From May 17-19, 2022, ABA ROLI conducted a three-day training session for lawyer human rights defenders (HRDs), in Johannesburg, South Africa through its Advancing Rights in Southern Africa (ARISA) Program. Twenty-eight lawyer human rights defenders attended the session, delivered by two prominent HRDs, Arnold Tsunga and Jacob van Garderen. Participants hailed from seven Southern African countries: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. The ARISA program’s thematic areas are women’s customary land rights, media freedoms and digital rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, and the protection of human rights defenders.
The purpose of the session was to identify the specific needs of lawyer HRDs within the Southern Africa region, and then to identify the best mechanisms and strategies for the protection of their rights. It provided lawyer HRDs with skills to litigate, protect and promote rights under the ARISA thematic areas, using National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), national courts, regional and international human rights mechanisms, and other forums. It was also used as a platform to rally human rights defenders and NHRIs to support an initiative to encourage the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government to adopt regional guidelines for the protection of human rights defenders.
