CIVICUS and its partners have produced joint and stand-alone UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) submissions on 11  countries.

27nd Session of the Human Rights Council Item 2Opening Statement of the new High Commissioner for Human RightsGeneral Debate 9 September 2014 Delivered by Renate Bloem Thank you Mr.

CIVICUS welcomes the establishment of this Special Session and applauds the Council’s proactivity in promptly addressing the grave human rights violation committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and associated groups.

During the 26th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, 9-27 June, CIVICUS organized eight joint or stand-alone panel discussions on pressing thematic and country specific human rights situations:•    Civil Society Space: Addressing the Implementation Gap•    East Africa: Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders : Regional Challenges•    Repression, Reprisals and Detained Human Rights Defenders in the Gulf Region: Kuwait and Qatar in Focus•    Rule of Law in Bangladesh•    Re-Imagining Global Governance: CIVICUS’ 2014 State of Civil Society Report•    Human Rights in Eritrea•    Voices from Uzbekistan – An Atrocious Human Rights Record and the Lack of Effective Cooperation with the UN•    Bahrain: Empty Promises, crowded prisonsCIVICUS also delivered ten joint and individual oral statements to highlight ongoing restrictions on fundamental freedoms:•    Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights to Freedom of Opinion and Expression and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association•    General Debate on the Human Rights Situation in South Sudan•    Final Update of the High Commissioner for Human Rights•    Interactive Dialogue on UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women•    Interactive Dialogue on the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprise•    Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention•    Adoption of the UPR outcome report of Cambodia•    Adoption of the UPR outcome report of Eritrea•    Adoption of the UPR outcome report of Vietnam •    Adoption of the UPR outcome report of Yemen

In advance of the 21st Session of the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) which examines the human rights records of a country every 4.

ARTICLE 19 on behalf of the Civic Space Initiative* congratulates Frank La Rue on his final thematic report to the Human Rights Council.

The letter, endorsed by 11 civil society organizations from across the globe, urges the UN Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution during its 26th Session (9-27 June 2014) condemning ongoing restrictions on the rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression and ensure accountability for grave human rights violations in Egypt.

In Yemen, CIVICUS, ANND and HRITC highlight the need to ensure the full realization of explicit commitments made by the government of Yemen during its UPR examination, including implementing legislation to create a safe and enabling environment for civil society.

The undersigned NGOs remain deeply concerned by ongoing serious human rights violations in Bahrain, including the politically motivated imprisonment of high-profile opposition activists and human rights defenders after grossly unfair trials, continued reports of torture, excessive use of force, regular denial of freedom of association and assembly, and a persistent failure to hold government actors to account for violations.

We are writing to encourage your office to make the conclusions of its mission public and to clearly identify key human rights concerns that should be addressed in priority by your office and by the Government of Bahrain.

In the lead up to Ethiopia’s second examination under the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on 6 May 2014, PEN International, ARTICLE 19, Freedom Now and CIVICUS are hosting a panel discussion, at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland to examine the latest human rights developments in the country.

The 25th UN Human Rights Council session, 3-28 March 2014, marked the first-ever formal panel discussion at the UNHRC on the promotion and protection of civil society space.

Civil society urges States to oppose proposed amendments that would weaken the Human Rights Council resolution on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests (HRC/25/L.

In advance of the 20th Session of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which scrutinizes each country's human rights record every four years, CIVICUS has made four submissions on unwarranted restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly and human rights defenders in Bolivia, Egypt, Iran and The Gambia .

CIVICUS is deeply concerned about the situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), its unparalleled human rights violations, about the governments terrorization, murder, torture, mass starvation, lack of freedom of movement for its citizens both within the country as well as abroad.

CIVICUS welcomes the Human Rights Council’s report on the Seminar on effective measures and best practices to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protest.

Delivered by Renate Bloem "Thank you Mr.

During the 25th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, member organizations of the Civic Space Initiative, including CIVICUS, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL),  Article 19, and World Movement for Democracy, issued an oral statement calling on the international community and national governments to take immediate steps to further articulate and codify the creation of a free and enabling environment for civil society.

Civil society relies on physical and digital spaces to perform their functions.

As civil society from around the world we express support for those struggling for a future in Egypt based on human rights and democracy.

Over 50 people from 6 continents and representing more than 30 key platforms and organisations engaged in civil society-led campaigns relating to sustainable development gathered in Istanbul, Turkey on 23-24 February 2014.

4th February 2014  The  Government  of  Eritrea  should  accept  recommendations  to  cooperate fully with the United Nations human rights system, said Human  Rights  ConcernFEritrea,  the East  and  Horn of  Africa  Human Rights Defenders Project and CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, following its examination at the Universal Periodic Review yesterday.

During the 24th UNHRC Session, 9-27 September 2013, CIVICUS facilitated the participation of a number of human rights defenders to discuss the challenges faced by civil society across a range of countries.

