SECTION B Explanatory Report “The participating States recognize the universal significance of human rights and fundamental freedoms (…)”. “They confirm the right of the individual to know and act upon his rights and duties in this field.” Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (Helsinki 1975) (Questions Relating to Security in Europe: 1. (a) Declaration on Principles Guiding Relations between Participating States – Principle VII). “(11) The participating States further affirm that, where violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms are alleged to have occurred, the effective remedies available include (…) the right of the individual to seek and receive assistance from others in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to assist others in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms”. Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE (Copenhagen 1990). “18. The participating States emphasize (…) the need for protection of human rights defenders and look forward to the completion and adoption, in the framework of the United Nations, of the draft declaration on the ‘Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms’.” Budapest Document: Towards a Genuine Partnership in a New Era (Summit of Heads of State or Government) (Budapest 1994) (Decisions: VIII. The Human Dimension). The right to defend human rights is a universally recognized right 1. The right to defend human rights, as set out in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders,8 is firmly based on and derives from fundamental human rights set forth in binding OSCE commitments, international human rights treaties and other instruments. 2. In the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, participating States committed to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to promote and encourage the effective exercise of civil, political, economic, social, cultural and other rights and 8  “Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms” (hereafter referred to as “UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders”), adopted unanimously by UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/53/144 on 9 December 1998. Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders 23