The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OBS) is a partnership created in 1997 between the Fédération Internationale des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH) and L’Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT). According to the OBS web site, the objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. OBS provides emergency protection to human rights defenders in the field (urgent interventions, international missions, material assistance), cooperates with national, regional and international intergovernmental protection mechanisms, and mobilises the international community and the media as protection agents for defenders. Moreover, every year, the Observatory publishes a unique global report highlighting the most serious obstacles and threats faced by human rights defenders.
According to the staff of the Observatory, many interventions have addressed the situation of environmental human rights defenders. The programme is based on the conviction that the strengthening of cooperation and solidarity in favour of human rights defenders and their organisations contribute to breaking their isolation and to reinforcing their protection and security.
See FIDH’s web site: http://www.fidh.org/en/human-rights-defenders.