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A human rights-based approach to the administration of criminal justice in cases of trafficking in persons 2012, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes the important role that non-governmental organizations can play in training officials. For example, in Australia, they are invited to give presentations to investigators. In Nicaragua, Casa Allianza Nicaragua has organized workshops for both journalists and police to raise awareness about trafficking and to stress the need to protect victims and to improve investigations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Ability of associations to access financial resources as a vital part of the right to freedom of association & Ability to hold peaceful assemblies as an integral component of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly 2013, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In addition to the fact that justification on the grounds of State sovereignty violates international norms and standards related to freedom of association, the Special Rapporteur is extremely concerned about increased denigration and unfounded accusations against individuals and organizations receiving foreign funding. Special procedures mechanisms have expressed their particular dismay about cases of vicious verbal attacks, intimidation, property damage, physical assaults and even criminalization against activists accused of having ties to a foreign entity, on the sole ground that they had allegedly received foreign funding (e.g. Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan). Allowing or inciting public discredit on individuals' or organizations' honour and reputation or inciting nationalist and xenophobic sentiment is likely to cause associations to engage in self-censorship and, more gravely, to incite hatred and fuel further human rights violations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Ability of associations to access financial resources as a vital part of the right to freedom of association & Ability to hold peaceful assemblies as an integral component of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly 2013, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- In this connection, the IACHR stressed that "the competent institutions of the State have a duty to design operating plans and procedures that will facilitate the exercise of the right of assembly,.[including] rerouting pedestrian and vehicular traffic in a certain area". An assembly causes only a temporary obstruction to traffic, that is, a temporary interference with the rights and activities of others. The Special Rapporteur finds it troubling that in some States, street protests are forbidden under domestic legislation (Malaysia); it is prohibited for street marches to impede the movement of traffic and pedestrians (Belarus); mass gatherings are prohibited and subject to a heavy fine as they may, inter alia, disrupt traffic and transportation (Russian Federation); application to hold a peaceful assembly to celebrate International Peace Day was rejected by the authorities, allegedly because it would have, inter alia, disrupted traffic (Myanmar); women human rights defenders have repeatedly been arrested and detained for disrupting traffic during peaceful street marches (Zimbabwe).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women: Preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, including indigenous women and girls 2016, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- Continues to express particular concern at the systemic and structural discrimination and violence faced by women human rights defenders of all ages, including indigenous women and girl human rights defenders, and calls upon States to exercise due diligence in preventing violations and abuses against all human rights defenders, including through practical steps, to prevent threats, harassment and violence, and in combating impunity by ensuring that those responsible for violations and abuses, including gender-based violence and threats, committed by State or non-State actors, including online, are promptly brought to justice through impartial investigations;
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women: violence against women as a barrier to women’s political and economic empowerment (2014), para. 33
- Paragraph text
- (c) Condemning acts of violence against women involved in political processes and public debate, including women parliamentarians, political candidates and human rights defenders, by, inter alia, adopting legal and practical measures to prevent and punish such acts;
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
Paragraph
Accelerating efforts to eliminate violence against women: engaging men and boys in preventing and responding to violence against all women and girls (2017), para. 29
- Paragraph text
- 8. Continues to express particular concern at the systemic and structural discrimination and violence faced by women human rights defenders of all ages, and calls upon States to fulfil their obligations to prevent violations and abuses against all human rights defenders, including through practical steps to prevent threats, harassment and violence, and to combat impunity by ensuring that those responsible for violations or abuses, including all types of gender-based violence and threats, committed by State or non-State actors, are promptly brought to justice through impartial investigations;
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
Paragraph
Accelerating efforts to eliminate violence against women: engaging men and boys in preventing and responding to violence against all women and girls 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Continues to express particular concern at the systemic and structural discrimination and violence faced by women human rights defenders of all ages, and calls upon States to fulfil their obligations to prevent violations and abuses against all human rights defenders, including through practical steps to prevent threats, harassment and violence, and to combat impunity by ensuring that those responsible for violations or abuses, including all types of gender-based violence and threats, committed by State or non-State actors, are promptly brought to justice through impartial investigations;
- Body
- United Nations Human Rights Council
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Article 19: Freedoms of opinion and expression 2011, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Extreme care must be taken by States parties to ensure that treason laws and similar provisions relating to national security, whether described as official secrets or sedition laws or otherwise, are crafted and applied in a manner that conforms to the strict requirements of paragraph 3. It is not compatible with paragraph 3, for instance, to invoke such laws to suppress or withhold from the public information of legitimate public interest that does not harm national security or to prosecute journalists, researchers, environmental activists, human rights defenders, or others, for having disseminated such information. Nor is it generally appropriate to include in the remit of such laws such categories of information as those relating to the commercial sector, banking and scientific progress. The Committee has found in one case that a restriction on the issuing of a statement in support of a labour dispute, including for the convening of a national strike, was not permissible on the grounds of national security.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Article 19: Freedoms of opinion and expression 2011, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- It is normally incompatible with paragraph 3 to restrict the freedom of journalists and others who seek to exercise their freedom of expression (such as persons who wish to travel to human rights-related meetings) to travel outside the State party, to restrict the entry into the State party of foreign journalists to those from specified countries or to restrict freedom of movement of journalists and human rights investigators within the State party (including to conflict-affected locations, the sites of natural disasters and locations where there are allegations of human rights abuses). States parties should recognize and respect that element of the right of freedom of expression that embraces the limited journalistic privilege not to disclose information sources.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2010), para. 19
