A/HRC/28/61 D. Obligation to protect the rights of expression and association 50. The rights of freedom of expression and association are of special importance for public participation in environmental decision-making. States have obligations not only to refrain from violating the rights of free expression and association directly, but also to protect the life, liberty and security of individuals exercising those rights, including when they are exercising their rights in connection with environmental concerns (A/HRC/25/53, para. 40). 51. States need to do more to protect environmental human rights defenders from harassment, interference and even death. In 2014, Global Witness reported that between the beginning of 2002 and the end of 2013, 908 people in 35 countries were killed because of their work defending environmental and land rights. 5 Even worse, the threats appear to be increasing; Global Witness reported that three times as many defenders were killed in 2012 as in 2002. 52. There is an urgent need for good practices in the protection of environmental human rights defenders. A number of international institutions and civil society organizations (but not, unfortunately, States) have provided examples of such practices. 53. At the regional level, a good practice has been the clarification of legal obligations and the issuance of precautionary measures. In its judgment of 3 April 2009 in Kawas Fernández v. Honduras, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held, inter alia, that a State’s failure to protect the life of an environmental human rights defender and to adequately investigate her death violated her rights to life and to freedom of association. The Court required that the State compensate her relatives and take other steps to publicize the work of environmental defenders. In addition, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights often issues precautionary measures to protect environmental defenders. 54. Notable good practices adopted by civil society organizations include the following:  The Fédération Internationale des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH) and L’Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT) have created an Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, which provides emergency protection to human rights defenders in the field (including urgent interventions, international missions and material assistance), cooperates with national and international protection mechanisms, and mobilizes the international community and the media to protect defenders.  FORUM-ASIA provides urgent assistance and protection to human rights defenders at risk, including by providing relocation support, medical assistance and legal aid.  Protection International has developed training manuals for human rights defenders and disseminated the information to hundreds of defenders through training sessions.  The Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), a network of 300 public interest advocates from 70 countries, provides legal and scientific support to grassroots environmental lawyers working in their home countries.  Front Line Defenders issues identification cards to human rights defenders so that they have an easy-to-use tool to show that they are internationally recognized. 5 Global Witness, Deadly Environment: The Dramatic Rise in Killings of Environmental and Land Defenders, April 2014, available at http://www.globalwitness.org/deadlyenvironment/. 11