Video message by High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk

9 December 2024

European Parliament , Brussels, Belgium

Full recording here.

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Good afternoon,

My warm greetings to you all.

Thank you to the European Parliament, other European Union partners and civil society for organising this meeting together with my Office, on International Human Rights Defenders Day.

This is a crucial moment to gather and reflect on the environment in which human rights defenders are operating – some of you are here today from all around the world - and the action needed to better support and protect them.

Crises are multiplying – from escalating, violent conflict to the climate emergency to deepening inequalities.

The backlash against human rights is intense and growing.

And the free and open public space is shrinking.

Legitimate protests are curbed with force, and places for people to discuss and participate in decisions that affect them are often shut down.

With autocratic tendencies on the rise, criticism is criminalized, under vaguely defined threats to national security in more and more countries.