On 25th of March, 2011, Front Line launched its second Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders, which highlights global trends and developments in the situation of human rights defenders in 2010 and analyses the situation in each region of the world. The Report highlights the fact that despite some positive developments and the wave of uprising sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa at year end, overall 2010 was not a good year for human rights defenders who continued to face harassment and repression in many countries.

The Report is based on Front Line's work in support of human rights defenders at risk. In 2010, Front Line issued 253 urgent appeals on 369 human rights defenders at risk in 65 countries; it provided 180 security grants and trained more than 500 human rights defenders. Overall, more than 1100 HRDs benefited from Front Line's protection support in 2010.

As stated in the report, in case of Armenia, there was a positive change, i.e. it abandoned a proposed legislative amendment which was under consideration in late 2009 and which  would have introduced strict government control over NGOs. Despite this positive development, however, the environment remains  restrictive: freedom of press remains limited, human rights activists and independent journalists continue to be threatened and attacked.

Report

Source: www.frontlinedefenders.org