I am a human rights lawyer, with a focus on protecting the rights of Adivasi (indigenous) people in the state of Chattisgarh. I also served as the General Secretary of the Chattisgarh People’s Union for Civil Liberties.

I was arrested in August 2018 and I'm accused of inciting Dalits at a public meeting together with ten other human rights defenders, leading to the violence in Bhima Koregaon village in the Pune district of Maharashtra on 1st January 2018.

Me and the ten others were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) between June and August 2018. Others include Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha and Dr. Anand Teltumbde.  They are all currently in detention. Police subsequently claimed that the human rights defenders had links with ‘unlawful organisations’.

I am being detained in Mumbai Byculla Women's Jail where an inmate had tested positive for coronavirus. I am diabetic and have hypertension. I am seeking bail from the High Court after the special NIA court in Mumbai rejected my appeal on 29 May 2020.

In December 2019, India’s rating was downgraded by the CIVICUS Monitor from ‘obstructed’ to ‘repressed’ owing to its increased restriction of space for dissent during 2019 and particularly following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election in May 2019.

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I am 62 and a human rights defender in the Philippines. I have dedicated my life to protecting the poorest and the most marginalised. I advocate for their right to health and other basic social services. I am a member of the Secretariat of the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao – Cagayan de Oro Chapter and Coordinator in Northern Mindanao for Karapatan, a leading human rights group.

I was among those arrested just two days after the country had been placed under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 15 March, I was arrested in Lanao del Sur, on the southern island of Mindanao, by the Philippine Army (AFP) and national police on charges of kidnapping, serious illegal detention, and destructive arson. Police have claimed I am a member of the New Peoples’ Army – an armed rebel group associated with the Communist Party of the Philippines.

I have been accused together with 554 other people of being involved in an attack against the military based in Agusan del Sur in December 2018.  According to human rights groups, others accused of being involved include activists and journalists from Caraga and the Northern Mindanao Region, and also include nuns, a lawyer and public sector employees.

After my arrest I was paraded in front of the media as a “high ranking official of the Communist Party”. I remain detained at the Agusan del Sur Provincial Jail, in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions that put my life at imminent risk, given my serious breathing disorder. I have been denied visits from my lawyer and family and exhausted as I have been tasked with cleaning the common toilets

The CIVICUS Monitor—an online platform rates the Philippines’ civic space as “obstructed” and the country was put on the civic space Watchlist in June 2020.

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I am an environmental and civic rights defender in Kazakhstan. On 06^th June 2020, I was detained while taking part in a peaceful protest, around several issues including, land sales to foreign citizens and credit amnesties in the city of Almaty. I was held for several hours in detention without any access to legal representation or her family. I was later released. However, later that day I was detained again, held for several hours and then released yet again.

On 8^th June 2020 I was detained yet again and charged with “publicly insulting the representative of the government” (under Article 378, part 2 of Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code) and “non-dangerous infliction of harm to a representative of the authorities” (Under Article 389, part 1 of Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code). The charges are related to a video which captured me knocking off the hat of a police official during the protest. In a Facebook post, I explained the context behind my actions:

“I acted in an emotional break in response to, as I believe, inhuman cruel and illegal police treatment of peaceful unarmed citizens who are not a danger to society who have come to a peaceful rally to express their peaceful demands.”

I am currently being held pre-trial detention. During my pre-trial hearing on 7^th July 2020, the judge dismissed requests to release me on bail.  I may face up to three years behind bars.

This isn’t the first time that police have targeted me. On 21st April I was detained together with several other activists, for taking part in and filming a peaceful protest at the start of the Almaty Marathon. I have been involved in environmental activism, co-developing Almaty’s first urban air quality measuring project “AUA / Almaty Urban Air” and worked on several other social projects.

Kazakhstan is rated Obstructed by the CIVICUS Monitor

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I am a Saudi human rights defender, writer and activist who has been campaigning for the rights of women to drive and the end of the male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia.

In 2015, I was ranked third in the most influential Arab Woman by Arabian Business Magazine, shortly after I was arrested for attempting to drive between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia – raising the profile on the discriminatory gender laws that banned women from driving. My activism work defending human rights in Saudi Arabia has included bold campaigns for women’s participation in public life, including running for local elections in December 2015. This election was the first to include women, but ultimately I was barred from running. In March 2019, I was awarded the PEN America/Barbey Freedom to Write Award alongside Nouf Abdulaziz and Eman Al-Nafjan. I have also been nominated for the Prix Liberté (Liberty Prize) and the Nobel Peace Prize (the latter by eight members of US Congress).

