This issue of the Review by the Law and Society Trust examines the grave dangers faced by human rights defenders in Sri Lanka by taking it as a focus point, and discussing their protection and promotion in an environment of extreme conflict. The first paper, by B. Skanthakumar discusses the deterioration in the working environment of human rights defenders, and the pervasive killings of activists, journalists, lawyers and religious workers, and the categorisation of such people as the ‘enemy within’. The European Union Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and recommendations for the gender-specific implementation of these guidelines have been included, along with a report by Margaret Sekaggya on the situation faced by these human rights defenders.