CIVICUS and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) call on UN member states to urge the Government of the Maldives to protect civic freedoms as its human rights record is examined by the UN on 4 November 2020 as part of the 36th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

العربية Dear Secretary General, We, the undersigned, are writing to express our deep concern over recent reports announcing the candidacy of Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, the General Inspector of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Ministry of Interior, for the presidency of the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL).

CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Front Line Defenders, FIDH, in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT), and the International Service for Human Rights strongly condemn the deliberate targeting of human rights defender Muhammed Ismail and his wife Uzlifat Ismail, the parents of woman human rights defender Gulalai Ismail.

Honduran authorities must act to protect environmental defenders in the community of Guapinol and investigate threats and harassment against them, according to global civil society alliance CIVICUS.

The Covid-19 ‘recovery’ must supercharge the fight against inequality

بالعربية The Algerian authorities have accelerated the arbitrary detention and prosecution of activists and journalists amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, most recently refusing requests to provisionally release and provide adequate medical care for Algerian activist Abdallah Benaoum, imprisoned solely for his critical views of the authorities' crackdown on Hirak protests, ten national, regional and international groups said today, ahead of his trial scheduled on 27 October.

In response to Cuba’s election to a fifth term on the Human Rights Council, 85 Cuban and international human rights and freedom-of-expression organizations, in conjunction with independent media outlets, released the following statement:  We are deeply concerned about the decision to grant Cuba a new opportunity to have a seat on the Human Rights Council.

In January 2020, over 220 Civil Society Organisations endorsed a statement issued by Amnesty International, CIVICUS and Transparency International announcing that they will not be participating in the sham Civil20 process hosted by Saudi Arabia, due to the Kingdom’s horrific human rights record.

We, the undersigned civil society organisations, urge the government of Singapore to order the Elections Department (ELD) to immediately withdraw its police report against New Naratif, and to cease abusing the law to harass critical voices and independent journalists.

Government Increasingly Targeting Rights Groups Today, CIVICUS joined fourteen other human rights organizations in condemning the Indian government’s actions against Amnesty India and pledged to continue support for local human rights defenders and organizations against the recent crackdown.

A new bill introduced in Congress by lawmakers from Nicaragua’s governing party would severely restrict freedoms of association and expression if passed into law, global civil society alliance CIVICUS said today.

Joint NGO Statement by CIVICUS, Article 19, KontraS Aceh, LBH Banda Aceh, KontraS and YLBHI

Phnom Penh, 13 August 2020 – We, the undersigned national and international organisations and communities, call on the Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) to immediately discard the repressive draft Law on Public Order and uphold its obligations under international human rights law.

Virtual Global Exchange on Zoom: Young Sustainable Development advocates will break down the 2030 Agenda from Global to Local accountability mechanisms for civil society.

Arabic The undersigned civil society organisations call for an immediate and unconditional end to the intimidation and harassment of independent Moroccan journalist, Omar Radi, who has been summoned by police to appear for interrogation seven times over the past several weeks.

Lawyers, Human Rights Defenders and Journalists Arrested, Threatened, Intimidated

Dear World Leaders, On Nelson Mandela Day, civil society organisations across the globe call on you to release imprisoned human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience.

CIVICUS urges Serbian authorities to stop using force to disperse protesters demonstrating against the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joint Statement with Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists The Malaysian authorities must immediately put an end to their increasing attacks on freedom of expression, especially the media, international non-governmental organisations Amnesty International, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today.

🇨🇴📝Joint letter on #Colombia: #COVID19 cannot be used as a smokescreen to target social leaders.

Front Line Defenders, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights, in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and the International Service for Human Rights, condemn the killing of two employees of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), Fatima Khalil and Ahmad Jawed Folad, on 27 June 2020.

🇸🇬Singapore: Three civil society organisations call on parliamentary candidates and political party leaders to commit to respecting and protecting human rights, particularly fundamental freedoms, during and after the #SGElection https://t.

Arabic | بالعربيةFrench | FrançaisSpanish | Español   Full article Actions needed from governments to support & sustain civil society The COVID-19 pandemic has had extraordinary economic, social and political impacts.

