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UN Report warns of transnational reprisals human rights defenders cooperating with the UN

October 1, 2026

People around the world continue to pay a steep price for cooperating with the United Nations on human rights, facing persistent intimidation and reprisals amid disturbing trends in transnational repression and digital surveillance targeting civil society actors, a UN report published on 16 September 2026 finds. The report urges States to refrain from any acts of intimidation and reprisals, ensure accountability for violations and abuses, and protect those who engage with the UN.

The UN Secretary-General’s report on reprisals documents cases involving human rights defenders, victims of human rights violations and abuses, journalists, lawyers and trade unionists who were targeted by State or non-State actors for cooperating, or seeking to cooperate, with the UN on human rights between 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2026. It covers 32 States*.

The report is not meant to be exhaustive, as many victims refrain from reporting violations or abuses for fear of retaliation. Others chose not to have their cases included or agreed to only do so on condition of anonymity, because of the serious risk of further reprisals.

“Speaking up for human rights should never come at the expense of one’s own personal safety and security. Shrinking civic space and increased surveillance online and offline are fuelling a hostile climate that hinders civil society’s cooperation with the UN and its human rights mechanisms,” said Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Claudia Fuentes Julio, who leads the UN system’s efforts to address reprisals.  

“No one should be forced to choose between their right to cooperate with the UN and their own safety or that of their families and communities,” she added. “Safeguarding our engagement with civil society is not only fundamental to the rights of individuals; it is also essential to the UN’s ability to fulfil its mandate and respond effectively to the needs of the people it serves.”

The report shows a growing trend of transnational repression, in which civil society actors are targeted beyond the borders of their own countries. Documented acts include arbitrary detention, physical attacks, surveillance, threats, online harassment, movement restrictions, confiscation of passports, and intimidation of family members, affecting at least 43 individuals and four organisations.

Digital technologies are increasingly being used to monitor, intimidate and silence those seeking to engage with international human rights mechanisms, underscoring the urgency of strengthening protections for those engaging with the UN in digital spaces.

Continued misuse of legislation, including counterterrorism, cybercrime and national security laws and regulations, remains a concern. More than half of the States mentioned in the report have applied, enacted or amended laws that criminalized or further restricted core civil society activities.

“It is particularly alarming and entirely unacceptable that young activists, women, environmental defenders and Indigenous Peoples reportedly continue to face heightened risks of being targeted for exercising their rights to engage with the UN and stand up for their communities, lands and environment,” said the Assistant Secretary-General.

The report also documents attempts to obstruct civil society participation in UN fora, including by seeking to block or delay accreditation, as well as harassment of participants on UN premises themselves. It also refers to attacks directed at independent human rights experts – including Special Procedures mandate holders, and the wider chilling effect these actions risk having on individuals and organizations seeking to cooperate with the UN.

At the same time, the Secretary-General’s report highlights important efforts across the United Nations system and by Member States to address these issues. It includes initiatives to support safe and meaningful participation of human rights defenders and other civil society on UN premises and measures to strengthen prevention, protection and accountability for reprisals.

* The 32 States referred to in the report are:

Afghanistan; Algeria; Bahrain; Belarus; Burundi; Cameroon; China; Costa Rica; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Egypt; Equatorial Guinea; France; Germany; Guatemala; Guinea-Bissau; India; Iran (Islamic Republic of); Israel; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Libya; Nicaragua; Pakistan; Russian Federation; Saudi Arabia; Sri Lanka; South Sudan; Thailand; Turkmenistan; Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of); Viet Nam; Yemen; State of Palestine.

re Vietnam: Yesterday I posted about a recent case.

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/03/19/transnational-repression-human-rights-watch-and-other-reports/

Transnational Repression: A Year in Review

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/09/report-warns-transnational-repression-and-reprisals-against-individuals-and

Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OHCHR, UN | 1 Comment »
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​​The need to press on with human rights data collection

September 29, 2026

Collecting and disseminating data on transitional justice mechanisms can help lay the foundation for a more just future.

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In 2024, Transitional Justice Evaluation Tools (TJET), a project Geoff Dancy has co-directed for five years, released a global database of human rights accountability mechanisms dating from 1970 to 2020. The project’s website has attracted tens of thousands of users, many seeking background information on cases of interest or exploring processes used in different contexts. 

But some commentators question the purpose of collecting data on truth, justice, and reparations in the current moment. For instance, according to the Oxford Handbook of Transitional Justice, we have now arrived at the end-times of transitional justice—just like we arrived at the end-times of human rights over a decade ago. If this claim were true, it would raise a good question: what’s the point of gathering data if the liberal world order is unraveling, and faith in the transitional justice project is waning along with it? 

A commitment to prevention, recognition, and accountability

Critical theorists often presume that a neoliberal obsession with standardizing knowledge and decontextualizing political problems drives the collection of human rights data. This is an oversimplification. The TJET team’s values are not tied to a particular method or way of thinking but by three commitments that have formed through decades of community engagement and research.

