During the 28th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, 2-27 March 2015, CIVICUS and its partners made several high-level interventions to support the creation and maintenance of a safe and enabling environment for civil society across the world. CIVICUS co-organized a number of thematic and country specific side events to draw attention to acute restrictions on civil society, human rights defenders and fundamental democratic freedoms. In addition, CIVICUS issued several oral statements calling on the Council to address persistent violations of basic human rights.
Joint CIVICUS panel discussions:
- Transforming global governance: Addressing the double democratic deficit
- Repression and criminalization of Human Rights Defenders in the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan and Belarus
- The misuse of anti-terrorism laws in Africa: Undermining civil society, eroding human rights and stifling dissent
- Human rights and elections in Africa: The role of human rights defenders and civil society
- Civil society space in the European Union
- Civil society documentation and engagement with UN Mechanisms
- Systemic repression: Attacks against rights defenders in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iraq
CIVICUS oral statements:
- Adoption of the UPR report of The Gambia
- Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
- Restrictions on civil society in Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Ethiopia
- Safeguarding human rights while countering terrorism
- Restrictions on freedom of belief and religion in Vietnam
- Creating synergies among UN Human Rights Mechanisms to ensure effective realization of the Sustainable Development Goals
- Enhancing the effectiveness of the UPR process
- Mainstreaming human rights education in the work of the Council