United Nations Human Rights Council
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The Council must address deteriorating human rights situations before they become crises
Statement at the 51st Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Item 4 General Debate
Delivered by Lisa Majumdar
Thank you, Mr President.
The Council’s prevention mandate is a responsibility to address situations which face becoming human rights crises. One of the warning signs of this is of a serious and rapid decline in the respect for civic space. The CIVICUS Watchlist, published last week, identified a number of countries to take note of in this regard.
Sri Lanka continues to see arbitrary arrests and the use of excessive force by the security forces as part of a crackdown on anti-government protests, as well as attacks on journalists, following its worst economic crisis in decades. We urge the Council to adopt a strong resolution addressing the situation, as well as progressing long-overdue accountability and reconciliation initiatives.
Serious civic space violations have been ongoing in Guatemala as the government moves to undermine the rule of law and reverse anti-corruption efforts of recent years. As Zimbabwe gears up for general elections next year, civic space is under severe attack as the incumbent President, seeks to defend his presidency. In Serbia, the government has attempted to ban LGBTQI+ events and there remain ongoing threats to environmental rights defenders and journalists. In Guinea, the government is becoming increasingly intolerant of dissenting voices, particularly those criticising management of the ongoing political transition.
We call on the Council to use its prevention mandate to address these situations before they deteriorate still further.
In situations where crises are already all too apparent, the Council must respond accordingly. Human rights violations in Russia and those documented by the High Commissioner in China demand the strongest response, and we call on the Council to urgently establish monitoring and reporting mechanisms for these respective human rights situations.
We thank you.
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The dismantling of Nicaragua’s civil society continues unabated
Statement at the 50th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Interactive Dialogue on High Commisioner's oral update on Nicaragua
Delivered by Nicola Paccamiccio
Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you to the High Commissioner for her update.
The dismantling of Nicaragua’s civil society continues unabated. In the past weeks alone, the Ortega government has used money laundering legislation and the ‘foreign agents’ legislation to cancel the registration of nearly 200 organisations working on issues from culture, to aid and development, to the environment.
A new “General Law on the Regulation and Control of Non-profit Organisations,” enacted last month, could prove a nail in the coffin for independent civil society, now effectively unable to continue their work. It makes it more difficult for Non Governmental Organisations to register, requires them to seek government approval for their activities, and imposes new reporting constraints.
Human rights defenders and opposition leaders continue to be persecuted. Yubrank Suazo, opposition leader and member of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy, was detained on 18 May. Dozens of political prisoners were convicted in express trials between February and May – since then, requests for appeal have been rejected.
This is particularly concerning given ongoing ill-treatment and torture of political prisoners, including human rights defenders María Esperanza Sanchez. Women political prisoners who live with chronic or pre-existing health conditions have not received appropriate medical attention.
Nicaragua's authorities have not hesitated to use legislation, policy, judicial harassment and even acts of violence to attack Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) and civil society. The establishment of the Group of Experts on Nicaragua is a significant and welcome step towards truth and accountability, and we ask the High Commissioner for concrete suggestions to how States can best support civil society on the ground who are operating in an atmosphere of fear and violence.
Civic space in Nicaragua is rated as "Closed" by the CIVICUS Monitor
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Triggers for urgent action by the United Nations Human Rights Council
This report is a written output of a nine-month long applied research project in association with The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is the foremost body when it comes to human rights. One of its mandates is to address human rights emergencies, which it does through special sessions and urgent debates. This ‘urgent action’ mechanism allows the Council to address emerging human rights crises rather than merely dealing with their aftermath. Yet, the UNHRC addresses human rights emergencies unevenly, giving some regions and situations much more attention than others. In order to understand why, this research seeks to identify “unofficial” triggers that lead to urgent action.
The identification of triggers influencing urgent action at the Council was pursued through the investigation of two cases, namely human rights violations in Myanmar and Ethiopia. Throughout this research, seven triggers were identified:
- Intra-council Procedures
- Issue Emergence
- Transnational Advocacy Networks
- Regional Blocs
- Geopolitics
- Regional and Parallel Human Rights Mechanisms
- Communication and Media
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UN Human Rights Council falls short of action needed on Cambodia’s human rights crisis
Resolution on Cambodia adopted at the 48th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council
The Human Rights Council has renewed the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Cambodia, but the resolution adopted by the Council today does not reflect nor adequately address the escalating political and human rights crisis in the country.
