much from country to country.

The Special Representative of the Secretary General on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders (Special Representative) was established in 2000 after the General Assembly of the UN had approved by consensus the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms . The Special Representative conducts activities in independently of any State, is not a United Nations staff member and does not receive a salary for their work.

The main aims of the Special Representative are to:

The Special Representative can also consider individual complaints concerning violations suffered by human rights defenders.