Dear friends and colleagues, This month, we continued to carry out proactive advocacy work at the regional and international level, while monitoring the human rights situation in the East and Horn of Africa. Following our mission to Ethiopia earlier this month to boost the progressive reforms taking place, I travelled to South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, and Tunisia in my capacity as the Chair of AfricanDefenders (Pan-Africa Human Rights Defenders Network), to launch the Ubuntu Hub Cities initiative. The initiative, which temporarily relocates African human rights defenders (HRDs) at risk, was warmly welcomed by national authorities and civil society in these countries – fostering my confidence in the initiative. Furthermore, the initiative challenges the notion that African HRDs cannot be protected within their own continent.

Another February focus was our participation to the opening of the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC or "the Council”), which I attended together with a DefendDefenders delegation. Throughout the session, we will advocate for the protection of HRDs, especially environmental HRDs, based on the upcoming UN resolution on environmental HRDs. Further, we will focus our efforts on South Sudan, calling for the renewal of the mandate of the UN Commission of Human Rights in South Sudan to monitor, report, and collect evidence for future prosecution. At the session, I engaged with state representatives, and regional and international actors, includingProf.Palamagamba Kabudi, Tanzania’sMinisterforJusticeandConstitutional Affairs, to whom I shared my concerns regardingTanzania’s ongoing crackdown on civic space. We are concerned about the shrinking civic space and lack of respect for rule of law trending in the sub-region. The Sudanese government’s decision to declare a state of emergency is alarming, as it further restricts civil society, and the work of HRDs. DefendDefenders will actively participate in the full Council session, which concludes on 22 March. I hope that that the outcome of the session will be progressive, and that efforts will be ensured to safeguard the implementation of the decisions taken. To this end, we will continue to advocate for human rights in our mandate countries, including Sudan, at the national, regional, and international level. Yours sincerely, Hassan Shire

Human rights defender of the month: Mildred Apenyo

Mildred Apenyo is a prominent Ugandan women’s rights activist and feminist through her work as an entrepreneur, trainer, and writer. Apenyo is also the founder of FitCliqueAfrica, Uganda’s first female-only gymnasium, aimed at empowering women and sexual minorities. "In the [human rights] movement, a significant amount of people face trauma and burn-out due to the work they do,” she says. Apenyo says that she wanted to create a space where women feel safe – a place to heal and regain strength. FitCliqueAfrica is passionate about the wellness and safety of women, with a focus on women’s mental health and physical well-being. The organisation teaches women emotional and physical self-defence as a means to relieve trauma and stress. "I did not know anything about fitness,” she says, "but I had a passion.” "What inspires me is the vision, the idea of a world where no one’s dignity has to be fought for. It is such a terrible waste of time that so many wonderful, powerful women are spending all of their lives fighting things that are obviously unfair, and fighting what obviously should not exist” Apenyo was a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow at the age of 24, and she has been featured in the New York Times and BBC for her work in protecting and empowering women. For more information, see thevideo interview with Mildred Apenyo.

Recommended reading: UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan:A/HRC/40/69report Chapter Four:"My Child is Different: A Baseline Study of the Perceptions and Experiences of Parents, Families and their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) Children in Uganda”(February 2019) Freedom House:Freedom in the World 2019(February 2019)

Check out: Call for applications:Fellowships To Attend the 11th Global Investigative Journalism Conference.Deadline 5 May, 2019. Call for nominations:European Union Human Rights Defenders Award 2019 in Uganda.Deadline 27 March, 2019. Call for nominations:AfricanDefenders’ Shield Awards.Deadline 15 March, 2019.

Updates from DefendDefenders: We activelyparticipated in the High Level Segment of the 40thsession of the Council, meeting with state representatives, and regional and international actors. Throughout the session, our focus will be on HRDs and South Sudan; We held a training of trainers workshop on digital security in Northern Uganda; We received 25 grant requests from HRDs, whereas eight cases were approved, eight cases are under review, and nine cases did not meet the criteria; We conducted five risk assessments and security activities for HRDs; and We actively participated at the 'My Child is Different' launch by Chapter Four.

