Defending the Defenders in the Digital Age
Defending the Defenders in the Digital Age
Submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court – Public Version
By Dean Bordode
As digital technologies reshape our world, so too have they reshaped the tools of repression. Human rights defenders today face not just bullets or imprisonment, but blacklists, online disinformation campaigns, smear tactics, and psychological torture—all carried out or enabled in cyberspace.
This isn't speculative. It’s real, it’s rising, and it’s international.
In my public submission to the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor for its policy on cyber-enabled crimes, I highlight an urgent threat: the coordinated targeting of human rights advocates—journalists, whistleblowers, Indigenous leaders, LGBTQ+ activists, and others—through digital tools of surveillance, disinformation, and social erasure.
We are being silenced—one voice at a time.
Cyber-enabled attacks are rarely prosecuted. Yet they often leave victims as devastated as physical attacks. These tactics are frequently orchestrated by state actors, powerful corporate interests, or intelligence networks. In many cases, democratic governments either turn a blind eye or participate themselves.
If these abuses are not named, tracked, and prosecuted, a dangerous precedent is set—one in which those who challenge injustice are gradually, systematically erased. That’s not just a threat to individuals. That’s a threat to democracy, accountability, and international peace.
My Call to Action:
I urge the ICC to:
Recognize and categorize digital persecution of defenders—including cyber-surveillance, harassment, and smear campaigns—as enabling conditions or components of international crimes;
Develop global standards and protective frameworks in cooperation with civil society, tech experts, and whistleblower organizations;
Hold actors accountable who weaponize cyberspace to destroy lives and silence truth.
This submission honors not only those speaking out—but those who can no longer speak at all. The international legal system must evolve as fast as the tools of injustice. Because when defenders fall, so too does the integrity of our collective human rights.
We must defend the defenders. Before there’s no one left to defend us.
#DefendTheDefenders #StopTheSilencing #SpeakTruthToPower #HumanRightsUnderAttack #DigitalRightsAreHumanRights #ICCRomeStatute #AccountabilityNow #VoicesThatMatter #NoMoreSilence #GlobalSolidarity #JusticeForActivists #StandUpForJustice #ProtectRightsDefenders #RightsAreUniversal #RuleOfLaw
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