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- 5. Strongly condemns the attacks and other acts of violence perpetrated by terrorist groups, especially Al-Shabab, against the Transitional Federal Government, the Somali people and the African Union Mission in Somalia, and also condemns the ongoing takeover by force of several private media houses, especially in Mogadishu, by Al-Shabab and its affiliates;
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2012), para. 14
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- 1. Strongly condemns the grave and systematic human rights abuses and violations perpetrated against the civilian population, including women, children, journalists and human rights defenders, in particular by Al-Shabaab and its affiliates, and calls for their immediate cessation;
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Children
- Women
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2012), para. 15
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- 2. Also strongly condemns all attacks against civilians, including the heinous terrorist attack targeting the new President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and the visiting Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kenya, Sam Ongeri, and his delegation on 12 September 2012, for which responsibility was claimed by Al-Shabaab;
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2012), para. 16
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- 3. Further strongly condemns all attacks on journalists, including the deadly terror attack on 20 September and the assassination on 21 September 2012 of a prominent journalist in Mogadishu, calls upon the Government of the Federal Republic of Somalia to protect the safety of the journalist, calls on all States to provide necessary technical assistance to the Government, subnational authorities, the national union of Somali journalists and individual journalist in this regard, and urges State and non-State actors to refrain from intentional violence against and harassment of journalists and to respect freedom of expression; ;
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2012), para. 19
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- 2. Strongly condemns the grave and systematic human rights abuses perpetrated against the civilian population, including women, children, journalists and human rights defenders, in particular by Al-Shabaab and its affiliates, and calls for their immediate cessation;
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Children
- Women
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2012), para. 20
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- 3. Expresses deep concern at the continuing attacks against journalists in Somalia, and urges all parties to refrain from intentional violence against and harassment of journalists and to respect freedom of expression;
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2016), para. 22
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- 6. Expresses concern at the attacks against and harassment of human rights defenders, including journalists, in Somalia, and urges the authorities to continue efforts to prohibit, prevent and protect against all kidnapping, killings, attacks, acts of intimidation and harassment of journalists, in order to promote respect for the freedom of expression and opinion and to end the culture of impunity, holding accountable those who commit any such related crimes;
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2016), para. 36
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- (f) To initiate timely, effective, impartial and transparent investigations into killings of journalists and to prosecute all those responsible for unlawful acts, in a manner in line with provisions in the media law and in a manner that is equally consistent with other applicable domestic and international legal obligations, to create security and space for a free press to operate, and to take measures to protect and support, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment in which civil society and human rights defenders can operate free from hindrance and insecurity, in particular in view of the forthcoming election process;
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2017), para. 23
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- 6. Also expresses concern at the attacks against and harassment of human rights defenders and the media, including journalists, in Somalia, and emphasizes the need to promote respect for freedom of expression and opinion and to end impunity, holding accountable those who commit any such related crimes;
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2017), para. 34
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- (i) To implement the media protection law to protect and uphold freedom of expression and a free media and to create a safe and enabling environment in which journalists and human rights defenders can operate free from hindrance and insecurity, to continue efforts to prohibit, prevent and protect against all kidnapping, killings, attacks, acts of intimidation against and harassment of journalists, to initiate timely, effective, impartial and transparent investigations into killings of journalists, and to prosecute all those responsible for unlawful acts in a manner that is in line with provisions in the media protection law and is consistent with other applicable domestic and international legal obligations;
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2018), para. 26
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- 7. Also expresses concern at the attacks against and harassment of human rights defenders and the media in Somalia, including journalists, especially in the form of arbitrary arrest or prolonged detention, and emphasizes the need to promote respect for freedom of expression and opinion and to end impunity, holding accountable those who commit any such related crimes;
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2018), para. 38
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- (j) To implement fully the media protection law, to protect and uphold freedom of expression and a free media, to create a safe and enabling environment in which journalists and human rights defenders can operate free from hindrance and insecurity, to continue efforts to prohibit, prevent and protect against all kidnappings, killings, attacks, acts of intimidation and harassment of journalists, to initiate timely, effective, impartial and transparent investigations into the killings of journalists, and to prosecute all those responsible for unlawful acts in a manner that is in accordance with the provisions in the media protection law and is consistent with other applicable national and international legal obligations;
