Ligue des droits humains

Description

La Ligue des droits humains (LDH) is a Belgian human rights organisation, founded in 1901. It describes itself as a necessary counter-power in a democracy. It holds public and private actors to account when they fail to respect human rights. Where necessary, it takes legal action against them.

The LDH intervenes in the media, organises training, and responds to numerous invitations to speak about human rights. It works through several channels: awareness-raising, training, spaces for sharing and mobilisation, publications, lobbying of public authorities, and media presence. It is regularly consulted by public authorities and seeks to persuade through its analyses. When unsuccessful, it brings legal challenges against norms or policies that infringe human rights, and more rarely takes individual cases to court to advance rights more broadly.

Its work is organised around eight thematic commissions, covering economic, social and cultural rights, migrants’ rights, childhood and youth, environment, justice and the rule of law, new technologies and privacy, prisons, and police conduct, including its Police Watch observatory on police violence.

The organisation runs a telephone helpline that directs callers to appropriate legal, social or administrative services. It also connects people to a wide network of partner organisations offering legal aid, support for foreign nationals, anti-discrimination help, social services and support for detainees.

The LDH is composed of a volunteer-elected board, local sections, and staff including legal advisers, trainers, and communications and fundraising staff. In 1979 a Dutch-speaking counterpart, the Liga voor Mensenrechten, was created. In 2022 the two organisations jointly established the Maison des droits humains in Brussels, which also houses the FIDH’s European office. It is based in Brussels.