Thank you, Chair. I am delivering this statement on behalf of the following members of the Democracy Defender Initiative: Canada, Denmark, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Sweden, and my own country the United Kingdom.
Special Representative, welcome to the Permanent Council and thank you for ensuring that the voices of civil society are heard within the OSCE.
This year marks ten years since our countries established the Democracy Defender Award to recognise civil society’s vital contribution to defending democracy and upholding the principles of the Helsinki Final Act. Over the past decade, DDI recipients have included those documenting war crimes, defending political prisoners, observing elections, supporting independent journalism and holding governments to account, often at significant personal risk.
Ten years on, unfortunately, the operating environment for many of these defenders has become harder rather than easier. In Warsaw this October, we heard how an increasing number of individuals and organisations have been forced into exile. We heard about transnational repression and persecution following individuals and organisations across borders. Those who remain in their home countries often face isolation, shrinking civic space, disproportionate restrictions associated with foreign funding, surveillance and other digital threats.
Defending civic space and democracy has always been at the heart of the OSCE’s comprehensive approach to security. Independent human rights defenders contribute to regional security by building democratic and societal resilience, exposing abuses and helping participating States meet the commitments that we have freely undertaken.
But engagement with the OSCE must itself be safe. We are therefore particularly concerned by reprisals, or threats of reprisals, against people because they engage with OSCE events and platforms. Civil society in Warsaw specifically urged the OSCE to learn from the UN’s system for tracking and publicly reporting reprisals against human rights defenders.
We welcome your commitment to strengthening the OSCE’s approach in this area. In the light of the recommendations you made this today what will it take the OSCE, its institutions and interested participating States to prevent, monitor and respond effectively to reprisals?
Thank you for your presentation and thank you again, Mr Chair.
This article was originally published on https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/joint-statement-on-civil-society-and-democracy-at-the-osce. It is shared here under a Creative Commons license.
