A broad mandate

FIDH’ s mandate is to contribute to the respect of all the rights defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. FIDH aims at obtaining effective improvements in the protection of victims, the prevention of Human Rights violations and the sanction of their perpetrators. Its priorities are set by the triennial World Congress and the International Board (22 members), with the support of the International Secretariat (30 staff members).

4 STATUTORY PRIORITIES

  Protecting Human Rights, assisting victims

With activities ranging from judicial enquiry, trial observation, research, advocacy and litigation, FIDH has developed strict and impartial procedures, which are implemented by world-renowned independent Human Rights experts. From 2001 to 2003, 111 FIDH fact-finding and observation missions were carried out, 201 reports were published covering over 80 countries and 1300 specific interventions were launched on cases or situations.

  Mobilising the community of States

Daily advocacy within intergovernmental organisations: FIDH gives guidance and support to its 141 member organisations and other local partners in their dealings with inter-governmental organisations (international and regional). From 2001 to 2003, FIDH filed and supported over 500 cases before international governmental bodies with actions ranging from written appeals to the UN Commission on Human Rights, to monitoring global conferences. FIDH also follows standard-setting activities and promotes the creation of monitoring procedures.

  Supporting local NGO’s capacity for action

FIDH organises legal cooperation programmes jointly with its member leagues and local partners, in their own country. The aim is to strengthen domestically, the capacity for action of Human Rights defenders and the credibility of their organisations, through training and dialogue with authorities. From 2001 to 2003, judicial cooperation action programmes were pursued in 30 African, 16 Latin American and 12 countries from the North Africa/Middle Eastern region.

  Raising awareness

Informing, alerting, bearing witness: FIDH aims to publicise the outcome of its missions, its research findings and eyewitness accounts of Human Rights abuse. Press releases, press conferences, open letters to Heads of States, mission reports, urgent appeals, petitions, publicity and the website are the main means, with which the Federation wages its fight against Human Rights violations. For the year 2004, internet traffic on www.fidh.org amounted to approximately 1 Million pages visited.

5 THEMATIC PRIORITIES as defined by the 35th Congress (Quito, Ecuador) in March 2004:

  Protecting Human Rights Defenders and the implementation of the 1998 UN Declaration In 2004, the FIDH/OMCT Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders addressed 1,154 cases, in over 90 countries, with the collaboration of approximately 200 Human Rights organisations.

  Defending women’s rights FIDH fights against the secondary status treatment of women in nearly all societies and the flagrant persistence of gender-based discrimination, via its newly created Action Group for Women’s Rights, headed by the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner and FIDH League President, Shirin Ebadi. The main thrust of the movement is to work towards the practical implementation of the United Nation’s Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

  Justice for victims fighting impunity: FIDH gives daily support to victims by accompanying them throughout the entire course of their legal proceedings. FIDH made a significant contribution to the establishment of the International Criminal Court. Currently, FIDH is involved in about 20 major cases before the domestic courts and the ICC in The Hague, where it opened a permanent delegation, as of February 2004. FIDH is also involved in transitional justice actions in several countries.

  Promoting respect of Human Rights in the fight against terrorism Since 2002, FIDH initiated or supported key proceedings before domestic courts, regional and international mechanisms, in cases concerning arbitrary measures and practices in the fight against terrorism. It advocated within international governmental organisations for safeguard procedures in this regard.

  Advocating Economic Globalisation respectful of Human Rights FIDH actively seeks to ensure the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights, the responsibility of economic actors, the primacy of Human Rights over trade law and the participation of civil societies in globalisation organisations. Since 2001, FIDH supported the drafting of legal instruments and became involved in litigation against or dialogue with transnational corporations.