Lawyers challenging those responsible for human rights violations pay an extremely high price - becoming targets of intimidation and repression because of the nature of the cases they take on. They may have their work obstructed, be followed, watched, harassed, subjected to spurious prosecutions, killed or ‘forcibly disappeared’. Many are forced into exile in fear of their lives. In Colombia alone many lawyers are murdered each year, the vast majority with impunity.

Around one in three of the human rights defenders PBI works with are lawyers, and many more provide legal advice and support alongside other work.