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and the Expert Working Group, a human rights policy organization based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan released a joint statement to the 24th Session of the HRC on the human rights session in Uzbekistan.

CIVICUS urges the Syrian government to give finally access to the Commission to hold perpetrators of crimes against humanity to account.

Maryam Alkhawaja, CIVICUS member and acting president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights speaks on the human rights sitiuation in Bahrain My name is Maryam Alkhawaja, acting president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, speaking on behalf of our partners CIVICUS and CIHRS.

CIVICUS member Nada Dhaif speaks at the 24th Session of the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights situation for women in Bahrain.

CIVICUS makes interventions for the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which scrutinizes each country's human rights record every four years.

Report of the Independent Expert on the promotionof a democratic and equitable international orderInteractive Dialogue, 10 September 2013 We wish to comment on the report on 'promotion of a democratic and equitable international order.

In the submission, CIVICUS argues that meaningful development cannot be achieved without the realisation of human rights as both are intertwined.

In advance of the 18th Universal Periodic Review session of the UN Human Rights Council, CIVICUS made two independent submissions and three joint submissions on threats to freedoms of expression, association and assembly in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Eritrea, Vietnam and Yemen.

Report on the 16th Session of the UPR Working GroupReview of Azerbaijan (Tuesday 30 April 2013, 14:30 ~ 18:00)Led by H.

This June, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the World Conference on Human Rights and the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action (VDPA).

23rd Session of the United Nations Human Rights CouncilGeneva, 10 June 2013General Debate Item 8 Joint Statement on behalf of Norway, the United States of America and Germany H.

23rd session of theHuman Rights CouncilItem 6 Universal Periodic Review General Debate Delivered by Olivia Tchamba I thank you Mr President, Founded on a consensus-based decision-making process, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) provides a legitimate platform to request the responses to human rights issues by the state under review.

23rd session of theHuman Rights CouncilItem 7 Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territoriesGeneral Debate Statement delivered by Enrica Barago Thank you Mr President, CIVICUS warmly welcomes Israel’s decision to pursue its dialogue with the HumanRights Council and hopes it will cooperate with its mechanisms in a positive and meaningful spirit.

23rd session of theHuman Rights CouncilItem 8 Follow up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action Delivered by Renate Bloem Thank you Mr.

Oral StatementItem 4 General Debate5 June 2013 Statement delivered on behalf of: Human Rights Watch, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Conectas Direitos Humanos, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), International Service for Human Rights and International Commission of Jurists, With the support of: African Democracy Forum; African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies; Think Centre, Singapore; Task Force Detainees Philippines (TFDP), Philippines; Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Philippines; Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Taiwan; Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP), Timor Leste; INFORM Information Documentation Centre, Sri Lanka ; People's Watch, India; People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), South Korea; Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), Indonesia; IMPARSIAL, Indonesia; Human Rights Working Group, Indonesia; People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), India; Law and Society Trust (LST), Sri Lanka; Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), Nepal; Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), India; Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC), Nepal; KontraS, Indonesia; Pilipina Legal Resource Centre (PLRC), Philippines; Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), Mongolia; Function 8, Singapore; Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC), Singapore; Project X, Singapore; Alliance National Timor Leste International Tribunal (ANTI), Timor Leste; Programme Against Custodial Torture and Impunity (PACTI), India; *** The United States continues to detain individuals for indefinite periods without charge or trial at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan in violation of its obligations under international human rights law.

23nd session of theHuman Rights CouncilItem4     Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention, General DebateDr.

23rd session of theHuman Rights CouncilItem 3 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expressionInteractive Dialogue Statement delivered by Enrica Barago Thank you Mr.

23nd session of theHuman Rights CouncilItem4     Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention: Belarus By Yuri Dzlibladze Thank you Mr.

On 29 May 2013, the UN Human Rights Council squeezed in an urgent debate on Syria into its already crowded schedule.

During the second week of the council, on the 6th of March, we organised a joint side event with the HRHF on the “Criminalisation of Human Rights Defenders in the Russian Federation “.

6th March 2013Summary On Wednesday 6 March, the Human Rights House Foundation together with CIVICUS, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Youth Human Rights Movement, the International Federation for Human Rights and the Civil Society and Freedom of Speech Initiative Center for the Caucasus hosted a side event titled "Criminalisation of Human Rights Defenders in the Russian Federation" at the United Nations in Geneva.

22nd Session of theUN Human Rights CouncilItem 3 General DebatePromotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.

22nd session of theHuman Rights Council Item 2Annual Report of the High Commissioner for Human RightsID 28 February 2013Delivered by Renate Bloem Thank you Mr.

22nd session of theHuman Rights CouncilItem4     Human rights situations that require the Council’s attentionDelivered by Renate Bloem Thank you Mr.

22nd Session of the Human Rights CouncilItem7 General DebateReport of the Independent Fact Finding Mission on Human Rights situation in the Palestinian other Arab occupied territories Thank you Mr.