With Cambodia’s main opposition party dissolved in 2017 and its politicians barred from politics, the fragile veneer of democracy engendered by the Paris Peace Accords has disintegrated, leaving the country a de facto one-party state.
The resolution mandates one additional update by the Special Rapporteur to the Council in March 2022, which will allow for further scrutiny of the country ahead of the communal election, set for June 2022. A second additional update, set for March 2023 ahead of the national elections in June that same year, was removed from the draft resolution shortly before its adoption.
‘It is disappointing that the resolution does not reach the bare minimum needed to address the ongoing deterioration of human rights in Cambodia,’ said Cornelius Hanung, Asia Advocacy Officer for CIVICUS. ‘The human rights situation in the country has drastically deteriorated since the last time this resolution was negotiated in 2019, and conditions for free and fair elections are fundamentally and conspicuously absent. There is no sign of domestic or international political will to address this.’
Calls from civil society for enhanced monitoring and reporting by the High Commissioner were not considered.
‘Free and fair elections depend not only on the ability of political parties to participate, but also on press freedom, the ability to dissent without fear of harassment and reprisals, and on civil society being able to organize and assemble,’ said Cornelius Hanung. ‘But we consistently see repressive laws and judicial harassment used in Cambodia to restrict civic freedoms, undermine and weaken civil society, and criminalize individuals for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of peaceful assembly.’
Cambodia has consistently cited its constructive engagement with the Human Rights Council to pre-empt stronger action, such as additional monitoring, to address its human rights crisis.
‘Attacks against the Special Rapporteur and his mandate by Cambodia during the Interactive Dialogue to his report represented just the latest example of ‘constructive engagement,’ which to date has been minimal at best and weaponized by Cambodia at worst,’ said Cornelius Hanung. ‘Human rights defenders and those calling for democratic reform on the ground can no longer afford for the Council to seek consensus resolutions at the expense of their protection.’
The adoption of the resolution under the Council’s technical cooperation and capacity-building Item ensures that Cambodia stays on the Council’s agenda for a further two years. CIVICUS maintains its call for the Council to establish a robust monitoring mechanism to adequately assess and address the human rights crisis and further election-related violations.
Civic space in Cambodia is rated 'repressed' by the CIVICUS Monitor.
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UN Universal Periodic Review submissions on civil society space in Bangladesh, Colombia, Cuba and Djibouti
The United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States once every 4.5 years.
CIVICUS and its partners have submitted UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) submissions on four countries in advance of the 44th UPR session in October-November 2023. The submissions examine the state of civil society in each country, including the promotion and protection of the rights to freedom of association, assembly and expression and the environment for human rights defenders. We further provide an assessment of the States’ domestic implementation of civic space recommendations received during the 3rd UPR cycle over 4 years ago and provide a number of targeted follow-up recommendations.
Bangladesh– The submission by CIVICUS and the Asia Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) highlights concerns over the increasing harassment of critical human rights groups as well as the criminalisation and harassment of and threats and attacks on HRDs, journalists and critics, with impunity. The report also documents alarming restrictions on press freedom, the systematic use of the Digital Security Act to silence dissent and unwarranted restrictions and use of excessive force to crush protests.
Colombia – In this submission, CIVICUS and Temblores ONG examine the situation of civic space in Colombia, underscoring the extreme violence that the country’s HRDs, social leaders and journalists face. The research shows that the implementation of various protection mechanisms has been ineffective and uncoordinated. In the submission, the organisations also highlight the repeated use of disproportionate force against protesters, showing a pattern of violations affecting the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.
Cuba –CIVICUS, the Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy (REDLAD) and Gobierno y Análisis Político AC (GAPAC) detail the government persistent failure to address unwarranted restrictions on civic space, both in law and in practice. The report highlights constitutional and legal obstacles to the exercise of the basic freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression in Cuba. It further reports cases of harassment and persecution faced by CSOs and activists, including arbitrary arrests and searches of their homes and offices, and of persistent censorship.
Djibouti– This submission by CIVICUS and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (DefendDefenders) highlights concerns about Djibouti’s onslaught on freedom of expression and media freedom through its enactment of stifling laws that silence critical opinions. It further sheds a light on the targeting of HRDs and political opposition through intimidation, stifling laws and judicial harassment.