Recently, concerns have been raised by my family, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that the state has not protected my basic human rights in detention, including over four weeks of no-contact with my family. During their detention, WHRDs have also faced torture and sexual harassment.

Despite this targeting of women’s rights and human rights activists, Saudi Arabia has continued to white-wash its image, including through hosting major sporting events, the G20 Summit and international concerts; alongside being elected to the UN Human Rights Council in October 2019. These tactics serve to hide the extent of violence that the Saudi regime wages against dissenters and the need for more global accountability.

The CIVICUS Monitor—an online platform rates the Saudi Arabia’s civic space as “closed.”

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I am an activist against human rights abuses in Nicaragua. As the daughter of a union leader who was detained by previous governments, since massive socio-economic protests began in April 2018 I have protested for the release of political prisoners and against the Daniel Ortega government. Due to my commitment to my country’s civic movement, I was persecuted, threatened and fired from several jobs.

On 26 January 2020, I was arbitrarily detained under accusations of narcotrafficking, which I vehemently deny. Before the arrest, I was in a safe house in Managua since November 2019 due to the constant sieges at my home in Matagalpa. My family members also denounce that I was subjected to torture and ill-treatment aimed at forcing me to accept the charges. According to Nicaraguan human rights organizations, false charges have been used as a strategy to criminalize activists and defenders in Nicaragua, denying their status of political prisoners.

Currently I am at the women’s prison “La Esperanza”, where I suffered an asthma attack, a high blood pressure crisis and was diagnosed with bronchitis. I have been repeatedly denied medical attention and access to medications, as well as to any type of protection or security measures against the Covid-19 outbreak. Because of chronic health conditions, there is high risk that I could develop coronavirus-related complications in case of an infection.

On 8th May 2020, I was found guilty of narcotrafficking. In early July, I was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine equivalent to 900 US dollars or 500 days in prison, but I have refused to sign documents accepting this conviction. In July 2020, my lawyers will present an appeal on my behalf.

Nicaragua is rated Repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor

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We are the Guapinol Water Defenders. We arePorfirio Sorto Cedillo, José Avelino Cedillo, Orbin Naún Hernández, Kevin Alejandro Romero, Arnold Javier Aleman, Ever Alexander Cedillo, Daniel Márquez and Jeremías Martínez Díaz, Defenders of Tocoa, in the northern region of Honduras. We are being charged with arson and unlawful deprivation of liberty. We were protesting against the implementation of a mining project in the protected area "Carlos Escalares" that would endanger fresh water sources in the region. In September 2018, private security guards hired by the mining company, Inversiones Los Pinares, attempted to evict the peaceful protester’s camp set in defence of fresh water located in the community of Guapinol. As a result, a young protester was seriously injured and 32 community members were criminalized while security guards have not been investigated. We have been in pre-trial detention since September 2019 and were held for several months in a maximum-security prison. Some of us have pre-existing conditions, such as hypertension and asthma, making us particularly vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. All possible legal measures have been taken in our favour in Honduras. The Supreme Court of Justice rejected a writ of habeas corpus filed on our behalf in March 2020 and the Court of Appeals has refused to grant a new hearing to review the measures imputed against us or to resolve the three appeals that have been filed that could set us free. Threats and intimidations against land and water defenders in the Tocoa region continue. To date, the mining company, Inversiones Los Pinares, is operating without the consent of local communities that have voiced their disagreement with the project.

Honduras is rated Repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor

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We are human rights defenders from Niger. Moudi Moussa is a journalist and trade unionist, Halidou Maikoul is a leader of the Nigerien teachers union (SYNACEB) and Mailkoul Zodi is the National Coordinator of Tournons La Page (TLP).  We were arrested on 15 March after participating in a protest in which they urged the Nigerien authorities to investigate allegations of the misuse of funds for contracts at the Ministry of Defence.  The protests were violently repressed, and they were charged with participating in an unauthorised gathering, complicity in damaging public property, arson and manslaughter.  

Our continued detention is symptomatic of an ongoing pattern of restrictions on civic space in Niger and the continued harassment of human rights defenders and journalists. Over the last several months, human rights defenders have been intimidated by security forces for speaking out against corruption and have been charged with defamation under the Cyber Crimes Law (2019).  Journalists and bloggers have also been subjected to judicial persecution for reporting on corruption.  In May 2020 Niger’s Parliament approved a new law that empowers authorities to intercept telephone communication in the context of the fight against terrorism and transnational crime. 

The CIVICUS Monitor—an online platform rates Niger’ civic space as “obstructed” and the country was put on the civic space Watchlist in June 2020.

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