A/HRC/43/51 45 situations of relevance, from all regions. The report also draws on the findings of an international consultation with defenders held in November 2019. Several international experts helped consolidate findings and recommendations. The Special Rapporteur would like to express his sincere gratitude to all defenders who contributed to this effort and made it possible. II. Contribution and profile of defenders A. Active on all fronts Few can now operate in Donbass. Among those on the contact lines who still do are women volunteers providing humanitarian support and helping displaced families and those who had their homes destroyed. (Defender, Ukraine) 5. Defenders in conflict and post-conflict settings are active on all fronts. Their fieldwork is of paramount importance in upholding human rights. In conflict-affected areas, they provide emergency relief or help secure access to civilians, including internally displaced persons, and support the development of self-reliance solutions. They risk their lives to maintain access to health, for example, or children’s right to education in areas sometimes deserted by public institutions and security forces. Under occupation and in disputed areas, they reach out to those affected, including victims of torture and detainees and families in need of material, medical, psychosocial or legal support. In post-conflict contexts, they support persons with disabilities, including those with war-related impairments. They assist those claiming back their houses, land or sea areas so they can channel their demands in strategic and peaceful ways. Through public petitions, demonstrations and strategic litigation, they also challenge impunity and represent victims of violations of international law before national, regional and international jurisdictions. 6. Defenders are also at the forefront in documenting, exposing and opposing civilian casualties and wider violations of international law resulting from the operations of armed groups, military and paramilitary forces, intelligence services and civilian authorities working in collusion with private corporations. Their fact-finding and public advocacy work keeps human rights, international humanitarian law and other relevant standards of international law on the agenda, while political considerations may downplay attention to these as matters of urgency. Their work is critical in unveiling the often wide spectrum of underlying violations driving or aggravated by conflict. As indispensable watchdogs, they challenge amnesty laws or the prospects thereof in immediate or longer term post-conflict contexts, as well as emergency or security-related legislation, when this is a source of undue restrictions on public freedoms. 7. Defenders bring opportunities for war-torn societies to move towards sustainable peace. Their voices help broker ceasefires and international mediation, secure inclusive peace negotiations and agreements, and support transitions with wider chances for the participation of all segments of society in transitional justice or key institutional reforms. They help build or rebuild responsive and accountable institutions. Their role is equally decisive in developing a broader culture based on the rule of law, freedom of expression and public deliberation. Their initiatives in civic education, post-conflict memory and social cohesion counter factional divides, identity politics and, ultimately, escalation or relapse into conflict and the recurrence of widespread violations of international law. 4 8. Where United Nations entities, alongside other organizations and diplomatic missions, are not in a position to secure access or have little field presence, defenders remain the eyes and ears of the international community. They are major partners of OHCHR, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and its ad hoc investigation mechanisms such as commissions of inquiry. They gather and help to corroborate information and direct resources and advocacy where most urgent. Their cooperation prevents entire areas becoming “black holes” and impunity traps. It allows for international 4 A/HRC/37/65, paras. 58–70 and 94–96. 3