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The implications of States’ surveillance of communications on the exercise of the human rights to privacy and to freedom of opinion and expression 2013, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Surveillance of human rights defenders in many countries has been well documented. On these occasions, human rights defenders and political activists report having their phone calls and e-mails monitored, and their movements tracked. Journalists are also particularly vulnerable to becoming targets of communications surveillance because of their reliance on online communication. In order to receive and pursue information from confidential sources, including whistleblowers, journalists must be able to rely on the privacy, security and anonymity of their communications. An environment where surveillance is widespread, and unlimited by due process or judicial oversight, cannot sustain the presumption of protection of sources. Even a narrow, non-transparent, undocumented, executive use of surveillance may have a chilling effect without careful and public documentation of its use, and known checks and balances to prevent its misuse.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Large-scale development project and human rights defenders 2013, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Rather than demonstrating opposition to development, such actions should be seen as legitimate attempts to defend the rights of those affected directly and indirectly by development projects and policies, as long as they are pursued through peaceful means. Resistance evokes a number of human rights issues, including with regard to the right to freely pursue one's economic, social and cultural development and the right not to be discriminated. Moreover, resistance can be viewed in connection with the rights to participate in the conduct of public affairs and to access information. It can also be framed as a legitimate effort to pursue the highest attainable standard of living and adequate housing and to defend one's privacy. The Special Rapporteur is of the opinion that human rights defenders and the communities whose rights they defend are free to oppose development projects through the exercise of their fundamental rights and that restrictions on those rights have to be applied in accordance with national legislation and the State's international human rights obligations. The Special Rapporteur provided observations on national legislation in her 2012 report to the General Assembly (A/67/292).
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Use of legislation to regulate activities of human rights defenders 2012, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- In accordance with international standards, prosecutors are prohibited from continuing proceedings when an impartial investigation demonstrates that the charge is unfounded. These standards are violated through the use of unreliable and uncorroborated evidence. In some cases, prosecutors demonstrate further prejudice toward a predetermined outcome by launching an investigation or filing charges in the absence of evidence. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern that preliminary investigations may be used to intimidate, silence or otherwise deter defenders from carrying out their legitimate activities to promote human rights. This contravenes international human rights standards relating to the role of prosecutors, notably articles 13 and 14 of the Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, which state that prosecutors should perform their duties in an impartial and non-discriminatory manner and that they are not to initiate or continue prosecution, or make every effort to stay proceedings, when an impartial investigation shows the charge to be unfounded.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Use of legislation to regulate activities of human rights defenders 2012, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- With regard to States practising a regime of authorization for public assemblies, the Special Rapporteur continues to receive reports that such authorizations are denied to human rights defenders intending to raise awareness of human rights or protest against human rights violations. In other cases, assemblies have been permitted to go ahead, but not in the places requested. The Special Rapporteur recognizes the need for States to be notified of assemblies to ensure the safety of participants and surroundings. She shares the position of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association that a regime of notification gives the authorities sufficient notice and that this is the international standard by which States should abide in order to respect the right to assemble peacefully (A/HRC/20/27, para. 28). Nonetheless, the Government should ensure that spontaneous assemblies are permitted to take place and that protesters are able to voice their concerns to their target audience. Referring authorized assemblies to geographic locations other than those designated by the organizers would constitute a limitation on freedom of peaceful assembly.
