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Title | Date added | Template | Original document | Paragraph text | Body | Document type | Thematics | Topic(s) | Person(s) affected | Year |
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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 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | 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. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
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. 62 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | This has also been the case for peaceful protestors advocating economic, social and cultural rights, such as indigenous peoples protesting the exploitation of a coal mine (Bangladesh), local residents denouncing the health impact of nuclear power plants (India), students protesting university reforms (Chile), employees protesting the closure of a mine (Myanmar), activists criticizing the increase in fuel prices (Sri Lanka) or students supporting an ethnic group forcibly displaced by the construction of a dam (Sudan). | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
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 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | 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). | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 33 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | 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. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 48 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Special Rapporteur refers to the report to the General Assembly of the then Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders, who stated that "monitoring of assemblies can provide an impartial and objective account of what takes place, including a factual record of the conduct of both participants and law enforcement officials. This is a valuable contribution to the effective enjoyment of the right to peaceful assembly. The very presence of human rights monitors during demonstrations can deter human rights violations. It is therefore important to allow human rights defenders to operate freely in the context of freedom of assembly" (A/62/225, para. 91). Such defenders include members of civil society organizations, journalists, "citizen journalists", bloggers and representatives of national human rights institutions. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 49 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | 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. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 50 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | 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. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 51 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | 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). | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 65 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | 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). | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 69 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | 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. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2012 | ||
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 11 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | For the purposes of the report, the groups most at risk will also include groups and individuals who are targeted not because of their identity, but because they actively lobby for the rights of those most at risk of discrimination and retribution. Human rights defenders, including journalists, trade unionists and environmental activists, among others, face considerable opposition, harassment, stigmatization and even physical attacks from State and non-State actors in many countries. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2014 | ||
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 20 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | [International human rights instruments that protect the rights of particular groups specifically recognize directly or indirectly the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association for those groups:] 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 explicitly recognizes the rights of human rights defenders to peacefully assemble, to form, join and participate in non-governmental organizations, associations or groups and to communicate with non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations (art. 5). In its resolution 22/6, the Human Rights Council recognized the importance of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association for defenders. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2014 | ||
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 32 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Numerous jurisdictions have in recent years banned peaceful protesters from covering their faces during demonstrations, motivated by fears that demonstrators who wear masks or hoods could engage in violence and escape punishment due to their concealed identities. Besides the fact that violent acts during peaceful demonstrations are already illegal under the laws of virtually every jurisdiction, the Special Rapporteur is concerned that bans on face coverings during assemblies are in some circumstances used to target particular groups and improperly curtail their right to freedom of peaceful assembly. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2014 | ||
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 42 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned about the use of police violence, harassment and judicial intimidation against assemblies held by women in many parts of the world. In Cambodia, for example, female land-rights activists have been targeted for violence, harassment and arrest on numerous occasions. In India, in the State of Orissa, 42 women human rights defenders were arrested and detained for peacefully protesting against the building of a dam. In Sri Lanka, women advocating for investigations into the enforced disappearance of their loved ones face considerable opposition from the Government. In Cuba, women defenders promoting and protecting human rights (Damas de Blanco) have repeatedly been targeted by security forces when peacefully demonstrating for the rights of detainees. Similarly, in Zimbabwe, members of a local women's group, Women of Zimbabwe Arise, were beaten and arrested in September 2013 after staging a peaceful demonstration outside Parliament. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2014 | ||
