Over the past two years, human rights defenders (HRDs) have faced unprecedented challenges in Asia, where existing risks were exacerbated, while new threats have emerged. Governments enacted and used repressive laws, online harassment became widespread, and Asian HRDs have seen their families and loved ones increasingly subjected to harassment and threats. The COVID-19 pandemic has also significantly increased violations against defenders, and created new challenges for them to safely conduct their work.
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and the Commission for Disappeared Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) presented a joint analysis, “Refusing Silence: A joint analysis on the situation of Human Rights Defenders”, as part of a collaboration in documenting cases of violations against human rights defenders in Asia, and particularly in Indonesia since 2020.
*It is important to note that throughout this report, there are differences in numbers of cases and numbers of HRDs affected, especially with data collected before 2020, due to differences in documentation methodology. This analysis intends to present and examine the pattern of violations against HRDs and might not reflect the actual numbers of violations happening on the ground, which is likely higher than the cases documented here.
For the full PDF version of this analysis in English, click here
For the full PDF version of this analysis in Bahasa Indonesia, click here