Human rights defenders who engage with the United Nations are increasingly facing reprisals through transnational repression, as States seek to silence criticism beyond their borders.
The world is starting to recognise transnational repression. [see e.g. https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/03/19/transnational-repression-human-rights-watch-and-other-reports/] Now it must act to stop it.
ISHR calls on States to raise cases of transnational repression as reprisals against human rights defenders who engaged with the United Nations. Here is the message it will send and it calls on anybody to sign up:
Excellency,
In the past, you showed your support in preventing reprisals against those who engage with the United Nations by co-sponsoring the resolution on reprisals and/or publicly naming cases of reprisals against human rights defenders.
The following human rights defenders have dedicated themselves to promoting and safeguarding human rights in their respective countries, including through engagement with the United Nations. Yet, instead of being protected, they are facing reprisals and transnational repression linked to their cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms.
Through threats, criminalisation, surveillance, attacks on family members, professional sanctions, asset seizures and other forms of intimidation, these defenders continue to face consequences for engaging with the United Nations, even while living in exile.
I urge your delegation to raise the following cases during the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly’s Third Committee and publicly condemn all acts of reprisals and transnational repression against individuals who cooperate with the UN.
Basma Mostafa (Egypt) is an investigative journalist and human rights defender who fled Egypt in 2020 after reporting on enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings. Despite living in exile in Europe, she continues to face threats, harassment, surveillance and intimidation linked to her human rights work and engagement with UN human rights mechanisms. Her case was included in the UN Secretary-General’s reprisals report.
Anna Kwok (Hong Kong) was the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council. In connection with her international human rights advocacy and engagement with UN mechanisms, Hong Kong authorities issued an arrest warrant against her, revoked her passport and offered a reward for information leading to her arrest. Her case was included in the Secretary-General’s reprisals report, and reprisals have also extended to her family members.
Armel Niyongere, Dieudonné Bashirahishize, Vital Nshimirimana and Lambert Nigarura (Burundi) are human rights lawyers who were forced into exile after cooperating with the UN Committee against Torture. Despite living in Belgium, they remain subject to the consequences of reprisals, including life sentences handed down in absentia and the freezing of their assets in Burundi. In 2025, the Committee against Torture found that Burundi had violated the Convention against Torture by retaliating against them for engaging with the UN.
These cases underscore the urgent need for States to address transnational repression as a growing threat to the integrity of the UN human rights system and the safety of those who engage with it.
I call on your delegation to publicly raise these cases during the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly’s Third Committee, condemn all acts of reprisals and transnational repression against those who cooperate with the United Nations, and urge the governments concerned to end these violations.
Human rights defenders must be able to engage with the United Nations freely, safely and without fear of retaliation, whether at home or abroad.
Yours sincerely,
your full name will go here
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The world is beginning to recognise transnational repression. Now it must act to stop it.
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