Arab Human Rights Defenders Union (AHRDU)

First, Name: Arab Human Rights Defenders Union (AHRDU)
Second, definition:
- AHRDU is an international Arab non-governmental organization
- AHRDU consists of :
(A) the organizations defending human rights in Arab countries acceding to AHRDU.
(B) defenders of human rights, individuals and practitioners, to defend human rights within the Arab countries.

Authenticity and references:

1. International Bill of Human Rights.
2. United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders
3. Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights defenders.
4. EU Guidelines on the protection of human rights defenders.

AHRDU aims to:

1. Create a regulatory and democratic framework that includes defenders of human rights working to protect organizations and individuals and develop their abilities in the field of human rights.
2. Create a framework for dialogue, consultation, coordination, joint action, integration, and solidarity among NGOs and individual defenders on the basis of absolute equality between all its members.
3. Coordination, cooperation and exchange of experiences at all levels to promote and protect human rights defenders.
4. support dialogue, coordination with networks and other Arab organizations, regional and global, on human rights defenders.
5. Provide legal , moral and material protection for human rights defenders who are at risk.
6. Contributing to the training of human rights defenders on the methods of
protection.

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Gulf Daily News- 18 oct, 2009

THE actions of Bahrain rights activists will be under constant examination to ensure that they are taking the right approach in resolving issues of great importance, it has emerged.

The move will be spearheaded by a Bahrain rights group after it joined forces with other Arab activists, who will each have their plights and struggles documented and monitored.

The Union of Arab Human Rights Defenders was officially founded at the start of this month and includes so far representatives from six countries across the Middle East.

It aims to create a democratic and regulatory entity that includes human rights organisations from every Arab country and will monitor the treatment and achievements of activists across the region.

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Inauguration of “the Union of Arab Human Rights Defenders”

A group of leaderships and activists of Arab human rights organizations from six countries announced the formation of the founding committee that would work to inaugurate the Arab Human Rights Defenders Union (AHRDU). And today, 1th-October-2009, the founding committee unveiled the founding charter of AHRDU or “Union of Arab Defenders”. It aims actually to create a democratic and regulatory entity that includes all human rights defenders of relevant organizations and individuals as well as protecting them and enhancing their abilities in the domain of human rights. The union also gropes for drawing a framework for dialog, coordination, joint work and solidarity between NGOs and defenders, whether individuals or organizations.

Meanwhile, AHRDU is to approach the rest of Arab, regional and international organizations, concerned with human rights defenders in an effort to cooperate and exchange expertise in all fields in addition to enhancing dialog and coordination with these all so as to help support human rights defenders. Still, exposed defending activists will be provided with legal, moral and material protection and trainings on means of their protection. And we should not forget developing the enlightenment about human rights defenders and organization of meetings, seminars, congresses and workshops.

On the other side, AHRDU will activate all means of informational activity that would express opinions of volunteers and activists of organizations, members of the union. Also, it can unit the contributions of members and work to develop the union’s own resources according to its goals and purposes, when necessary. AHRDU is to monitor human rights defenders tribunals, provide lawyers for the cases of human rights defenders in addition to preparing studies and researches on human rights defenders.

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