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 44 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Moreover, arbitrary differences in the policing of peaceful assemblies are a concern in some Member States. In 2012, for example, the Minister for Ethics and Integrity of Uganda allegedly intervened to disrupt two private civil society workshops: one on the monitoring of human rights violations, and another on the human rights of LGBTI people. Participants say that both workshops were targeted because they addressed the rights of LGBTI people. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2014 | ||
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 46 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In other cases, inaction by authorities may prevent some groups from exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly. The Special Rapporteur has received numerous reports from India regarding the disruption of public assemblies of Dalit individuals - members of the country's traditional "untouchable" caste. This includes one case in 2009 in which members of another caste obstructed a funeral procession and beat members of the Dalit community. Police reportedly failed to intervene, despite being present. In Egypt, peaceful female demonstrators were sexually assaulted repeatedly in Tahir Square, largely due to the inaction of law enforcement authorities. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, unidentified individuals violently disrupted LGBTI events in 2008 and 2014. In both cases, the police failed to provide protection to the organizers and participants. In several countries, stigmatization and counter-demonstrations against LGBTI pride parades and marches have also dissuaded organizers from holding such events. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2014 | ||
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 60 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Criminal procedure laws and penal sanctions are used in several States to deter the exercise of the right to freedom of association. Authorities who are hostile to critical voices resort to criminal prosecution for defamation or similar offences, thereby discouraging and interfering with legitimate activities by groups. Organizations engaged in human rights work, anti-corruption advocacy and other accountability initiatives are particularly targeted. In Oman, between May and June 2012, 11 human rights defenders, including bloggers, writers, and members of human rights organizations and of the media, were sentenced for offences related to injurious speech and assembly. They were all pardoned on 22 March 2013. In Viet Nam, in March 2013, the police charged a human rights defender with slander against the regime. The authorities asserted that he had not expressed his opinions in a peaceful manner and that he had thus disturbed the public order. The country's Press Law of 1989 limits the right to express dissent, restricting it to "constructive" opinions on implementing the lines and policies of the Communist Party and the laws of the States law. In El Salvador, article 345 of the Criminal Code considers as illegal two or more people gathering to commit a crime. Despite the necessity to prove intent to commit a crime, law enforcement officials often stop and detain young people simply because it is believed that they are gathering to organize or plan a crime, or that they belong to a gang merely because they have a tattoo, are young, live in a particular neighbourhood where there is gang presence or are poor. Youth are additionally disproportionately affected because criminal groups force them to join their ranks, thereby violating their right to freedom of association. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2014 | ||
Comparative study of enabling environments for associations and businesses 2015, para. 61 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Special Rapporteur has highlighted a disturbing trend in Malaysia, where dozens of people have been charged with sedition following their criticism of the Government or its officials. The law has been applied to a range of individuals, including politicians, human rights defenders, academics, lawyers, students and journalists. However only associations - and not businesses - face deregistration if they, as an entity, violate the Sedition Act. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
Comparative study of enabling environments for associations and businesses 2015, para. 64 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The United States has exhibited harsher treatment of associations for violating the Anti-Terrorism Act, which prohibits "knowingly provid[ing] material support", including funding, to terrorist organizations. In March 2007, Chiquita Brands International was only fined for knowingly making direct payments to terrorists for protection from violence in Colombia, whereas, nine United States charities have been shut down for similar alleged violations since 2001. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
Comparative study of enabling environments for associations and businesses 2015, para. 65 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In some cases, restrictions on human rights can be directly linked to States' efforts to encourage business investment. Businesses then profit from those violations, sometimes calling upon State security organs for further protection. Crimes are often committed on their behalf with impunity. This is particularly true in the field of natural resource exploitation, as the Special Rapporteur documented in his 2015 report to the Human Rights Council. For example, reprisals against activists who stood up to large business interests have occurred in Colombia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the Philippines. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