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2019), para. 22
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- (i) The arrest of soldiers over the past year for allegedly torturing and threatening journalists and the arrest of soldiers accused of sexual exploitation and abuse, which sends a strong message from the Federal Government for accountability, and is hopeful that these actions foster further efforts to combat impunity;
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2019), para. 27
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- 5. Also expresses concern at the attacks against and harassment of human rights defenders and the media in Somalia, including journalists, especially in the form of harassment, arbitrary arrest or prolonged detention, and emphasizes the need to promote respect for freedom of expression and opinion and to end impunity, holding accountable those who commit any such related crimes;
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights (2019), para. 45
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- (n) To implement fully the media protection law, to protect and uphold freedom of expression and a free media, to create a safe and enabling environment in which journalists and human rights defenders can operate free from hindrance and insecurity, to continue ongoing efforts to prohibit, prevent and protect against all kidnappings, killings, attacks, acts of intimidation and harassment of journalists, to initiate timely, effective, impartial and transparent investigations into the killings of journalists, and to prosecute all those responsible for unlawful acts in a manner that is in accordance with the provisions in the media protection law and is consistent with other applicable national and international legal obligations;
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
Paragraph
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur stresses that States have a positive obligation to actively protect peaceful assemblies. Such obligation includes the protection of participants of peaceful assemblies from individuals or groups of individuals, including agents provocateurs and counter-demonstrators, who aim at disrupting or dispersing such assemblies. Such individuals include those belonging to the State apparatus or working on its behalf. The organizers and stewards of assemblies should not assume this obligation. The Special Rapporteur believes that such responsibility should always be explicitly stated in domestic legislation, as it is in, inter alia, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia and Slovenia. In Armenia, organizers may request police officials to remove provocateurs from the assembly venue (even if in practice the implementation of this provision is reportedly sometimes problematic). The Special Rapporteur holds as a good practice the establishment in Estonia of a Police Rapid Response Unit (riot police) which aims at protecting peaceful demonstrators against attacks by provocateurs and counter-demonstrators and is trained in how to separate the main provocateurs from peaceful demonstrators.
- 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
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- In this regard, the Special Rapporteur considers good practice the invitation of the London Metropolitan Police to Liberty, an independent human rights organization, to act as independent observers when they were policing a Trades Union Congress march in London in 2010. He also refers to the statement of the Vice-Chair of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) made during the panel discussion on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests, at the nineteenth session of the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/19/40, para. 33). The Vice-Chair highlighted, inter alia, the monitoring role played by SUHAKAM during a sensitive public demonstration, by deploying teams of observers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In this connection, the Special Rapporteur supports the call of the ODIHR Panel of Experts to undertake capacity-building activities for the benefit of NGOs and human rights defenders on the ground to monitor assemblies and their policing on a systematic basis. In this context, ODIHR trained assembly monitors in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Republic of Moldova, and issued the new Handbook on Monitoring Freedom of Assembly in September 2011.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- An "association" refers to any groups of individuals or any legal entities brought together in order to collectively act, express, promote, pursue or defend a field of common interests (see report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders, A/59/401, para. 46).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Authorities must also respect the right of associations to privacy as stipulated in article 17 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In this connection, authorities should not be entitled to: condition any decisions and activities of the association; reverse the election of board members; condition the validity of board members' decisions on the presence of a Government representative at the board meeting or request that an internal decision be withdrawn; request associations to submit annual reports in advance; and enter an association's premises without advance notice. The Special Rapporteur recognizes the right of independent bodies to examine the associations' records as a mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability, but such a procedure should not be arbitrary and must respect the principle of non-discrimination and the right to privacy as it would otherwise put the independence of associations and the safety of their members at risk. As a best practice, the decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights found that the right to freedom of association had been violated when the Government of Nigeria provided the Nigerian Bar Association with a new governing body and laid down that 97 of the 128 members constituting this body would be appointed by the Government (report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, A/64/226, para. 34).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- In many countries, domestic funding is very limited or non-existent, leading associations to rely on foreign assistance to conduct their activities. The Special Rapporteur echoes the recommendations put forward by the then Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders who affirmed that "governments must allow access by NGOs to foreign funding as a part of international cooperation, to which civil society is entitled to the same extent as Governments" (A/59/401, para. 82), He believes that the same principle should apply to any associations regardless of the goals, in line with international law, they pursue. He considers as best practice legislation that does not prescribe the approval of the authorities before receiving domestic and foreign funding (e.g. Lebanon, Morocco and the United States). The barriers to foreign funding range from undue delay in approval for funding an association's project (e.g. Bangladesh) to the requirement of obtaining a prior authorization from the authorities. Some legislation even prohibits human rights associations from receiving more than 10 per cent of their overall resources from foreign sources. In Ethiopia where this legislation is in place, out of the 127 associations advocating for human rights active before the 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation entered into force, very few reportedly still operate.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph