In 2009, the very first Day of the Endangered Lawyer was organized.
The purpose of the Day of the Endangered Lawyer is to call attention to threatened human rights lawyers on the day January 24th with a special focus on one designated country.
Ever since lawyers Symone Gaasbeek-Wielinga and Hans Gaasbeek went on a fact-finding mission to the Philippines in 1990, they have been active on behalf of their threatened colleagues all over the world.
Hans and Symone founded the Foundation Day of the Endangered Lawyer to strengthen their work. In the course of several years, the organization of the Day was successfully transferred to an international Coalition of lawyer organizations.
The course of action of the Day is to present, in as many countries as possible all over the world, a joint petition to ambassadors, consulates and other authorities of the focal countries, based on a thorough report. The report and the petition are made public.
The petition will draw attention to the problematic situation of threatened lawyers in the chosen focus country and also aims to establish a dialogue with the representatives of the country’s government. Furthermore, in the participating countries forum discussions are organized with local fellow lawyers and publications are made about the situation of the lawyers in the focal country.
The Foundation Day of the Endangered Lawyer also cares for families of threatened or murdered lawyers. And the Foundation supports threatened colleagues who have fled to the Netherlands and Europe.
Action: Protest at Belarussian Embassy – 24 January 2025-15th edition
In 2025 the Day of the Endangered Lawyer spotlighted the persecution of lawyers in Belarus, who face systematic harassment and interferences with their professional activities . In 35 countries lawyer organizations protested on the 24th of January in front of Embassies or organized other manifestations.
In the Netherlands the Foundation organized a protest at the Belarussian Embassy in the Hague for the Day of the Endangered Lawyer. About 25 Lawyers (in robe) and human rights activists joined the protest .The Foundation had asked the Ambassador for a meeting, which was rather brutally denied: only when the protest would be skipped the Ambassador was willing to receive us. During the protest the petition with the report was posted in the mailbox of the Embassy.
The Dutch organization Lawyers for Lawyers organized together with other bar organizations from England and VS an online event and organized a meeting between two Belarussian lawyers in exile and young bar-members. The Foundation also spoke on this meeting.
For more information please click here ( 24th of januari- Belarus)