The exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the context of elections 2013, para. 48
Paragraph- Paragraph text
- Governments in many countries are increasingly imposing restrictions on civil society's ability to engage in the establishment of transparent, accountable and fair democratic machinery and also from undertaking activities such as election monitoring and voter mobilization. Barriers include the prohibition for certain groups to register as associations; the prohibition from carrying out some activities where a restrictive list of authorized activities is not provided by the legal framework; the obligation to adopt negative labels; the denial of accreditations to associations to observe and monitor elections; or even the imposition of sanctions or threats of sanctions for engaging in activities related to the electoral process. In the Russian Federation, the implementation of the 2012 Introducing Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Regarding the Regulation of Activities of Non-commercial Organizations Performing the Function of Foreign Agents, the compliance of which with international standards is analysed in depth in the Special Rapporteur's second thematic report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/23/39), has led to audits and inspection campaigns against numerous civic organizations that have conducted "political activities" and have failed to register as a "foreign agent". One of them, Golos Association for the defence of the rights of voters, whose Internet website was hacked in the run-up to the parliamentary elections, was, in April 2013, the first organization to be penalized under the new law.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Other
- Reference
- SR Freedom of Assembly, Report to the UNGA (2013), A/68/299, para. 48.
- Paragraph number
- 48
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