Michel Forst

Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin, then French President and Prime Minister respectively, intervened during the closing session, reaffirming France's commitment to the protection of human rights defenders.

He left in 2005, when he was appointed Secretary General of the French national human rights institution, the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l'homme.

[11] His main mission in this independent expert role was to identify and highlight the risks and threats faced by human rights defenders on the ground.

He undertook country visits and regularly reported to the Human Rights Council and to the United Nations General Assembly.

For example, in October 2015, he presented an allegation letter to the government of the United States concerning the criminal complaint filed against Edward Snowden, the revocation of his passport and the interference with his attempts to seek political asylum.

In October 2015, Forst launched the website protecting-defenders.org, in order to share information about human rights defenders and his actions as Special Rapporteur, and to facilitate individual communication.

He notably undertook academic visits to many countries (Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, DRC, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel and the OPT, Lebanon, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Russia, Spain, El Salvador and Venezuela, among others).

He also developed his presence on social media - with a Twitter and a Facebook account and he published user-friendly versions of his official reports to the United Nations.

[15] In an opinion column published in The Independent along with Susi Bascon from Peace Brigades International, he underscored the importance to support human rights defenders in a world where "freedom and democracy are on the defensive".

Forst's final substantial action in the role was a visit to Peru, and the presentation of a report on the situation for human rights defenders there.