Source description last updated: 3 February 2020

In brief: International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) is a Brussels-based non-governmental organisation that seeks to promote human rights protection worldwide by closely working together with civil society in countries of concern.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Statement & Press Releases and Reports & Briefing Papers

Covered quarterly on ecoi.net for countries of priorities A-C.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

IPHR, founded in 2008 (IPHR website: Who We Are, undated), “acts to empower local civil society groups who are working to advance the protection of human rights in their respective countries and assists them with raising human rights concerns at the international level. In cooperation with partner organizations, IPHR advocates on behalf of individuals and communities who are among those most vulnerable to discrimination, injustice and human rights violations. […]

IPHR is governed by a board of directors, who oversee the strategic direction and operations of the organization” (IPHR website: Who We Are, undated). Besides its head office in Brussels, IPHR has a branch office in Georgia (IPHR: Working Together for Human Rights – IPHR Annual Report for the Year 2019, 31 January 2020, p. 5).

“IPHR and its local partners […] cooperate with [the civil society alliance, explanatory note my ACCORD] CIVICUS on the production of regular updates on human rights developments in the Central Asian countries for publication on the CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform that tracks civil society space worldwide. During the year [2019], IPHR and its partners prepared more than a dozen updates on the protection of the freedoms of expression, association and assembly in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan […].“ (IPHR: Working Together for Human Rights – IPHR Annual Report for the Year 2019, p. 22)

During 2019, IPHR also “deployed a number of fact-finding missions to its target countries and carried out on-the-ground research and interviewed victims and witnesses of violations. This work, which built on ongoing cooperation with partners on monitoring and documentation […], focused on issues identified as being in need of in-depth research with the aim of gathering facts and evidence to help establish the truth and ensure accountability for violations.” (IPHR: Working Together for Human Rights – IPHR Annual Report for the Year 2019, p. 16)

Funding:

IPHR’s annual income for the year 2019 amounted to 2.5 million euros (IPHR: Working Together for Human Rights – IPHR Annual Report for the Year 2019, p. 35). According to its website, IPHR’s donors include the European Union, Open Society Foundations, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the National Endowment for Democracy. (IPHR website: Our Donors, undated)

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: CIS countries

Thematic focus: violations of fundamental freedoms; restrictions on access to justice; discriminatory practices; torture and ill-treatment

Methodology:

Statements are issued jointly by IPHR and other civil society groups and may deal with a specific case or give a situational overview in one or more countries. They contain endnotes with references to public sources (see, for example, IPHR/Freedom Now/Norwegian Helsinki Committee et al.: Uzbekistan: Cease intimidation of relatives of former diplomat Kadyr Yusupov, 9 October 2019 and IPHR/Nota Bene/Legal prosperity Foundation et al.: Central Asia: Protests crushed, NGOs under pressure and activists intimidated, 19 September 2019).

Updates on freedom of expression, association and assembly in a specific country are “based on on-the-ground monitoring carried out by [IPHR’s] partners” (IPHR: Working Together for Human Rights – IPHR Annual Report for the Year 2019, p. 22).

Reports (including fact-finding mission reports) deal with a specific thematic issue in a country and are jointly published by IPHR and other civil society groups. Research may be conducted either by IPHR in collaboration with partners (see, for example, IPHR/Human Rights Club/Global Diligence et al.: Azerbaijani government crackdown in Ganja, 29 January 2020, p. 4) or exclusively by partner organisations (see, for example, IPHR/Crimea SOS/Truth Hounds et al.: Fighting terrorism or terrorising activism? Persecution of civic activists in Crimea, 21 May 2019, p. 10). Information may be collected through “desk research into the national legislation, national and international reports, official inquiries submitted to the relevant state structures” and interviews with relevant communities, lawyers, experts, human rights defenders (see, for example, IPHR/Human Rights Club: Freedom of religion and belief in Azerbaijan, 12 December 2019, p. 5), journalists (see, for example, IPHR: Working Together for Human Rights – IPHR Annual Report for the Year 2019, 31 January 2020, p. 18) and witnesses and victims of human rights violations (see, for example, IPHR/Crimea SOS/Truth Hounds et al.: Fighting terrorism or terrorising activism? Persecution of civic activists in Crimea, 21 May 2019, p. 10). The reports contain footnotes with references to public sources, which may include source publishing in local languages such as Russian or Ukrainian (IPHR/Crimea SOS/Truth Hounds et al.: Fighting terrorism or terrorising activism? Persecution of civic activists in Crimea, 21 May 2019).

Languages of publication:

English and relevant local languages

 

All links accessed 3 February 2020.