Joint statement by Article 19 and CIVICUS

Joint Statement by Amnesty International and CIVICUS The Fiji authorities must respect the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly for university staff and students and immediately cease intimidation tactics.

The undersigned organizations and media outlets support the petition presented on June 8 in Cuba before the National Assembly, the State Council, the Supreme Court, the Office of the Attorney General, and the President of the Republic declaring 2019’s Decree-Law 370 unconstitutional (1).

Human Rights Defenders Alert – India and global civil society alliance CIVICUS call for the immediate release of two women activists who were arrested last week for their involvement in mass protests against the discriminatory citizenship law.

The Pakistan authorities must halt their judicial harassment of human rights defender Muhammed Ismail and his wife Uzlifat Ismail and drop all charges against them, said CIVICUS, FIDH, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and Front Line Defenders.

    A Joint Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission and CIVICUS The Bangladesh government has resorted once again to its notorious Digital Security Act-2018 to muzzle freedom of expression, arresting 11 individuals following criticism of the governments’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 47 human rights organisations and independent press media denounce the violation of fundamental human rights caused by the application in Cuba of Decree Law 370.

99 civil society organizations have urged the IMF to consistently and formally include anti-corruption measures in its COVID-19 pandemic-related emergency funding and take concrete steps to help protect and empower civil society groups to monitor these funds.

Arabic Organisations which support human rights, press freedom and journalists are calling on United Nations mechanisms and member states to help save the lives of four Yemeni journalists who were sentenced to death in April 2020 in the capital Sana’a on charges of “spying” and “spreading false news.

We, the undersigned civil society organizations, lawyers, journalists, and activists, urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Alaa Abdel Fattah, our courageous friend, human rights activist, and blogger.

This is an open letter from representatives of NEAR, Civicus, and the Global Fund for Community Foundations.

Arabic As we mark Palestinian Prisoners’ Day this year, Palestinian prisoners and detainees face the additional threat of a coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Israeli prisons and detention centers.

Arabic As governments are undertaking extraordinary measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, we recognise and commend the efforts states are making to manage the well-being of their populations and protect human rights, such as the rights to life and health.

CIVICUS calls on the Ugandan authorities to release 19 members of the LGBTI community who have been arrested on trumped up charges, under the pretext of curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Extend Releases to Those at Special Risk of COVID-19

Arabic We have a responsibility to act decisively to protect our co-workers from adverse health, social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cambodia and COVID19: State of Emergency draft law will put civic freedoms and human rights defenders further at risk CIVICUS, FORUM-ASIA, Frontline Defenders and Civil Rights Defenders are seriously concerned about draconian provisions in Cambodia’s draft State of Emergency Law which mandates unfettered power to the executive, undermining fundamental freedoms with no defined endpoint.

Arabic In light of the global COVID-19 pandemic outbreak—qualified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization (WHO)—we, the undersigned organisations, express grave concern over the situation of detainees and prisoners across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 43rd Session, which was scheduled to run from 24 Feb – 20 March, was suspended after three weeks on 13 March until further notice.

بالعربية More than 220 civil society organizations from around the world have  voiced their concerns over the G20 civil society engagement process hosted by and in Saudi Arabia in 2020.

In the COVID-19 outbreak, the global community is facing one of the most challenging crises for decades.

In December 2019, the Ladies European Tour announced that it would hold a tournament in Saudi Arabia from the 19th to the 22nd March 2020 in collaboration with Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation.

Mobile internet blackout in four townships in Rakhine State among the world’s longest running.

العربية The annual G20 summit often seems like a talking shop for the world’s most powerful governments.

The Dakar Rally (formerly known as the Paris-Dakar Rally) is an annual off-road endurance rally organized by the French company Amaury Sport Organisation (A.

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Joint Statement: Civil society organizations call for all baseless charges against journalists to be dropped We, the undersigned media institutions and local and international civil society organizations call for charges against two former Radio Free Asia (RFA) journalists, Mr.