Front Line Defenders

On International Women's Day this year, we spotlight inspiring and brave WHRDs.


From the Americas, we highlight Poulette Celene Hernández, a WHRD who supports survivors of gender-based violence and communities in Chiapas; facing attacks and criminalisation due to it.

🔗zurl.co/d0DZf

#IWD26 #IWD

On International Women's Day this year, we spotlight inspiring and brave WHRDs.

From the Africa region, we highlight Myrriam Hélèna Capo-Chichi, a WHRD in Benin who has worked for over two decades to combat gender-based violence and support survivors.

🔗 zurl.co/vYBrp

#IWD26 #IWD

On International Women's Day this year, we spotlight inspiring and brave WHRD.

From Asia, we highlight Imaan Zainab Mazari, a WHRD and lawyer in Pakistan currently facing judicial harassment and detention for speaking out against human rights violations.

🔗 zurl.co/9uRiM

#IWD26 #IWD

On International Women's Day this year, we spotlight inspiring and brave WHRD.

From the Middle East and North Africa, we highlight Sharifeh Mohammadi, who is currently imprisoned in Iran for her work defending women’s and labour rights.

🔗 zurl.co/EQngC

#IWD26 #IWD

On International Women's Day this year, we spotlight inspiring and brave women human rights defenders.

From the Europe and Central Asia region, we highlight Defne Güzel, who is being targeted for her work on LGBTIQ+ rights in Turkey.

🔗 zurl.co/epSt7

#IWD26 #IWD

📍 MIDDLE EAST

Read full statement here: zurl.co/xzXGl

📍IRAQ

🚨On 2 March 2026, WHRD Yanar Mohammed was killed in an armed attack outside her home in Baghdad.


FLD condemns the killing and calls for an immediate, impartial investigation and protection for OWFI members.
🔗 zurl.co/tDAb2

📍HONDURAS

🕊️"We have learned to fight with joy, with hope and with faith; We have learned to fight in diversity; we have learned to fight with music, with ceremonies and with spirituality..." -Berta Cáceres

📹 Watch the full interview from 2012: zurl.co/RWBWA

📹 Watch live at 2pm CET/1pm Dublin here:

t.co/r7shPL4LAm

📍HONDURAS

🕊️A few days ahead of the 10th anniversary of Indigenous defender Berta Cáceres' murder, Front Line Defenders commemorates and keeps her memory, strength and legacy alive.

#BertaLives #JusticeForBerta

Poster for UN HRC side event, "No surrender on human rights: Defenders hold the line"

🗓️ Join us in Geneva next week for a HRC side event with UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, and other human rights defenders, about her last report regarding the trends HRDs are experiencing globally. This will be Mary's last event before her mandate ends.

📍TÜRKİYE

🚨WHRD Defne Güzel, Chair of 17 Mayıs Association, faces up to 3 years in prison under the Law on Associations over publications on intersex experiences and LGBTQI+ rights.

FLD calls on Turkish authorities to end the judicial harassment of LGBTQI+ defenders.

🔗 zurl.co/Txbm1

📍THAILAND

🚨Four pro-democracy defenders were sentenced under Thailand’s lèse-majesté law for remarks made at a peaceful gathering in 2020.

FLD and other civil society organizations call for their sentences to be immediately overturned.

🔗zurl.co/uj09o

📍GREECE

🚨 Greek authorities must stop targeting migrant rights defenders, including issuing of a European Arrest Warrant for Tommy Olsen and publicly attacking lawyer Dimitrios Choulis.

Greek authorities must ensure migrant rights defenders can work without fear of reprisals.

🔗zurl.co/zoBh7

📍TUNISIA

🚨On 23 Feb 2026, HRD Ahmed Souab was released by the Tunis Court of Appeal after more than 300 days in detention linked to his human rights work.


However, his conviction remains on record. FLD calls on authorities to end the judicial harassment of Tunisian HRDs.
🔗 zurl.co/UtewC

📍TÜRKİYE

🚨 HRD Enes Hocaogullari was acquitted of all charges over a speech he delivered at a Council of Europe conference in March 2025. FLD welcome this and calls on the Turkish authorities to ensure HRDs can work without fear of judicial harassment or arbitrary arrest.

🔗zurl.co/qlsm2

📍Mexico

🕯️Front Line Defenders joined dozens of people in Mexico City on Saturday for an evening dedicated to HRDs who have been killed or subjected to enforced disappearances in Mexico, the second deadliest country in 2024 for HRDs, according to our Global Analysis.

#DefendingIsMyRight

📍 INDIA

📍EGYPT

🚨On 15 February 2026, WHRD Aida Seif El-Dawla was charged with “spreading false news” , and later released on heavy bail, in a case linked to her human rights work documenting torture. Egyptian authorities must drop all charges and end the targeting of HRDs.

🔗zurl.co/fwme8

📍Peru

🚨Front Line Defenders call on the Peruvian authorities to drop the charges against Asháninka human rights defender Fabián Antúnez and guarantee due process, the right to defence and the presumption of innocence.

🔗Read more: zurl.co/VYKdc

📍IRAN

🚨The Free Narges Coalition urgently calls on Iranian authorities to release Nobel laureate WHRD Narges Mohammadi. Last week, following a violent arrest in December, she received additional prison sentences, internal exile, and a travel ban on politically motivated charges.

🔗 zurl.co/XaGZu

🚨Today, 12 February, the request for release of HRD Ahmed Souab was denied and the hearing was postponed to the 23 February. The health condition of the Ahmed remains gravely concerning. We urge authorities to release Ahmed and drop all charges against him.

📍TUNISIA


Tomorrow, unjustly detained HRD Ahmed Souab is set to appear before the Court of Appeal.

FLD reiterates grave concern over his deteriorating health and urge Tunisian authorities to release him and drop all charges against him.

🔗Read more:zurl.co/yMk34

📍Colombia

Since late December 2025, the Corporación Regional para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (CREDHOS) has reported a wave of threats targeting its members, particularly its president, HRD Iván Madero.

✊ We call on the Colombian authorities to act urgently.

🔗 Read more: zurl.co/LQ1YC

📣Front Line Defenders is recruiting a Global Security Lead.

The Global Security Lead will provide ongoing management and oversight of the safety and security of FLD operations, personnel, as well as premises and events.

More information and how to apply can be found here⬇️
zurl.co/FO5UI

📍Honduras

🚨 The murder of Berta Cáceres was not an isolated crime. It was the result of a power structure in which business interests, state security forces and international financing converged to impose the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project.
📄 Read more and find the report: zurl.co/J5d1h

📍Iran

🚨 Iran’s digital blackout for the last three weeks has made it impossible to document and report on human rights violations, including mass killings and arrests. Meanwhile, human rights defenders are being mass arrested.
🔗Read more: www.frontlinedefenders.org/e...