Do you know what Conectas does?

The past year has been a busy one for human rights advocates. The topic has been in vogue both in Brazil and internationally. “When they hear about the subject, many people are curious to learn more about what an organization does that fights every day to defend these rights and to make the country and the world a fairer place,” said Lucia Nader, executive director of Conectas.

In Brazil, the protests of June 2013 and in the months leading up to the World Cup raised demands for more rights and exposed serious cases of police violence. In addition to its work over the course of more than a decade with prisons and the Brazilian justice system, Conectas denounced the police abuse committed during the protests, using legal remedies, debates, appeals and formal complaints both in Brazil and abroad. “This year, the eyes of Brazilians were exposed to historic – and often not always visible – abuses committed by agents of the State. We do not keep quiet about these abuses,” said Rafael Custódio, coordinator of the organization’s Justice Program.

Also on the national level, the engagement of Conectas and its partners, which started years earlier, contributed to the creation of the National System to Combat and Prevent Torture. The legal ban on abusive body searches, which subject the relatives of prisoners to inhumane inspections, is now closer after coordinated actions and a public campaign to influence members of Congress. “The vast majority of our actions are conducted in partnership with other organizations. Collaboration is one of our institutional values and we believe that we will have more of an impact working together,” said Juana Kweitel, program director at Conectas.

We also work on issues of international concern. Ongoing pressure and initiatives to influence public policy exposed the violations and increased the calls for the authorities to respect the rights of Haitian immigrants coming to Brazil. We monitored and worked closely on several episodes of this crisis, such as the closure of the shelter in Brasiléia, in the state of Acre, which did not provide dignified living conditions, and the opening of a shelter in São Paulo to receive the immigrants who came to the city.

Our work with immigrants is part of a broader struggle for Brazilian foreign policy to be considered a public policy. “In a democracy, we need to know and participate in the decisions taken by Brazil that affect the lives of millions of people outside our borders – this is what we are working towards,” said Camila Asano, coordinator of Foreign Policy at Conectas. Some public participation initiatives have been fundamental for this purpose, namely the campaign Minister#IWantToKnow – to show the Minister of Foreign Relations that he acts on behalf of the Brazilian people – and the confirmation hearing of the Brazilian ambassador in Geneva.

Over the course of the year, Conectas also stepped up its work with partners from the Global South and contributed to the dialogue and sharing of experiences on the challenges of defending human rights around the world. This was done, for example, by the more than 100 participants from 40 countries who attended the 13th International Human Rights Colloquium and through the publication of issues 17, 18 and 19 of SUR Journal. Just a few days ago, we also launched the 10 year commemorative issue of SUR, with articles penned by more than 50 internationally renowned human rights advocates and academics. “The sharing of experiences and collaborative work between human rights defenders from Africa, Asia and Latin America is our DNA: Conectas was born to connect.” explained Ana Luiza Cernov of the organization’s South-South Program.

Finally, on the subject of business and human rights, Conectas has been pressing for more transparency from institutions that finance development, by conducting a study on the human rights standards that could be implemented by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) for its loans and by monitoring the topic within the UN.

These and other initiatives by Conectas are presented on an interactive microsite launched this week that seeks to raise the transparency and provide more information on the activities that we develop and the impact that we have. The microsite also presents information on the organization’s communication and sustainability strategies. “It was a year of challenges and successes. In this first stage, the site contains our activities and results from January 2013 to June 2014,” explained Muriel Asseraf, the organization’s institutional development coordinator.

“The commitment of Conectas to human rights occurs every day, tirelessly. At the end of the year, we all review our work. For us, it was a year of challenges and successes. We hope to continue increasing the knowledge and support of Brazilian society for our causes,” concluded Asseraf.