A/HRC/RES/13/13
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
15 April 2010
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Thirteenth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council*
13/13
Protection of human rights defenders
The Human Rights Council,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 53/144 of 9 December 1998, by which the
Assembly adopted by consensus 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 annexed to that resolution, and reiterating the
importance of the Declaration and its promotion and implementation,
Recalling also the continued validity and application of all the provisions of the
above-mentioned Declaration,
Recalling further all previous resolutions on this subject, in particular General
Assembly resolution 64/163 of 18 December 2009 and Human Rights Council resolution
7/8 of 27 March 2008,
Stressing that the level of respect and support for human rights defenders and their
work is important to the overall enjoyment of human rights,
Gravely concerned by threats, harassment, violence, including gender-based
violence, and attacks faced by many human rights defenders, reflected, inter alia, in the
reports of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and other
human rights mechanisms,
Gravely concerned also that, in some instances, national security and counterterrorism legislation and other measures have been misused to target human rights
defenders or have hindered their work and endangered their safety in a manner contrary to
international law,
*
GE.10-12900
The resolutions and decisions of the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of the
Council on its thirteenth session (A/HRC/13/56), chap. I.