Comparative study of enabling environments for associations and businesses 2015, para. 100 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Differential treatment of assemblies takes various forms. The authorities may deny permission, licences or other facilitation for demonstrations and protests, especially those held in opposition to major corporate-sponsored events. A glaring example is the crackdown by Azerbaijan on human rights activists protesting the European Games, which were largely sponsored by corporate entities. The Special Rapporteur previously cited with concern the case of protestors who staged a sit-in at the department store Fortnum & Mason, in London. The demonstrators did not prevent customers from shopping, yet 138 were arrested and charged with aggravated trespass; 29 were prosecuted. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2015 | ||
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 45 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba states that the Communist Party is the superior leading force of the society and the State, organizing and guiding common efforts, effectively eliminating the ability of those with competing ideologies to engage seriously in public life. The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association are guaranteed by the Constitution, but in practice these rights cannot be used to peacefully criticize the ruling party or its policies. For instance, in 2012 a group of protestors were reportedly arrested and physically assaulted by the police when they were peacefully demonstrating in Havana against hunger and poverty in the country (see A/HRC/20/30, case CUB 5/2011). Technically, the existence of other political parties was legalized in 1992, but none of these groups performs the function of a true opposition party due to the constitutional dominance of the Communist Party and restrictions on campaigning and the conduct of political activities. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 49 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Bahrain, formally organized as a constitutional monarchy, has embarked on an extensive crackdown on dissent since a large protest movement began calling for greater political freedom, among other things, in 2011. The Special Rapporteur remains particularly concerned about the imprisonment of opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman and the harassment and detention of human rights defenders involved in organizations defending human rights, including Nabeel Rajab (see A/HRC/28/85, case BHR 13/2014), Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja (see A/HRC/19/44, case BHR 18/2011), Zainab Al-Khawaja, Abduljalil Al-Singace (see A/HRC/18/51, case BHR 4/2011) and others (see A/HRC/28/85, cases BHR 10/2014 and BHR 12/2014). | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 54 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | As an initial matter, however, the Special Rapporteur emphasizes that no single religious group has a monopoly on fundamentalism. In 2015, a Christian fundamentalist in Colorado, United States of America, attacked a family planning clinic run by the not-for-profit association Planned Parenthood; three people were killed. In recent years, Hindu fundamentalists in India have been responsible for a wave of violence against Muslims and Christians, some of which was motivated by the fact that the latter eat beef (cows are considered sacred in Hinduism). Meanwhile, in Israel and the State of Palestine, Jewish fundamentalists have carried out repeated attacks against Muslims, frequently targeting mosques. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
| 2016 | |||
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 63 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | The Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association is also concerned when ostensibly secular States leverage fundamentalist religious teachings to restrict the assembly and association rights of certain groups. Nigeria (see A/HRC/26/21, case NGA 1/2014) and Uganda (see A/HRC/26/21, case UGA 1/2014), for example, have seized upon majority Christian opposition to homosexuality to impose draconian laws that severely restrict the assembly and association rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals and groups (see, for example, A/HRC/25/74, case NGA 4/2013; and A/HRC/22/67, case UGA 5/2012). | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 72 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Cultural fundamentalist and nationalist groups may express these ideologies through protests and rallies. One example is the group Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West (Pegida), in Germany, which believes that State immigration policies are enabling erosion of the culture of Germany. Rallies by such nationalist groups often attract counter-demonstrators who assemble in support of tolerance and diversity, and the management of such assemblies and counter-assemblies is of concern. Opposing assemblies are likely to provoke tensions that increase the potential for violence and therefore also increase the need for even-handed management and facilitation by law enforcement officials. In relation to assemblies in the United Kingdom by the English Defence League, which opposes perceived Islamism, the police have been criticized for employing tactics that dissuaded would-be counter-demonstrators from participating in assemblies. This has led to a perception of bias against the Muslim community, because members of the English Defence League were not subject to similar restrictions. The Special Rapporteur stresses that State handling of demonstrations and counter-demonstrations in these contexts should ensure that each group can exercise its rights without undue interference by the authorities or by opposing rally participants (see A/HRC/31/66, para. 24). | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 78 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In Mauritania, the Haratine community is considered the "slave caste" and a large proportion are victims of slavery and slavery-like practices (see A/HRC/31/56, para. 39). Anti-slavery activists and organizations reportedly face repression for their activities from the Government, including harassment, intimidation and arbitrary arrests. Members of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement and of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Éducation et Travail pour le Progrès des Droits de l'Homme (KAWTAL) were arrested in November 2014 while participating in a campaign against slavery that included rallies, public meetings and lectures. Several activists were imprisoned in 2015 following conviction on charges that included taking part in an unauthorized assembly, rebellion and resisting arrest (see A/HRC/29/25/Add.3, p. 97). | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
