The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has issued a report Wednesday documented record-breaking attacks against human rights defenders in 2025.
The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) defined Human rights defenders are “people who, individually or together with others, work to promote or protect human rights in a peaceful manner.”
Preliminary data shows that 743 human rights defenders were killed and 202 were forcibly disappeared, more than double the number of cases registered in 2015. According to a UN Press releasean HRD, journalist or trade unionist is now killed or disappeared every 10 hours. At least 5,995 HRDs have been killed since 2015.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed concern, stating: “Human rights defenders are the pillars of free and open societies… they must be protected wherever they are.”
The Front Line Defenders (FLD), an international human rights organization that works to protect human rights defenders, published presented its own independent findings on Monday that were broadly similar. According to the FLD results, the most murders occur in Colombia (165), Mexico (43) and Palestine (43). FLD CEO Alan Glasgow spoke about the need for an international response to this crisis, saying:
From drastic funding cuts and raging conflicts to creeping repression even in countries that once supported them, 2025 brought incredibly challenging times for human rights defenders around the world. The continued work and courage of human rights defenders in the face of these risks far exceeds the level of protection and support available to them. This must be a wake-up call for rights-respecting states to do more to protect them and support their fearless work.
The OHCHR report also sheds light on civilian deaths in conflict and patterns of discrimination worldwide. These are paired with the statistics on human rights defenders as the OHCHR notes important connections between these concerns:
The rise in attacks against defenders reflects a broader erosion of protection in many parts of the world. The same deterioration is visible in armed conflicts, where civilians continually bear the costs of violence.
Regarding conflict-related deaths, OHCHR findings show that one civilian death is recorded every 14 minutes. “Conflicts are a human rights wasteland,” said Türk about these statistics. When it comes to discrimination, OHCHR reports that one in five people worldwide have reported experiencing discrimination in the past year. Importantly, the report also recognizes that without increased data collection, discrimination tends to remain invisible and inadequately addressed.
This report was published on the same day Economic and Social CouncilA meeting of UN member states, other UN officials, UN partners and private sector representatives, began its annual three-day humanitarian affairs segment to discuss critical issues in this area. The opening session highlighted the need for everyone present to do their part to maintain the support, respect and protection of humanitarian aid.
The United Nations has previously reported on certain countries with serious security risks for human rights defenders, such as an OHCHR in April opinion is Mexico, point out extensive threats and significant obstacles to government response efforts.