Civic space in Bangladesh and Colombia is rated as Repressed, whereas Cuba and Djibouti’s is rated as Closed by the CIVICUS Monitor.
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UN Universal Periodic Review submissions on civil society space in Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nicaragua & Qatar
The United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States once every 4.5 years.
CIVICUS and its partners have submitted UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) submissions on five countries in advance of the 47th UPR session in November 2024. The submissions examine the state of civil society in each country, including the promotion and protection of the rights to freedom of association, assembly and expression and the environment for human rights defenders. We further provide an assessment of the States’ domestic implementation of civic space recommendations received during the 3rd UPR cycle over 4 years ago and provide a number of targeted follow-up recommendations.
Côte d'Ivoire – The submission by CIVICUS, Coalition Ivorienne des Défenseurs des Droits Humains (CIDDH) and West African Human Rights Defenders Network (ROADDH) documents restrictions of civic space in Côte d'Ivoire. The submission highlights ongoing restrictions of human rights defenders’ (HRDs) rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, including judicial persecution, intimidation and threats. The restrictive impact of legislation on fundamental freedoms are also documented.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo – The submission submitted by CIVICUS and Ligue des Droits de la Personne dans la Région des Grands Lacs (LDGL) highlights the targeting of civil society members with threats, attacks and judicial harassment as well as legislation which undermines fundamental freedoms. This submission also documents the alarming civic space violations committed under the state of siege in eastern DRC.
Ethiopia – In this submission made by CIVICUS, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (DefendDefenders) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Center (EHRDC) examines the situation of civic space in Ethiopia, in particular civic space-related violations committed under the state of emergency. In addition, the submission documents the use of arbitrary and pretrial detention as a means of intimidation of human rights defenders, journalists and media workers and restrictions to freedom of peaceful assembly.
Nicaragua –CIVICUS, Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe para la Democracia, Asociación Centroamericana para el Desarrollo y la Democracia and Fundación del Río, in this submission, examine the increasing deterioration in fundamental freedoms as well as the situation of human rights defenders and journalists. The submission also highlights the situation of political prisoners in Nicaragua as well as the impact of legislation that unduly restricts non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations to operate.
Qatar– This report by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), Access Now, Article 19 and CIVICUS highlights Qatar's implementation gaps with regard to the right to freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and issues relating to the right to a fair trial and due legal procedures, stressing the high levels of risks for activists, at home and abroad, and onerous conditions and repressive measures which limit the space for human rights advocacy by civil society. The submission emphasises convictions and sentencing of HRDs in absentia and in trials that do not meet minimum international standards and touches upon ongoing issues related to gender equality, migrants’ rights, and women’s rights.
The CIVICUS Monitor rates civic space in Nicaragua as Closed, while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Qatar civic space is rated as Repressed. In Côte d'Ivoire is rated as Obstructed.
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Unified and coordinated international response a must in face of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine
Global civil society alliance CIVICUS stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and calls for a swift, unified and targeted international response on Russia.
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Venezuela: Lack of substantive progress requires renewal of the Fact-Finding Mission’s mandate
Statement at the 51st Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Interactive Dialogue with Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela
Delivered by Marysabel Rodríguez
CIVICUS and Espacio Público reiterate to this Council the importance of maintaining the monitoring of the human rights situation in Venezuela. We welcome States’ willingness to ensure scrutiny of the crisis to prevent it from normalising and worsening even further.
This report reiterates the active participation at all levels of the chain of command in ordering and carrying out torture and ill-treatment of members of political opposition, journalists, demonstrators and human rights defenders.
As the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) 's reports point out, the capacity of the justice system to protect people and prevent State crimes is weak. To date, there has been no substantive progress to address serious violations and crimes, nor have restrictive practices ceased, increasing the number of victims, with a particular impact on vulnerable sectors.
Obtaining real justice depends on the validity of complementary mechanisms; the importance of the Mission lies in the fact that its registry allows the establishment of individual responsibilities in the perpetration of human rights violations and crimes against humanity.
We urge this Council to renew both the mandate of the FFM and that of the Office of the High Commissioner, in order to continue monitoring the ongoing situation and to build paths to effective justice for the individuals and families whose fundamental rights have been violated.
Thank you.
Civic space in Venezuela is rated as "Repressed" by the CIVICUS Monitor
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