On the 35th anniversary of the Peace Institute, the Human Rights Ombudswoman, Dr Simona Drenik Bavdek, highlighted its significant contribution to the protection of human rights and drew attention to the growing pressure on civil society and human rights defenders in Europe.

“As human rights defenders, we are often among the first to notice that democratic standards are slipping. We act as a kind of early warning system for the erosion of democratic society. That is why our independence and safety are a matter of the quality of democracy,” she said at the anniversary celebration held at the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum.

According to Dr Drenik Bavdek, over the past three and a half decades, the Peace Institute has made a significant contribution to research on human rights, discrimination, migration, equality, the media and democracy, as well as through its advocacy, legal assistance and efforts to draw attention to violations. She particularly highlighted its willingness to stand up for people whose voices were too faint to be heard by society.

As one of the most recognisable examples of such work, she cited its long-standing efforts on behalf of the ‘erased’, whose case represents one of the most serious chapters of human rights violations in independent Slovenia. The Peace Institute has investigated the consequences of the erasure, provided legal and institutional support, raised public awareness and persisted in demanding redress for these injustices.

“Human rights defenders are an integral part of the democratic infrastructure. We act as a corrective to social anomalies in the field of human rights,” emphasised the Ombudswoman.

On the occasion of the anniversary, she also drew attention to the conditions under which human rights defenders operate today. The findings of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) for 2026 show that the space for civil society in Europe continues to shrink. Organisations and individuals face verbal and physical attacks, stigmatisation, intimidation, harassment, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), restrictions on peaceful protests, and difficulties in accessing funding, information and decision-making processes. Slovenia is among the countries where national institutions have reported an increase in verbal attacks on civil society organisations and human rights defenders because of their work.

“Restricting civil society through smear campaigns, intimidation and the systematic narrowing of its scope for action is a threat to democracy. If dialogue with organisations is not based on arguments, but their legitimacy is instead called into question, the space for democracy is narrowed,” warned Dr Drenik Bavdek.

She emphasised that the Human Rights Ombudsman, as a national human rights institution, also bears responsibility for creating an environment in which human rights defenders can carry out their work freely and safely. A democratic society needs independent institutions, the media, the judiciary, and a pluralistic and independent civil society that monitors the actions of the authorities, investigates, raises concerns and demands answers – even, or especially, when its warnings are uncomfortable.

The Ombudswoman congratulated the Peace Institute on its 35th anniversary and commended its work, the knowledge it has generated and shared, and its contribution to ensuring that human rights in Slovenia are not merely enshrined in the Constitution, laws and international conventions, but remain at the centre of public attention and debate.

“Democracy does not need human rights defenders only when it is in trouble. It needs them above all when problems are only just beginning to emerge,” concluded the Ombudswoman.