L’ITALIA NON È UN PAESE PER I DIFENSORI DEI DIRITTI UMANI

We join other civil society groups in denouncing the ongoing repression of human rights defenders who express social needs that the state should never institutionally repress.

We are witnessing a continuing shrinking of civic space in Italy. On July 9, an Extinction Rebellion activist in Bologna was humiliated during a police search, an incident reminiscent of the violence at the G8 summit in Genoa. In Pisa, on February 23, 2024, police attacked pro-Palestine students, while on December 22, 2023, violent clashes occurred in Rome against student protesters.

The European Commission's July 24 report denounces verbal and physical attacks against humanitarian organizations and protesters, often by the police and supported by the media and politicians. This is happening while Italy lacks a national institution for the independent protection of human rights and working conditions for journalists are deteriorating, making it increasingly difficult to foster informed public debate.

The signatories of the document "Italy is not a country for human rights defenders" unite to call for countering narratives that portray human rights defenders and their movements as criminals and to promote the protection of their freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association by refraining from any form of stigmatization, delegitimization, denigration, or criminalization. The recurring use of practices of civil disobedience must not be used as a pretext to limit civic space and the exercise of fundamental freedoms.

Read the full document on the LargeMovements website

For information on the initiative or to join the document from new civil society groups, please contact: vice-president@largemovements.it

Membership of the document will be updated at the following link:

Signatories of the document:
1. Large Movements APS
2. Ci sarà un bel clima
3. CISDA – Coordinamento Italiano Sostegno Donne Afghane
4. Civil Words APS
5. Diritto Diretto
6. Greenpeace – Gruppo Locale di Bologna
7. Rete legalità per il clima
8. Ultima Generazione