Annual Report 2023

«The vast majority of attacks on human rights defenders rest in impunity. This is unacceptable. There must be tangible consequences for those who harm human rights defenders if we wish to safeguard our democracies and, ultimately, peace.»

The Sunflower Declaration

«As Norwegian human rights activists, we enjoy safe working conditions. At the same time, our friends from countries with authoritarian regimes are under constant psychological and physical pressure. Sometimes, our most important task is to stand with our international colleagues in solidarity and make sure that the human rights of human rights defenders themselves are protected.»

Ivar Dale, Senior Policy Adviser

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee has always been part of a vast network of human rights organizations, run by dedicated human rights defenders from Oslo and Stockholm, Warsaw and Budapest, Moscow and Minsk, Yerevan and Baku, Bishkek and Almaty, Washington D.C and New York, Brussels, and Strasbourg; there is not a city in the OSCE region where human rights activists do not have a circle of friends.

Over the past twenty years, authorities in oppressive regimes have turned the oppression on HRDs (Human Rights Defenders) defenders themselves. In 2000, a UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders was mandated to monitor developments. To those working in the OSCE region, it soon became evident that colleagues in countries such as Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan were themselves being persecuted for their work to protect the human rights of others. The defenders needed defending.

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee actively uses international mechanisms to sound the alarm when our friends and colleagues are under pressure. Sometimes, independent media outlets serve a similar function as human rights defenders, as their coverage of specific issues can expose human rights violators and slow down repressive practices. In 2023, we made several submissions to UN bodies raising attacks on HRDs and independent media outlets. We raised essential cases with European diplomats and directly with the governments in question.

On 31 August, the Sunflower Declaration was launched by Nobel Peace Prize laureates in Oslo. The Norwegian Helsinki Committee was one of the signatories to the Declaration, which was drafted together with the Center for Civil Liberties, Memorial and Viasna (on behalf of Ales Bialiatski) and called for urgent action to protect human rights defenders at risk. The document calls on democratic governments, multilateral organizations, businesses and investors, donors, cities, and universities to adopt a clear set of practices to curb attacks on human rights defenders and punish those responsible.

As experienced human rights defenders, Norwegian Helsinki Committee staff are sought after as board members among leading organizations in Norway and internationally. While the list is ever-changing, NHC staff were to be found on the boards of a range of NGOs in 2023, including Amnesty International Norway (Oslo), Coalition for International Criminal Justice (Florence), the Ethics Committee of the Norwegian Football Federation (Oslo), Forum 18 (Copenhagen), Pro Demo (Vilnius), International Partnership for Human Rights (Brussels), School of Civic Education (London), Truth Hounds (Kyiv), and the World Expression Forum (Lillehammer).

Read the Sunflower Declaration at NHC web page.