42nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Joint Statement: 20 NGOs express support for the Coordination Committee’s process to strengthen the work of the Special Procedures
We deliver this statement on behalf of 20 NGOs.
We note the concerns in the Declaration of the Special Procedures’ mandate holders at the Annual Meeting 2019 and share their concern about the global retrenchment against the values and obligations embedded in international human rights law and the challenges they spell out with regard to non-cooperation.
We also express appreciation for the process set in place by the Special Procedures Coordination Committee to discuss ways in which the work can be strengthened including by seeking input from a wide range of stakeholders. This process presents the most appropriate way to ensure the effectiveness of the Special Procedures in protecting and promoting human rights, and to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and address situations where there may be concerns regarding the actions of individual mandate holders.
We hope that this process will also provide an opportunity to discuss issues of chronic underfunding, non-cooperation of States with the Special Procedures, acts of reprisal and intimidation against human rights defenders and ad hominem attacks against mandate holders and how to make non-cooperation including selective cooperation by states more costly.
Amnesty International
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Association for Women’s Rights in Development
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Center for Reproductive Rights
Child Rights Connect
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Colombian Commission of Jurists
Defence for Children International
Geneva for Human Rights
ILGA World
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
International Commission of Jurists
International Movement against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR)
International Service of Human Rights
Peace Brigades International
Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI)
Swedish Association for Sexuality Education
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)