| 2016 | |||
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 92h | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | In this regard, the Special Rapporteur reiterates recommendations made in previous reports to the extent that they are applicable to this context, and makes the following recommendations to States: (h) Use ordinary provisions of the Criminal Code to prosecute extremist or terrorist acts and refrain from enacting legislation that specifically targets religious activities, religious organizations, civil society, human rights defenders and activists; | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2016 | ||
The exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the context of elections 2013, para. 18 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | However, in many countries, elections have been marred by human rights violations and abuses. For instance, in September 2009, in Guinea, some 50,000 peaceful demonstrators gathered in a stadium to protest against the possible candidacy of Capitain Moussa Dadis Camara for the presidential elections of January 2010. Security forces opened fire and used bayonets and knives to disperse the crowd. More than 150 persons were killed, and over a thousand injured. Many individuals were arrested on the scene, at their home or in hospitals. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, in June 2009, following the declaration of victory for President Ahmadinejad, security forces killed several protestors when they peacefully took to the streets to contest the election results. Security forces opened fire during the demonstrations and used batons and pepper spray to disperse the crowds. Several hundred people were arrested during the protests following the presidential elections of 2009. In the Russian Federation, peaceful protests against alleged fraudulent elections in the context of parliamentary elections held in December 2011 were met with excessive use of force, with over a thousand persons detained in various cities. Various acts of harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention of several activists and members of the opposition also occurred in the context of the presidential protests on 6 May 2012. In the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in the wake of the presidential elections of April 2013, peaceful demonstrations held in front of the offices of the national electoral commission in several states were met with brute force by security forces, along with arbitrary arrests. In Malaysia, security forces used indiscriminate force to repress a peaceful protest organized by the Coalition for Fair and Free Elections (Bersih), which advocates for the reform of the electoral process in that country. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 | ||
The exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the context of elections 2013, para. 19 | Aug 19, 2019 | Paragraph | Apart from using excessive force against peaceful protesters, in some instances, States have criminalized the participation in and organization of peaceful assemblies during election time, with a view to sanctioning or deterring those willing or intending to do so. In Ethiopia, several peaceful demonstrators and human rights defenders were charged with "crimes of outrage against the constitutional order", and sentenced to life imprisonment for having participated in a demonstration against alleged fraud in the general elections of May 2005, in which over 190 protestors were reportedly killed by law enforcement authorities. After signing a statement admitting that their activities had been unconstitutional, they received a pardon and were freed. In the run-up to the legislative elections in Bahrain in September 2011, numerous human rights defenders and their relatives were arrested, dismissed from their jobs and subjected to intimidation and harassment for various politically motivated offences, including "participating in illegal gatherings". Following the presidential elections in December 2010 in Belarus, hundreds of persons protesting on election night were detained, including civil society activists, journalists, and opposition leaders, including presidential candidates. A peaceful protestor was subsequently sentenced to three years and six months in a labour colony on charges of mass disorder, for his participation in peaceful protests. He was initially detained for an administrative offence, but was later charged with a criminal offence, despite the fact that the police officer who had filed his arrest warrant stated in court that he had not actually seen him during the protest. Similarly, in the Russian Federation, charges of "mass disorder" have been pressed against peaceful protestors during election time. Many demonstrators were arrested and accused, inter alia, of "public intimidation" and "public incitation". Peaceful demonstrators in Azerbaijan have increasingly been targeted in the context of the forthcoming elections of October 2013, with several of them being arrested and/or fined. In Nepal in January 2006, four human rights defenders were arrested because of their involvement in the organization of large-scale peaceful demonstrations calling for a boycott of municipal elections scheduled for the following month. | Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association | Special Procedures' report |
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| 2013 |