Intervention tracker
The intervention tracker is part of our Lawyers at Risk programme.
Lawyers at Risk supports lawyers and human rights defenders who are being prevented from carrying out their work through:
- threats
- arrest and detention
- disciplinary measures
- violence and enforced disappearance
The map indicates the countries where we took public action in 2025. This does not necessarily reflect all the support we have provided or all incidents against lawyers worldwide in 2025.
What we do
We act to support lawyers at risk in various ways, including:
- raising awareness through public statements
- advocacy through oral and written statements, country and thematic reports, and amicus curiae briefs
- contributing to the development and implementation of international standards to strengthen the protective framework for lawyers globally
- conducting fact-finding missions and trial observations as a form of research and demonstration of international solidarity
- sending intervention letters to State authorities, as well as the United Nations (UN) and regional human rights mechanisms
See all our intervention letters
2025 key findings
In 2025 we took 53 actions relating to 21 countries.
The highest number of actions involved countries in:
- Europe and Central Asia (32%)
- Africa and the Middle East (19%)
- North Asia and the Pacific (19%)
Most of our actions raised concerns relating to:
- arbitrary arrest or detention (74%)
- harassment, threats, and violence (50%)
- unfair trial (47%)
- disciplinary measures such as wrongful disbarment (36%)
However, individuals at risk often face a range of interrelated human rights violations.
We also organised or participated in 11 events raising awareness of lawyers at risk issues, including roundtables, webinars and panels.
These events covered regions including Europe and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and South Asia and ASEAN.
Some also had a wider thematic focus, looking at:
- the denial of lawyer’s freedom of expression
- practical support for lawyers in exile, and
- the targeting of legal professionals working in climate change
Previous findings
We took 42 actions relating to 14 countries.
The highest number of actions involved countries in:
- Europe and Central Asia (50%)
- Africa and the Middle East (21%)
- Northeast Asia and the Pacific (14%)
Most of our actions were initiated by concerns relating to:
- arbitrary arrest or detention (68%)
- violation of fair trial guarantees (50%)
However, individuals at risk often face a range of interrelated human rights violations.
We took 40 actions relating to 17 countries.
The highest number of actions involved countries in:
- Northeast Asia and the Pacific (37%)
- Africa and the Middle East (18%)
- members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (18%)
Most of our actions were initiated by concerns relating to arbitrary arrest or detention (58%) followed by harassment, threats, and violence (27%), though individuals at risk often face a range of interrelated human rights violations.
- Africa and the Middle East (30%)
- North Asia and Pacific (30%)
- South Asia (15%)
- Americas (15%)
- arrest or detention (50%)
- harassment or threats (20%)
- threats to judicial independence (20%)
- assassination (5%)
- enforced disappearance (5%)
The most frequent type of human rights violation committed against lawyers and human rights defenders across the world has consistently been arbitrary arrest and detention, since the launch of our tracker in 2017.
In 2022, harassment and threats again followed arrest and detention as most frequent incidents (as in the three previous years).
Similarly to 2021, there was a noticeable increase in arrest and detention compared to 2020, but there was a slight decline in enforced disappearance and assassination.
In 2021, we added other activities to the intervention tracker to give a comprehensive overview of all actions taken and in line with the increase in substantial submissions. This work includes:
- joint oral statements at the UN Human Rights Council
- UPR reports
- UPR pre-session statements
We took 31 actions relating to 17 countries, 15 of which were letters.
Most actions regarded countries in:
- Africa and the Middle East (32%)
- North Asia (16%)
- other regions (each 13%)
The highest percentage of incidents concerned:
- arrest or detention (48%)
- harassment or threats (22%)
- threats to judicial independence (10%)
- assassination (10%)
- enforced disappearance (10%)
The most frequent type of human rights violation committed against lawyers and human rights defenders across the world has consistently been arbitrary arrest and detention, which has been the most frequent violation in our tracker every year since our launch in 2017.
In 2021, harassment and threats again followed arrest and detention as most frequent incidents (as in 2020 and 2019).
There was a noticeable increase in arrest and detention compared to 2020, as well as an increase in assassination and enforced disappearance (mostly relating to the Philippines and Myanmar).
We again included threats against judicial independence as a category, primarily noted regarding Venezuela and Turkey.
The most letters we sent in 2020 were addressed to countries in:
- Europe (54%)
- the Middle East and North Africa (21%)
- South Asia and ASEAN (13%)
The most common types of human rights violations addressed in the letters were:
- arrest or detention (38%)
- harassment or threats (29%)
- threats to the rule of law and judicial independence (21%)
The most frequent type of human rights violation committed against lawyers and human rights defenders across the world has consistently been arbitrary arrest and detention.
In 2020, we introduced the category of threats to the rule of law and judicial independence to reflect an increase in structural threats to the rule of law worldwide.
Compared to previous years, there was a significant increase in letters concerning the Europe region (especially Turkey and Poland).