Human Rights Defenders

Overbrook supports varying approaches to defending human rights defenders in Latin America. These strategies for defending human rights activists on the ground range from physically extracting activists who find themselves in dangerous situations, to organizing campaigns calling international attention to activists under attack, to providing them with training on how to operate safely on the internet and maintain secure and private communications with their fellow activists.

Below is a list of 2013 grantees defending human rights defenders in Latin America.

Committee to Protect Journalists
Defending Frontline Journalists in Mexico – $25,000

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal. CPJ will carry out intensive reporting and advocacy to highlight the threats facing the media in Mexico and apply pressure on the government to confront the violence. Building on past advocacy and the resulting legal protections for reporters, CPJ will prod authorities to prosecute the killers of journalists and strengthen the protection mechanism for targeted journalists. It will also expand outreach to journalists at risk, engage local journalists in efforts to improve their security, and provide direct aid in emergency situations.
Environmental Defender Law Center
General Operating Support for Work in Latin America – $25,000

The Environmental Defender Law Center (EDLC) works to protect the human rights of individuals and communities in developing countries who are fighting against harm to their environment. EDLC’s primary role is brokering: identifying cases of people who are suffering human rights abuses while protecting the environment and their way of life, and enlisting lawyers from premier firms to work on their behalf. EDLC and the law firms defend these environmental defenders from unfounded criminal charges and civil suits; argue for the enforcement of international human rights norms to local courts and human rights bodies; bring precedent-setting claims against multinational corporations; and help communities stop unwanted resource development projects.
Human Rights Watch
Combating Human Rights Violations in Mexico – $45,000 (first payment of a two-year grant)

For more than 30 years, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has fought tenaciously to bring greater justice and security to people around the world. Human Rights Watch uses a proven methodology to achieve long-term, meaningful impact: meticulous research that provides irrefutable evidence of serious human rights abuse; widespread communication of its research findings in a variety of formats and languages; and, compelling advocacy targeting decision-makers who will bring about change. Human Rights Watch has documented grave human rights abuses in Mexico, including rape, torture, “disappearances,” and killings, committed by security forces, who are virtually never held accountable. After this research, the organization plans to press for systematic changes within Mexico that will address the chronic abuses and impunity that HRW has uncovered.
Indian Law Resource Center
Protecting Maya Q’eqchi’ Land and Resource Rights in Guatemala - $35,000

The Indian Law Resource Center is a legal advocacy organization working to promote and defend the human rights of indigenous peoples in the Americas. The Center provides assistance without charge to Indian nations and other indigenous communities that are working to protect their lands, environments, cultures and ways of life; combat racism and oppression; achieve sustainable economic development and genuine self-government; and, realize their human rights. The Center is serving as legal counsel to a Maya Q’eqchi’ community and supporting 15 others in El Estor, Guatemala, who are fighting to secure legal title to their lands and resources and stop a nickel mine from expanding onto their ancestral lands. The Center has taken this case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The task at hand is to deliver sound and compelling legal arguments to convince the Commission that the human rights violations against the Center’s clients merit strong and immediate corrective actions by the Guatemalan government.
Grantees by Year:  2013 / 2012 / 2011