- 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
- Activists
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the context of elections 2013, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- In other cases, civic activists faced arbitrary detention and long prison terms after unfair trials. In Belarus, where multiple home and office raids, arrests, trials and detention of numerous human rights defenders active in civic associations took place as a result of their legitimate human rights activities during the presidential elections in December 2010, including the sentencing of the Chairperson of the Human Rights Centre "Viasna" to four and one-half years in detention. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, a prominent lawyer was sentenced in 2011 to 11 years of imprisonment, which was later reduced to a six-year prison term, and a 10-year ban on practising as a lawyer for "propaganda against the State", "collusion and gathering with the aim of acting against national security" and "membership of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre". The accusations brought against the human rights lawyer were allegedly based on interviews she had had with media in relation to her clients, who had been imprisoned after the June 2009 presidential election in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the context of elections 2013, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Since the inception of his mandate, the Special Rapporteur has received numerous allegations to the effect that, during electoral periods, political leaders and supporters, particularly from the opposition, face heightened risks. Prior to, during and after an election, those who voice or have voiced dissent are in many countries subject to, inter alia, harassment, intimidation, corruption attempts, reprisals, arbitrary arrests and imprisonment, solely on account of their political opinions or beliefs. In this respect, the Special Rapporteur is disturbed about the case of an opposition leader from Belarus who was subject, in 2011, to a harsh sentencing, after he participated in a rally protesting the outcome of the presidential elections on 19 December 2011. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, concern was expressed in relation to former presidential candidates who staged a rally in solidarity with protesters in Egypt, for which they had sought permission from the authorities, and who have been kept largely "incommunicado" in their homes since February 2011.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work in progress, challenges and the way forward 2017, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- While these figures allow some trends to be discerned, it is important to bear in mind that they do not reflect cases not covered by the mandate. Many defenders and their families are unaware that they can contact the Special Rapporteur and, given the urgency of the situations concerned, they sometimes prefer to turn to mechanisms or organizations that provide very short-term solutions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work in progress, challenges and the way forward 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- If he is given the opportunity to continue his work under a second mandate, the Special Rapporteur intends to pursue and develop some joint activities, including the establishment of a database of national legislation on freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and the protection of defenders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Good practices in the protection of human rights defenders 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Defenders in prisons and under house arrest are often more vulnerable to rights violations, and visiting them can have a protective effect. In particular, the rights and security of defenders in long-term imprisonment should be monitored, and relevant State authorities should be held accountable for their protection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Good practices in the protection of human rights defenders 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In some cases, however, there is insufficient information on and analysis of the risks that defenders face and the way protection operates. Research partnerships between scholars, practitioners and defenders can therefore contribute to identifying and filling critical gaps in knowledge on the security and protection of defenders, and to facilitating critical reflection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 118
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur intends to engage in specific work in the area of reprisals, on the basis that any person who cooperates with the United Nations or international organizations, or who reports abuse or human rights violations, may be considered a defender, in view of his or her activities to protect rights and freedoms.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 103
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is conscious of his responsibility to speak out loud and clear in support of the rights of human rights defenders against those who challenge them and to remind everyone that those who promote and defend human rights are ipso facto defenders, even if they are not members of an organization.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- To a greater or lesser degree, all the stakeholders have a special responsibility to follow up communications and cases, but particularly governments, because they are responsible for preventing human rights violations, threats and attacks against human rights defenders and for taking action against impunity by prosecuting those responsible for human rights abuses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- Undue restrictions on freedom of expression or opinion are often imposed by States to prevent human rights defenders expressing themselves or engaging in activities to protect and promote fundamental rights and freedoms. That is one of the topics covered in the reports of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur intends to consider extending the protection mandate entrusted to him as widely as possible and to go to great lengths in exercising his mandate, where necessary, in order to keep the Council and the General Assembly informed. Like his predecessors, he will seek to develop new and even more sophisticated methods to help protect the rights of human rights defenders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Human rights defenders are often exposed to the same threats and attacks, but some are more exposed or more threatened, or are subjected to particular attacks, in the form of smear campaigns, intimidation, stigmatization, threats to their families, defamation, accusations, ridicule or red tape.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Families
