A/HRC/RES/38/12
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
16 July 2018
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Thirty-eighth session
18 June–6 July 2018
Agenda item 3
Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council
on 6 July 2018
38/12.
Civil society space: engagement with international and regional
organizations
The Human Rights Council,
Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
Guided also by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action, and recognizing their continued significance and
relevance in the context of their anniversaries, and guided further by the International
Covenants on Human Rights and all other relevant instruments,
Reaffirming the importance of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of
Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in particular in the context of its twentieth
anniversary,
Recalling its resolutions 27/31 of 26 September 2014 and 32/31 of 1 July 2016 on
civil society space, and 24/21 of 27 September 2013, on civil society space: creating and
maintaining, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment,
Recalling also all other Human Rights Council and General Assembly resolutions
relevant to creating and maintaining civil society space, inter alia, those addressing freedom
of opinion and expression; the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association;
protecting human rights defenders; equal participation in political and public affairs;
cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of
human rights; the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful
protests; and the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet,
Reminding States of their obligation to respect and fully protect the civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights of all individuals, inter alia, the rights to freedom of
expression and opinion and to assemble peacefully and associate freely, online as well as
offline, including for persons espousing minority or dissenting views or beliefs, and that
respect for all such rights, in relation to civil society, contributes to addressing and
resolving challenges and issues that are important to society, such as when addressing
financial and economic crises, responding to public health crises, responding to
humanitarian crises, including in the context of armed conflict, promoting the rule of law
and accountability, achieving transitional justice goals, protecting the environment,
realizing the right to development, empowering persons belonging to minorities and
GE.18-11660(E)