the effective exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms”,23 OSCE commitments contain an obligation for states to “respect the right of their citizens to contribute actively, individually or in association with others, to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”.24 This closely mirrors the terminology of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. This commitment “to ensure effectively the rights of the individual to know and act upon human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to contribute actively, individually or in association with others, to their promotion and protection”25 was reaffirmed later, with participating States committing to “respect the right of everyone, individually or in association with others, to seek, receive and impart freely views and information on human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the rights to disseminate and publish such views and information”.26 In addition, participating States committed to “respect the rights of everyone, individually or in association with others, to study and discuss the observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms and to develop and discuss ideas for improved protection of human rights and better means for ensuring compliance with international human rights standards”27 and to “ensure that individuals are permitted to exercise the right to association, including the right to form, join and participate effectively in nongovernmental organizations which seek the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including trade unions and human rights monitoring groups”.28 They also committed to “allow members of such groups and organizations to have unhindered access to and communication with similar bodies within and outside their countries and with international organizations, to engage in exchanges, contacts and co-operation with such groups and organizations and to solicit, receive and utilize for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms voluntary financial contributions from national and international sources as provided for by law”.29 This non-exhaustive list shows that OSCE commitments on human rights defenders are firm and were indeed made well ahead of the adoption of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. It should be noted that, as with many terms used in the commitments, there is no specific definition of the term human rights defender. As mentioned above, commitments on defenders, however, closely mirror the subsequently adopted UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. It therefore seems advisable to recall the reference used in the subsequently unanimously adopted UN declaration for an understanding of human rights defenders as those “individually and in association with others, exercising the right to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”.30 It is this understanding that has guided ODIHR in the drafting of this report. 23 “Concluding Document of the Vienna Meeting 1986 of Representatives of the Participating States of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, Held on the Basis of the Provisions of the Final Act Relating to the Follow-up to the Conference”, CSCE, Vienna, 1989, para. 12. 24 Ibid., para. 13.5. 25 “Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE”, CSCE, Copenhagen, 1990, para. 10. 26 Ibid., para. 10.1. 27 Ibid., para. 10.2. 28 Ibid., para. 10.3. 29 Ibid., para. 10.4. 30 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, note 10. 10