A/HRC/56/50 (d) The annual meeting of the Panel of Experts on Freedom of Assembly and Association of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, held in Warsaw in March 2024;. (e) A hybrid meeting with regional human rights mechanisms in April 2024 to discuss joint priorities and collaboration; (f) A global expert meeting, hosted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), held in Vienna in April 2024, to oversee the development of a handbook for law enforcement, which is a key component of the Model Protocol for Law Enforcement Officials to Promote and Protect Human Rights in the Context of Peaceful Protests. 4 5. On 15 September 2023, the Special Rapporteur published a joint declaration on the misuse of digital technologies, together with the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and Focal Point on Reprisals in Africa and Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the representative of Indonesia to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 5 III. Gains and achievements 6. The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association are universally protected under international and regional human rights laws, as well as by the constitutions of most States. The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 20) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (arts. 21 and 22). The Covenant guarantees the enjoyment of those rights for everyone (art. 2) and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination contains calls to States to guarantee the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law (art. 5). The rights of children to assemble and associate are also protected under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art.15). The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association of human rights defenders are also expressly protected under 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. 7. Those rights are also protected under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (arts. 10 and 11), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (art. 8), the American Convention on Human Rights (arts. 15 and 16) and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights) (art. 11). 8. Through the work of the mandate holder and other United Nations experts and mechanisms, regional human rights bodies and regional courts, and thanks to the dedicated monitoring, litigation and advocacy of civil society, the global normative framework and standards protecting those rights have been strengthened and expanded. Awareness and greater understanding of those rights have increased and, in some cases, there has been improvement in national legislation and judicial decisions in support of and aimed at the protection of those rights. 9. Furthermore, the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association have been recognized as essential pillars for democracy, for facilitating public participation and as enablers of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights. 4 5 GE.24-11191 See www.ohchr.org/en/documents/tools-and-resources/practical-toolkit-law-enforcement-officialspromote-and-protect-human. See www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/trafficking/statements/20230915-jd-foaadigital-technologies.pdf. 3