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Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 131
- Paragraph text
- Youth and student defenders should be equipped with knowledge about human rights protection mechanisms, risk assessment skills and connections with national and international organizations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 132
- Paragraph text
- NGOs should try to be youth friendly and cater to youth's needs; they should try to look at ways in which youth are mobilized, what sort of change youth expect, etc.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 130
- Paragraph text
- States should facilitate and simplify notification/registration procedures for the participation of youth and students in public assemblies, including by removing prohibitions preventing youth, and in some cases children, from participating.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 129
- Paragraph text
- States are encouraged to invest more in youth development and facilitate participation of youth in public affairs, e.g. through simplification of registration procedures for NGOs or providing support to youth organizations in the registration process.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 127
- Paragraph text
- Youth and student defenders seem to be targeted for their involvement in peaceful demonstrations and protests or the publication of articles or blog entries. They also seem to be highly exposed to physical attacks.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 116
- Paragraph text
- In the Europe and Central Asia region, six communications were sent to Governments during the period, of which two were sent to the Russian Federation. An important distinction from other regions was that a majority of the victims were women (four out of six). One case involved a male victim and, in another, the sex of the victim(s) was not reported. Also in contrast to other regions, the majority of alleged violations in Europe and Central Asia consisted of raids on and searches of offices, confiscation of materials, surveillance of defenders' activities and their organizations' offices and lengthy interrogations, and even refusal to allow defenders to travel abroad. There were also alleged violations of youth and students' physical integrity, including physical assaults, excessive use of force during demonstrations and arbitrary detention. There was one case involving violations of psychological integrity and one case of criminalization of defenders' activities following peaceful protests. One case involved violations of a judicial nature, more specifically prison sentences. In five of the cases, State actors were the alleged perpetrators, notably police, while non-State actors were the alleged perpetrators in one case.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 109
- Paragraph text
- The lack of an enabling environment for meaningful youth participation also extends to civil society. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the lack of capacity of NGOs to address the human rights issues of young people or to effectively mobilize young people and include them in their organizations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
On the Declaration on human rights defenders 2011, para. 111c
- Paragraph text
- [States are encouraged to take the following measures to address the protection needs of the following groups of defenders:] Student activists: Take steps to create a conducive environment to allow children and young adults to associate and express views on matters affecting them as well as on broader human rights issues;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 101
- Paragraph text
- Between December 2006 and 31 May 2011, the Special Rapporteur sent 60 communications related to violations against youth and student defenders. In 34 of the cases reported, the victims were male. In 12 instances, the victims were female. Nine cases concerned victims of both sexes, while in six cases the sex of the victim(s) was not mentioned.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 128
- Paragraph text
- States should refrain from having their security personnel use excessive force during demonstrations. Law enforcement officials should be trained in international human rights standards and child/youth protection measures, particularly regarding crowd control during public assemblies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 102
- Paragraph text
- All 60 cases raised by the mandate holder during the period reported related to violations against youth and student defenders working on a very wide range of issues, including torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, impunity, freedom of religion, minority rights, students' rights, youth rights, education, women's rights and gender issues, trade policies and other economic issues, environmental and land issues, peacebuilding and democracy promotion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Violations reported included threats to physical integrity in the form of killings (the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Malaysia and Mexico); attempted killings (one women defender in Mexico); physical attacks (36 women defenders in Nepal, an entire community in Brazil, five youths in Honduras, Chile, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea); and ill-treatment in detention (Bangladesh).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- Despite recognition in international human rights law of the legitimacy of their work, youth and student defenders continue to face severe violations of their human rights as a result of that work. The mandate holder has been monitoring the situation of youth, particularly student, activists working to protect human rights, since the mandate's inception, with their situation and challenges having already been assessed in several reports from the mandate holder.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Between December 2006 and the first five months of 2011, the mandate holder sent nearly 1,500 communications to Governments, an average of 330 cases per year, including allegation letters and urgent appeals. Of these communications, about 25 per cent concerned journalists and media workers defending human rights; defenders working on land and environmental issues; and youth and student defenders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Good practices in the protection of human rights defenders 2016, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- Human rights should be an important component of primary and secondary curricula, and be part of "citizenship" training. Human rights "clubs" have been established in some secondary schools to provide a forum for young people to learn about human rights. Human rights education should also be part of the training of State officials, especially if their work contains human rights dimensions. Post-secondary institutions, including universities, play an important role in human rights education, including in the training of teachers, research and the dissemination of innovative approaches to defending human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- With regard to youth and student defenders, the Special Rapporteur is concerned about how youth is perceived in society. Often, their young age and alleged lack of maturity are used as grounds for not giving them a say in public affairs. The Special Rapporteur regrets that there is a trend in many countries of passing legislation that prohibits young people from participating in public assemblies. Other legislative moves pertain to the Internet, social media and instant messaging, which are increasingly subject to control by Governments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- Throughout her mandate, the Special Rapporteur has highlighted the need to pay particular attention to addressing the needs of human rights defenders who face extraordinary risks due to the work that they do and the contexts in which they operate. In this connection, the Special Rapporteur has focused on the situation of selected groups of human rights defenders who are at particular risk of violations, including judges and lawyers; journalists and media workers; trade unionists; youth and student defenders, those working on sexual orientation and gender identity; and defenders working on environment and land issues (A/HRC/19/55).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 108
- Paragraph text
- Information received by the mandate holder indicates that youth and students often work outside established structures, including established NGOs, to defend and promote human rights. Youth organizations and student movements are often informal structures with limited organizational capacity. Extensive registration processes for NGOs in several countries add to the isolation of youth organizations and may discourage them from registering as NGOs. This, in turn, limits the organizations' possibilities for obtaining funding and making connections, including with the United Nations human rights system. Youth and students generally have limited knowledge of the United Nations human rights system and regional human rights mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 113
