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Human rights defenders

Sponsorship project “Defend the Defenders”

Raising public awareness on the situation of human rights defenders


In 2007, in the face of growing dangers that threaten the women and men who fight for respect for human rights, OMCT – supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs – called upon several Swiss and  international personalities to put their fame in the service of the protection of human rights defenders.

The main goal of the sponsorship project “Defend the Defenders” is to protect the defenders who have become victims of persecution and acts of harassment as a result of their activities in defense of fundamental rights and freedoms. By encouraging Swiss and international personalities to rally around these defenders, the project has created a chain of solidarity which extends beyond the restricted circle of “specialists” and aims at mobilising public opinion, the only real counterweight to the arbitrary power of States.

To see the current sponsors and "their" human rights defenders, click here

Actions taken

In the framework of this project and amongst other activities, OMCT organised solidarity missions in Mexico in 2008, the DRC in 2010, Brazil in 2011 and Cambodia in 2013.

Sponsors Noémie Kocher accompanied a first solidarity mission in September 2008, to support defender Marisela Ortiz Rivera and the struggle of the women of Ciudad Juárez against the wave of killings of women in that city.This mission was thereafter the subject of a documentary, "la lutte des femmes de Juarez, directed by Mr. Dominique Othenin-Girard.

Sponsors Dick Marty and Dimitri accompanied the second mission of solidarity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in February 2010 to support defender Justine Masika Bihamba and alert the public to the fate of the Congolese human rights defenders struggling against impunity for the perpetrators of sexual violence committed against women in the east of the country.

In November and December 2011, Noémie Kocher accompanied a third mission in Brazil to meet indigenous defenders Megaron and Davi Kopenawa. One of the objective of the mission was to highlight how indigenous peoples' rights are jeopardized by the economic development.

Following this mission, 2 documentaries were produced by Daniel Schweizer:

  • Amazonian Indians on borrowed time. This OMCT film has been screened several times in 2012. DVDs are now available for free upon request at .
  • "Indiens en sursis" for the Swiss TV show Temps présent 

Read more ...



Human rights defenders

  • Brazilian Indigenous Peoples under threat
  • Stanislav Dmitrievsky : portrait of a human rights defender at risk
  • Cambodia: Release immediately land rights activist Yorm Bopha

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