Click image below to watch video.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, human rights activists often face intimidation and threats of violence, a situation expected to worsen as November 2011 national elections approach.

“I often get calls in the evening or at night from human rights defenders who have been threatened and who are scared,” said Sophie Borel, field office director for The Carter Center in DR Congo. “Last month, we had to hide one person in a safe location as he was too scared to go back to his house.”

The problem caught the world’s attention last June, when prominent Congolese activist Floribert Chebeya was murdered.

In the aftermath of that event, The Carter Center partnered with local Congolese NGOs to create an alert system for human rights defenders. If someone feels threatened, they send a message by phone, text, or e-mail to four of the 12 partner organizations, including the Center, and the groups convene to decide next steps.

“We will go to the defender’s house as a group and stay with them until the threat dies down,” said Borel. “The idea is that if we are more than one or two people around them, the threat will not be taken further. Not only do we provide support in terms of physical security, but the system also boosts the defenders’ morale; they know that both local groups and the international community are engaged and looking out for them.”

Center staff meet regularly with local partners to exchange information, analyze threats to defenders and journalists, and decide how best to minimize dangers faced.

Through Sisters in Islam, Osman creates public awareness and advocates for reform to advance women’s rights in Islam.

“We are out there and we say that you do not have the right to say that we have to accept such discriminatory law,” said Osman. “You do not have the right to say that Muslim women have to keep silent, and not to voice out against such injustice.”

She attended the forum to share her experiences and learn from others working in places like DR Congo, Liberia, Tunisia, and the United States. The forum focused on key challenges that women’s rights activists face and effective ways to bridge the gaps between religious, traditional, and formal state institutions to advance the protection of these rights.

Hear more from Osman. Click image below to watch video.

The forum was attended by 72 human rights activists and scholars from 22 countries, who focused on key challenges that women’s rights activists face and effective ways to bridge the gaps between religious, traditional, and formal state institutions to advance the protection of these rights.

Webcast live at http://www.cartercenter.org/webcast.html, the forum soon will be archived at www.cartercenter.org for future viewing.

Listen to an excerpt of President Carter’s remarks. Click image below to watch video.

“The idea came out of a speech that President Carter gave to the Parliament of World Religions in 2009 where he challenged people of faith and religious leaders to step up and to stand for women’s rights,” said Karin Ryan, director of the Carter Center’s Human Rights Program. “We hope to create a dialogue among groups who believe that human dignity is a key precept.”

The formal conference on April 5-6 will be webcast live on the Carter Center’s website at www.cartercenter.org, and select portions will be live tweeted by Carter Center staff. Follow our twitter feed @CarterCenter and join in the discussion at #WomenandRights11.

Listen to Karin Ryan discuss the importance of the forum and its vital support to human rights defenders, who often risk their own well-being in their own countries.

Click image below to watch video.

All photos: The Carter Center/D. Hakes

After seven months imprisoned in North Korea, American teacher Aijalon Gomes was reunited with his family this afternoon at Boston Logan Airport. The Carter Center delegation’s plane landed at 2 p.m. today. President Carter embarked last Tuesday on a humanitarian mission to obtain Gomes’ release after he was arrested last January and subsequently sentenced to eight years of hard labor and fined about $600,000. After two days of talks, President Carter and other delegates from The Carter Center left Pyongyang Friday morning to accompany Mr. Gomes for the flight home.

Aijalon Gomes is embraced by his family upon arrival in Boston Aug. 27. Read the Gomes family statement >

Read Statement from The Carter Center on President Carter’s Mission to North Korea >>