- Paragraph text
- By contrast, in the Americas region, where eight communications were sent, the alleged perpetrators were for the most part not identified. In a limited number of cases, State actors were the alleged perpetrators and, in a few other cases, non-State actors. As in Asia, most of the cases referred to violations of physical integrity, including killings, physical attacks and arbitrary detention. One case referred to psychological integrity, where a youth human rights defender had received death threats. Most alleged violations in the Americas were connected to the defender's participation in demonstrations or conferences. Two of the communications were addressed to Chile and another two to Mexico. Three cases reported female victims, two cases concerned male victims, and one case related to victims of both sexes. In the African region, eight communications were sent during the period. Three of these communications were sent to the Government of Zimbabwe and two were sent to the Government of Sudan. In all eight cases, the alleged perpetrators were State actors. In four cases, the victims were male, while in three cases the victims were both female and male. There were no cases with only female victims. In one case, the sex of the victim(s) was not reported. The majority of the cases involved violations of physical integrity, including arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment, killings, enforced disappearances and disproportional use of force to break up demonstrations. Other violations in Africa were judicial in nature, involving broad and often vaguely defined criminal charges, fines and prison sentences. As in other regions, alleged violations often happened in the context of peaceful demonstrations, although a marked trend in Africa was violations by police when breaking up demonstrations, notably through the disproportional use of force. Participation in public youth forums and issuing of press statements were also actions that had led to the violations reported.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 110
- Paragraph text
- Over half of the communications sent (31) were addressed to Governments in Asia, among which 14 were sent to the Islamic Republic of Iran, five were sent to China, and three to the Philippines. Nineteen of the cases concerned men as victims, while five reported women as victims and five related to victims of both sexes. The sex of the victim(s) was not reported in two cases. Allegations of violations against youth and students in Asia were for the most part related to physical integrity, which was mentioned in 26 cases. Alleged violations included killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, physical attacks and forced labour. Eight cases were judicial in nature, including criminalization of the activities of human rights defenders, arrests, prison sentences and concerns about due process, including under anti-terrorism legislation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Men
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 111
- Paragraph text
- There were also two cases reported in which violations concerned psychological integrity. Youth and students allegedly targeted by such violations received threats, including death threats; were subject to harassment by police, security forces and non-State actors; and saw, in some cases, such actions target their family members. Two communications raised issues such as raids and searches of the offices of youth and student organizations, confiscation of computers, paper files and other materials from their offices, as well as surveillance of their homes and/or offices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 106
- Paragraph text
- Communications issued by the mandate holder indicate that violations were often preceded by students' and youth's organization of and participation in peaceful demonstrations, public appearances and speeches or the publication of articles or blog entries. General perception of youth in society, also conveyed by established media outlets, often points to their young age and lack of maturity as grounds for not giving them a say in public affairs. Youth and student movements are seen as troublemaking rather than serious actors that can fruitfully contribute to public debate.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- While age is not mentioned as a specific ground for discrimination in the international bill of human rights, the Human Rights Committee, in its general comment No. 18 (1989) on non-discrimination, specified that discrimination "should be understood to imply any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference … which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, exercise or enjoyment by all persons, on an equal footing, of all rights and freedoms" (para. 7). The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also recognizes that young people below 18 years of age should not be sentenced to death under any circumstance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 99
- Paragraph text
- When the Special Rapporteur set out her vision for the mandate in 2008 (A/63/288), defenders engaged in student protests were included as a priority. In the light of recent events, notably in the Middle East and North Africa, the Special Rapporteur has decided to take a broad approach to the assessment of youth, including students, working to defend human rights. The number of communications related to this group is relatively low compared to other groups of defenders discussed in this report, but the mandate holder has observed that they are at particular risk, which is likely to increase given recent events, unless specific attention is devoted to their situation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- In her report to the General Assembly in 2007 (A/62/225), the former Special Representative addressed the situation of student activists in the context of the right to freedom of assembly. She noted a trend of acts of repression and retaliation against student activists engaged in protests and expressed particular concern about the brutality of the violations against this group, which in many cases amounted to torture. The young age of the students adds to the severity of the violations suffered and leaves them particularly vulnerable. Noting the high educational value of student protests as a first experience of public participation and defence of human rights, the Special Representative argued that "ensuring a conducive environment for student protests is a social investment in addition to a legal obligation" (paras. 70 and 101 (b)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- This section focuses primarily on an analysis of the communications sent by the mandate holder during the period December 2006-May 2011 concerning the selected groups of defenders and their family members, that is, journalists and media workers; defenders working on land and environmental issues; and youth and student defenders. The analysis aims at identifying the nature of the activities carried out by the alleged victims, as well as the reported violations and perpetrators, with a view to identifying possible trends, including patterns of impunity that may emerge.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 107
- Paragraph text
- In this regard, the Special Rapporteur is concerned by recent trends in several countries towards passing legislation that prohibits young people, typically below 18 or 21 years of age, from participating in public assemblies. Further legislative moves pertain to the Internet, social media and instant messaging, which are increasingly subject to control by Governments. As these tools are extensively used by youth and student defenders, restrictions are likely to create particular obstacles to their human rights work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
Selected groups of defenders at risk: journalists and media workers, defenders working on land and environment issues; and youth and student defenders 2012, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- With reference to article 7 of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance", the Special Rapporteur finds the contributions of youth and student defenders of particular importance. The concept of new human rights ideas and principles must be viewed in relation to the local context of human rights. The history of human rights and particularly recent events show that youth and students have a key role to play in putting new human rights ideas and principles on the national and international agenda and advocating for increased respect for human rights without discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 13, 2020
Paragraph
28 shown of 28 entities