Having just returned from a conference at the Carter Center--the third Carter Center Human Rights Defenders Policy Forum--these 5 human rights defenders gave their perspectives of the struggle for human rights in their various countries—Colombia, Egypt, Pakistan, Belarus, and Afghanistan. The main message to come out of that conference and here at this follow-up meeting was that human rights, and the people trying to protect them, are being threatened in more countries around the world than at any other time in recent history. Another main message to come out of the conference was that the promise of democracy rings hollow without respect for human rights. The theme of the Atlanta conference suitably was, "Beyond Elections, Defending Human Rights in the Age of Democratization."

UN Special Representative to the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders Hini Jilani described the role of the human rights defenders as first, promoting peace, second identifying problems in minority communities, and third, looking at governance. She expressed concern that human rights defenders are being targeted with violence, arrest, harassment and intimidation. "Governments are getting more sophisticated in criminalizing human rights activities in order to discredit human rights defenders," Jilani said. She has seen a trend around the world toward increased militarization and authoritarian governments. This leads to a lack of transparency in government and a marginalization of civil society. "In the security-driven environment in the world today, it is very hard for human rights defenders to do their work," Jilani said. Another trend she sees is that judiciaries are losing their ability to be independent. The overall effect of this is less oversight over the executive. She urges the legislative branches to step in and to work more closely with human rights defenders.

Gusavo Gallón, director of the Colombia Commission of Jurists, reported that there had been 60 attacks on human rights defenders this year in Colombia with no reaction from the government. The lack of reaction is not surprising however, as the government largely paints human rights defenders as either terrorists or communists.

On a positive note, Gallón reported that just last week, the Constitutional Court of Colombia declared unconstitutional key elements of legislation that promoted impunity of human rights violations, particularly by paramilitary groups who are in the process of demobilization. This legislation had been criticized by the High Commission for Human Rights; by Hina Jilani, United Nations Special Representative to the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, and by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. The legislation went against basic principles of human rights, especially the rights to truth, justice and reparation. The law had stated that the paramilitary groups could lie about their crimes, thus, the law legitimated the right to lie. The constitutional court accepted the observations of the human rights groups and declared that paramilitary groups must tell the truth if they are to get a reduction of sentence accorded by the law. This legislation also stated that the paramilitary groups only had an obligation to return the goods that they had obtained in an illicit way.

So this declaration by the Constitutional Court that the legislation was unconstitutional was very significant even if the decision is being challenged by the government and the paramilitary groups. "What is important to see is that the observations made around this legislation were right," said Gallon.

Saad Eddin Ibrahim, professor of sociology of the American University in Cairo and founder of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, concurred that human rights and democracy in general, not just human rights defenders, are being assaulted by both the state and by non-state actors. He described the Arab world as being influenced by theocrats, who suppress the rights of women, non-Muslims, and secular Muslims; and autocrats who largely dominate government. But he maintains that the struggle for human rights against these forces should be fought without sacrificing the rule of law. In his home country of Egypt, he has witnessed the erosion of an independent judiciary. But the people of Egypt are voicing their support of an independent judiciary with nearly a quarter of a million people protesting the Mubarak regime's attempt to control the judiciary. Another fight that Ibrahim described occurred during the last presidential election. Ayman Nour, a young, strong candidate who had recently been re-elected to parliament, established a new liberal political party. This obviously frightened the Mubarak regime as Nour was arrested on "trumped up charges" and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Even more debilitating than the jail sentence is the fact that this crime disqualifies Nour from office for 10 years following his sentence. "The U.S. needs to resume its higher moral ground to help us. You need moral clarity and authority…it is only then that you can help us," Ibrahim said.

Sima Samar, chair of the Independent Afghanistan Human Rights Commission, said that although the Taliban had been gone for nearly 5 years and Afghanistan had a new constitution, there was still a lot of confusion. She cited the recent case where an Afghani citizen converted to Christianity and it was unclear how the constitution would handle it. Another point of confusion with the Afghan constitution is that Afghanistan is obliged to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights while at the same time, everything in the constitution is subject to the rules of Islam. Samar pointed out though that the constitution is not implemented in the country. She cited several examples of the impunity in the country. While there may be 300 print media and 5-6 TV channels, they practice self-censorship for fear of reprisal. While the lives of women have improved markedly since the fall of the Taliban, women in rural communities cannot exercise their rights. For example, in rural areas only 3 percent of students are girls. Girl's schools have been burned and families that send their girls to school have been intimidated .

Samar provided 3 recommendations for improving life in Afghanistan:

1. Security---"We need an accountable judiciary system. The police and the military need to be held accountable," Samar said.
2. Law is not enforced. The local authorities rule. They control the local police and judges. This needs to change.
3. The culture of impunity continues. Even though there was a national referendum that showed that 61 percent voted against immunity and clearly said that prior criminals should be removed from office, many remain in power.

In closing, Samar stated that leading human rights nations, including the United States, should enforce human rights themselves.

Dzmitry Markusheuski, press secretary of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, discussed the state of human rights in Belarus and the former Soviet Union. He has witnessed a deterioration in freedom of assembly and of the press.

Human rights defenders have been targeted by the government. All human rights organizations in Belarus have been shut down and its leaders cited for tax evasion. The one human rights group that was legally registered will lose its funding in a few weeks. So, the situation for human rights defenders in Belarus is very bleak.

The country has a history of fraudulent elections, Markusheuski pointed out. On the eve of elections, the government increased pressure on human rights groups with arrests and harassment. In 2005 a fraudulent referendum ended term limits.

Markusheuski attributes this deterioration in human rights to a nearly total isolation of Belarus during the 1990s. "We need ties to the United States and the EU. Isolation just makes it worse," he said. But in order for the EU and the United States to help, they need to be unified in their message and policy with regard to human rights violations around the world. Human rights defenders in Belarus are now seeking support from abroad, because businesses inside the country also face pressure from the government.