Who we protect

PBI has launched a new initiative to support peace activists and human rights defenders in war-torn Nepal. Nepal's "democratic middle" - including nongovernmental and community-based organizations, the media, and political parties - is being squeezed between an expanding Maoist insurgency and government-sponsored repression.

The project was developed in response to aggressions by the Nepalese security forces and Maoist insurgents and requests for an international peace presence by local civil society members. PBI will provide international accompaniment and presence, offer security and self-protection workshops, bring international delegations to Nepal, and organize speaking tours.

Since the royal coup d’état in February 2005, human rights defenders in Nepal have been acting as advocates and mediators, limiting the excess of violators. Their space is limited by both the state and the Maoists, each of which has its specific repression strategies. There is concern that the Nepali government’s draft code of conduct to regulate NGOs and INGOs working in Nepal will severely restrict freedom and dissemination of information.

• Following previous exploratory visits, PBI carried out a security training and advance team mission from April to July 2005, carried under the auspices of a broader International Commission of Jurists’ initiative to support human rights defenders.
• The Mainstreaming Protection Programme
• The Programme will include regular follow-up security trainings; continued work with national/ regional security groups to develop a mechanism to respond to security problems experienced by human rights defenders; establishing a Security Desk to coordinate and oversee security matters; exchanging and disseminating PBI’s security manual and best practices.

We will continue the Mainstreaming Protection Program and begin a permanent presence. An initial field team is in Kathmandu laying the ground work, undertaking our legal registration and building on our previous networking.