Updates from AfricanDefenders: Last month, thePan-African Human Rights Defenders Networkwas re-branded asAfricanDefenders, and launched a new website; and AfricanDefenders officially launched the Ubuntu Hub Cities initiative inSouth Africa(Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria),Côte d'Ivoire(Abidjan), andTunisia(Tunis) – a relocation programme for HRDs at risk.

Updates from the sub-region:

Burundi Three focal points from PARCEM, Emmanuel Nshimirimana, Aimé Constant Gatore, and Marius Ni­zi­gama, weresentenced to eight years imprisonment, but subsequently acquitted on December 17, 2018. To this date, they remain in detention with no explanation given by the authorities. Kenya Thedeath of prominent human rights activist Caroline Mwatha Ochiengtriggered debates concerning the Kenyan government’s lack of investigation into disappearances and killings of HRDs. LGBT rights in Kenya reached international headlines as theKenyan High Court postponed the decision to revisit a colonial-era law, which criminalises homosexuality, until May 2019. Kenya’s National Commission of Human Rights continues to establish cooperation with universities, by instituting permanent human rights sections at the law faculties. Djibouti An interactive dialogue took place at HRC40, concerning theeffect of foreign debt on human rights in Djibouti, among other countries.A Djiboutian woman HRD was one of the nominees for the International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award, given out annually by the United States Department of State. Eritrea An anonymousEritrean activist shared information about the human rights situationin the country on his Facebook page, which received much attention. The human rights situation in the country will be discussed at HRC40,where theyrecently became a member. Ethiopia TheUN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, conducted a visit to Ethiopia, confirming the UN's preparedness to support the country to address their human rights issues, and boost the positive developments in the country. HRDs and social media activists gathered in Addis toraise awareness about hate speech. Somalia (and Somaliland) AMISOM announced that they willconduct trainings for Somali security officers to enhance their human rights knowledge. Adeadly attack was carried out by Al-Shabaabin Mogadishu, killing almost 30 people. Abdirahman Ibrahim Adan, apoet detained due to his anti-government opinions, is still in detention in Somaliland, despite regional and international actors calling for his immediate release. South Sudan Regional and international actorscalled for the renewal of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan,in order to continue to uncover evidence of the serious human rights violations committed in the country, likely amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sudan Human Rights Watch released avideo clip illustrating the Sudanese authorities’ extreme abuse of protesters, including the use of live ammunition and teargas. Since the protests broke out in December 2018, more than 30 HRDs have been detained– most of whom are still in detention. TheSudanese refugee activist, Abdul Aziz Muhamat, received the 2019 Martin Ennals Award,due to his outstanding human rights work on Manus Island, where he has been detained by Australian authorities under inhumane conditions for six years. Tanzania The crackdown on press freedom continues as theTanzanian government suspends the newspaper ‘The Citizen’, arguing that it spreads false news– a decisionquestioned by several diplomatsin Tanzania. In itsannual report, Freedom House reports the continued closure of civic space for political activity in Tanzania, with the arrest of prominent opposition leaders and stifling of anti-government protests. Uganda Human rights activist calls for the arrest of Maj. Gen. Matayo Kyaligonza, Uganda's Ambassador to Burundi, following his attack on a female traffic officer, and raised questions regarding Uganda’s selective application of the law. In celebration of the International Women’s Day on 8 March,women and human rights organisationscalled on the Ugandan government to address land rights and gender equality.

For more information, please contact

Hassan Shire Executive Director, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project on executive@defenddefenders.org or +256 772 753 753 (English and Somali)

Estella Kabachwezi Senior Advocacy and Research Officer, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project on advocacy@defenddefenders.org or +256 782 360 460 (English)

East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project DefendDefenders seeks to strengthen the work of human rights defenders throughout the region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights. DefendDefenders focuses its work on Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia (together with Somaliland), South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Visit us atwww.defenddefenders.org