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Workplan and Future Activities of the Special Rapporteur 2015, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- At these consultations, a systematic presentation is made of the mandate, its objectives, its working methods, the options open to human rights defenders and the possibilities provided by the mandate to protect them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Global trends in risks and threats facing human rights defenders 2015, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Most defenders stressed the lack of visibility and accessibility of the Special Rapporteur; only a minority had been contact with the mandate holder. The defenders insisted on the need to strengthen their ties with the Special Rapporteur, especially on the ground. In that connection, they expressed their appreciation of the fact that they had been consulted by the Special Rapporteur during the regional meetings he had attended in order to enable defenders unable to travel to meet him. A very large number of defenders expressed their wish to see the Special Rapporteur visit their country, either on official mission or in response to invitations extended by universities, regional networks or embassies. The defenders also brought up the lack of publicity and dissemination of the Declaration of 1998 on human rights defenders (General Assembly resolution 53/144, annex), the failure to translate the Declaration into all languages so as to make it available to all, and the limits imposed on certain working methods of the mandate holder. By way of example, many defenders mentioned the abstruse nature of certain procedures, especially the communications system, which mattered because its purpose is to enable individual cases of human rights violations against defenders to be submitted to the States concerned.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Global trends in risks and threats facing human rights defenders 2015, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- The groups of defenders singled out in this report are naturally not the only groups at risk. Others have been identified, but the Special Rapporteur has chosen to highlight those mentioned in the majority of the consultations. Broadly speaking, several findings stand out and concern all these groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Global trends in risks and threats facing human rights defenders 2015, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The defenders repeatedly stressed that the various threats and attacks they endure were made possible by an institutional context in which the basic tenets of the rule of law and democratic principles were either not - or less and less - respected. Time and again the defenders highlighted the impunity and corruption prevailing in numerous countries characterized by the absence of an independent judiciary.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Global trends in risks and threats facing human rights defenders 2015, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur was struck by the sophistication of the new techniques and forms of repression, especially via the media, mentioned by the defenders interviewed. According to accounts from defenders in several dozen countries, defamation campaigns in the written press or on the radio are routinely conducted by governments or radical groups in numerous countries with a view to stigmatizing defenders.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Global trends in risks and threats facing human rights defenders 2015, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Given these trends, certain factors afford sum up the vulnerability of so many defenders: ignorance of their role; attacks on individual defenders; the implementation of new intimidation and repressive measures, especially the use of laws to circumscribe and delegitimize the work of defenders; and, finally, the numerous institutional weaknesses of certain States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- The exercise of public freedoms is essential in any democratic society but even more so when it comes to claiming and defending rights. This is why the Special Rapporteur has repeatedly underlined the importance of defenders being able to exercise their rights to freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly without undue restrictions in law or practice.
- 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
- Activists
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- The mandate has repeatedly addressed the great risks and challenges that defenders face due to their work. The Special Rapporteur regrets to say that defending rights and speaking up against violations and abuses still remains a dangerous activity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 114
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is concerned that the perspective of human rights defenders seems to be lacking throughout the UPR process. For example, it is still exceptional for national reports to have detailed references to, or separate sections on, human rights defenders. Stakeholders should include information on the situation of defenders in their submissions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- In this context, the Special Rapporteur is concerned about the increased criminalization of social protest often in connection with the peaceful expression of opposition to public or private development projects. Authorities should grant defenders, especially journalists and media workers, access to public assemblies to especially facilitate independent coverage and human rights monitoring.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is very pleased to note that, in Council resolution 22/6, States are urged to create a safe and enabling environment where human rights defenders can operate free from hindrance and insecurity. States are also urged therein to publicly acknowledge the legitimate role of human rights defenders and the importance of their work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Unfortunately, in many instances, weaknesses in the judicial system and flaws in the legal framework have deprived defenders of adequate tools for seeking and obtaining justice. Therefore, strengthening the judiciary and making sure that it can operate independently and effectively should be a priority for States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Elements of a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders 2014, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has observed a disturbing trend towards the criminalization of activities carried out by unregistered groups. She believes that denial of registration is an extreme measure curtailing the right to freedom of association; especially where activities carried out by unregistered organizations carry criminal sanctions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision and Working Methods of the Mandate 2014, para. 104
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur intends that one of the main lines of his work will be to combat the culture of impunity, and he plans to research this matter and show in one of his forthcoming reports that it is partially because of the de facto impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of reprisals against defenders that the phenomenon grows and expands.
- 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
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph