STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER THULANI MASEKO

23 January 2023

It is with utter shock and distress that DefendDefenders and AfricanDefenders have learned of the assassination of prominent African human rights defender and advocate , Thulani Maseko, who was shot dead  at his home in Luyengo, Mbabane, on 21 January 2023.  DefendDefenders and AfricanDefenders believe that this heinous crime was planned, and that Mr. Maseko was targeted because of his persistent advocacy for accountability and greater civic space for political and civil society organisations in Eswatini.

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CONSULTANT TO STREAMLINE THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE MECHANISMS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AMONGST PARTNERS

20 January 2023

DefendDefenders (The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project) was established in 2005 and registered as a foreign Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Uganda, working in 11 countries within the East and Horn of Africa sub- region. DefendDefenders strives to strengthen the work of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in the sub-region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights and continue engaging in their work. DefendDefenders is the secretariat of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRD-Net) whose membership is made up of thousands of organizations and individuals working in the sub regional countries of Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Somalia/Somaliland.

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Human Rights Defender of the month: Kasale Maleton Mwaana

29 December 2022

Kasale’s human rights activism precedes his years. The son of pastoralist parents from Ngorongoro district in northern Tanzania, he grew up seeing his parents and entire community having to defend their land and way of life against authorities who thought their lands could be put to better use. Now, at 25, Kasale is already one of the most recognizable advocates of his people’s cause, much to the ire of Tanzanian authorities.
“Our people’s struggle goes back many generations. It started with the pushing out of our forefathers from Serengeti to gazette Serengeti National Park in 1959, and then further evictions from the Ngorongoro crater to gazette the Ngorongoro conservation area in 1975. Since then, every generation has had to resist further evictions. It’s now my generation’s turn,” he says.

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