The Alliance will be an opportunity for lawyers, chambers and firms in the UK to offer their support and specialists services to lawyers/ HRDs at risk on cases/themes or issues of concern. More specifically it will:

• Develop Early Warning Systems to prevent attacks against HRDs and raise awareness of the violations and systematic abuse that lawyers and other human rights defenders face in their daily work whilst trying to uphold the rule of law
• Provide continued and wider protection of lawyers and other HRDs by financially supporting the  protective accompaniment services of PBI volunteers
• Contribute legal expertise, research and training to lawyers and HRDs at risk in countries where PBI is active
• Bring sustained and coordinated pressure to bear on the UK government regarding the importance of protection for HRDs and the need for the systematic implementation of the EU Guidelines for their protection. 

To this effect we are currently putting together some case studies/themes on which PBI works for Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia and Nepal to illustrate examples of potential types of actions that lawyers might be able to carry out in support of HRDs.

With regard to Indonesia we would like to focus on the Munir case.  We are therefore writing to you to get some concrete ideas regarding ways in which you believe the Alliance could get involved with regards to the case in 2011. Please use some of the subheadings below to give specific examples in relation to the cases

Awareness Raising

The aim of this networking activity is to raise awareness of the situation of lawyers and other human rights defenders at risk abroad, to encourage UK lawyers to take action to protect fellow lawyers/HRDs, and to get lawyers to provide training and advice for lawyers and other HRDs abroad working on legal cases.

·         Dedicated campaign website (featuring case studies, reports, news, video  audio        testimonials from lawyers at risk)

·         Printed campaign materials (booklets)

·         Filming testimonies of lawyers/HRDs showing personal stories and types of challenges that HRDs face

Advocacy

• Developing and strengthening of Early Warning Systems for the protection of lawyers and other HRDs at risk.
• Lobby the UK government and diplomatic missions to act on the EU 

 Guidelines: Action plans, implementation, monitoring, emergency responses, embedding good practice, frameworks to protect HRDs

Training and Guides.

§   Training and guides on international human rights mechanisms and general international human rights law and how fits in with domestic law in countries where PBI is active

§   Simplified and country specific guides on EU guidelines and how to access protection from any particular (UK) mission

§   Specific simplified guides for human rights on any issue in countries where PBI is active, eg indigenous rights to land rights, or any human rights issues that HRDs are supporting local communities with

Legal Assistance

• Legal advice/ assistance/ evidence collating re lawyers’ or HRD’s legal cases
• Legal advice/ assistance/ evidence collating re criminal charges brought against lawyers’ or HRD’s.

Accompaniment to trial could be offered by UK lawyers to help improve the chances of success in domestic and international cases:

• Shadowing of legal cases
• Interventions for PBI lawyers, HRDs
• Amicus curiae
• Comparative law review research, analysis on international standards, institutions, particular points of law etc

Review of codes/ legislation and in line with international law:

• Providing legal opinions to inform policy work and reporting
• Assistance with emergency visa applications in to ‘safe’ countries ( where these can be provided ) or other visa/ visa appeals where one EU country may not allow entry even for a speaking tour

Research

• How foreign policy and human rights of any given guest mission may hinder or help in the protection of Lawyers and HRDs in the host country
• Creative ways of protecting HRDs and communication between host and guest governments in protection of HRDs
• Funding packs and how to access funds for resources – ie funding from guest missions, undertaking of resource audits with lawyer and HRD organisations
• Collate information about what other mechanisms are doing in order to protect HRD’s eg. UN Special Rapporteur, Council of Europe Special Advisor to Human Rights, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights etc and possible facilitation of coordination of efforts/ information
• Research overall HR situation in countries where PBI is active, trends in abuses and challenges to HRDs. Problem solving with contextual analysis needs

Delegations

• Participate in future delegations in the field
• In-country consultation with lawyers and other human rights defenders working on legal cases regarding repression strategies and protection mechanisms

Speaking Tours

• Supporting HRDs in the UK by receiving them when they come to the UK and helping to organise speaking tours for them including meetings with high profile lawyers, FCO representatives, MP, Lords etc

EU Guidelines specific work

• To systematically strengthen the implementation of the EU Guidelines in consultation with lawyers and HRDs in the field by developing training manuals for the diplomatic corp.
• To research how far UK Embassies in countries where PBI is active have embedded, implemented and monitored the EU Guidelines and to strategise how progress could be made on this.
• To review and streamline emergency responses for HRD protection and security including possibility of lobbying for emergency visas etc.
• To address the protection needs of HRDs in particularly challenging environments and to assist HRDs in being able to assess what they need and know how to ask for what they need from the relevant missions.

·         To produce simple user guides on what protection is available, and how to access it (and any funding for resources etc) from the relevant (UK) missions.