Lawyers in some countries are subjected to threats to themselves or their families, are physically attacked and even forcibly "disappeared" simply for doing their jobs. In Colombia alone, up to 25 lawyers are killed each year.

With 75 volunteer international observers Colombia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Mexico and Nepal, PBI provides unarmed protection for lawyers and other human rights defenders working on legal cases. PBI helps to create political space to enable defenders to carry out their work by combining physical accompaniment with international pressure to prevent human rights abuses.

"Our families, who live with a permanent anxiety that one day we may not return home, are less worried knowing that we are accompanied by PBI." Eduardo Carreño, José Alvear Lawyers Collective, Colombia

To strengthen international support, PBI in UK and the US is launching networks to strengthen support for lawyers at risk. PBI UK patron Sir Henry Brooke commented: “The launch of the Alliance marks an opportunity for lawyers in the UK, individually and through their firms and Chambers, to fulfill our commitment to the protection of human rights around the world and help our fellow professionals.”

The keynote speakers at the launch event in London on 10 November are the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP, Attorney General, and Colombia lawyer Alirio Uribe, from the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective. Link to PBI UK

On 29 October, PBI USA is launching a National Lawyers Committee for Human Rights with Guatemalan human rights lawyer Edgar Perez, members of the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective and Justicia y Paz, Colombia, and representatives of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Lawyers Association, Mexico. Link to PBI USA

Both initiatives have been endorsed by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, who said, “I believe that this network is a valuable resource to the global legal community.”