Our first commitment is to prevent atrocities. Avoiding catastrophic political violence, while not the sole aim of justice, certainly seems like a necessary precondition for a just society. Our second commitment is to recognize and acknowledge survivors of mass violence. This means centering survivors in the processes and outcomes of transitional justice, even at the risk of disagreement and contestation. And our third commitment is to transparently document not only human rights violations but also efforts at human rights accountability.  With these values in mind, we can return to the question: why, during turbulent times, is it important to publish and update an archival database on transitional justice? 

The first reason is preparedness. We may well stand at the end of a pro-accountability era. For instance, our data show a clear decline in the number of human rights criminal prosecutions since 2010. And truth commissions, while still frequently established, seem to be accomplishing less. Now, states seem keen on fighting wars rather than preventing them. While arms transfers occur at their highest rate since 1990, foreign assistance for governance and institution-building is drying up.

However, there is no reason to suspect that these dismaying trends will last forever. Today’s authoritarian regimes are tomorrow’s transitional regimes, and today’s conflict zones are tomorrow’s post-conflict zones. When global conditions shift back from extremism to moderation, a repository of past experiences—including what did or did not work—may be helpful.

The second reason is remembrance. States do their level best to hide, bury, or erase information on human rights violations. The United States, for example, keeps at best unreliable national data on shootings by police, and in 2025, it cut funding to a Yale University team tracking the Russian abduction of Ukrainian children. China is hiding an enormous series of concentration camps in the country’s west, and Israel is concealing extensive torture of Palestinians detained since 2023 under emergency laws. These are just a few instances of contemporary states suppressing knowledge of the human rights abuses they commit. There are many, many more.

At the same time, data on accountability for violations also regularly disappears. For example, truth commission reports are often very difficult to find—sometimes because governments limit access to them and sometimes because they live on outdated websites. Information on prosecutions can be equally difficult to track. Justice ministries often do not publish updated case files, and older news articles on prosecutions disappear from the public record. Efforts at cross-national or comparative data collection fall into disuse or disrepair when deprived of continued support and attention. This is problematic because knowing what has happened—and what is happening—to hold human rights violators accountable for their actions is a public good. Many transitional justice mechanisms represent hard-won achievements for victims and human rights defenders. To forget those efforts, intentionally or unintentionally, is a form of silencing. 

To cite just one example, Sri Lankans discovered a mass grave of Tamils in Chemmani, near Jaffna, in early summer 2025. They expressed their outrage and demanded justice. What many did not realize is that investigators had previously discovered evidence of this mass grave over two decades ago, during the successful prosecution of a soldier who participated in the 1996 gang rape and murder of 18-year-old Krishanthi Koomaraswamy. Memory of this trial, including the soldier’s mention of the mass grave in his confession, was suppressed and largely forgotten. 

Building a better future by learning from experience

This brings us to a third and final reason for collecting and publishing data on transitional justice: meliorism, or openness to the possibility that we can make the future better. Keeping the most extensive possible record of prior attempts at accountability can provide practitioners and advocates with experiences on which to build. Our project is called Transitional Justice Evaluation Tools, but we do not seek to control these tools or define their use in evaluation. Our job is to provide data for any efforts at benchmarking, impact assessment, or comparison. After all, no one can learn from experience without information. That is why all our data are open, transparently sourced, and freely available.

Yes, we may be living in a new era of renewed impunity. However, that does not mean that the demand for truth and accountability or information on transitional justice will suddenly vanish. Unless we answer these demands with a shrug. 

Geoff Dancy is an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto and a primary investigator on the Transitional Justice Evaluation Tools (TJET) project. He is a methodological pluralist who studies human rights discourse, the International Criminal Court, and the impacts of accountability mechanisms.

https://www.openglobalrights.org/the-need-to-press-on-with-human-rights-data-collection/

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Over 130 human rights experts issue global call for States to end transnational repression

September 28, 2026

Visit ishr.ch

UN human rights experts released a landmark statement urging States, businesses, INTERPOL and international organisations to prevent and combat the spread of transnational repression, warning of its increasing impacts on human rights, democracy and the rule of law and those who take action to defend them. Over one hundred UN Special Procedures mandate holders and members of Treaty Bodies (full list below) adopted a landmark statement calling for a decisive international response to the increasing use of transnational repression by States as a tool to silence activism across borders. ‘An unprecedented number of UN experts made it clear today that any response to transnational repression should be strongly anchored in human rights obligations. Not only should governments hold perpetrators accountable, they should also proactively adopt laws and policies that centre the needs of victims, in particular at-risk diasporas and those in exile.’Raphaël Viana David, ISHR Senior Advocacy Manager ‘Transnational repression represents a growing challenge to the international human rights system and to the principles of the Charter of the UN itself,’ signatories said in their appeal, which provided a roadmap of measures to prevent and respond to transnational repression, and better assist and protect those targeted. ‘By creating fear across borders, transnational repression has profound consequences not only for those directly targeted, their families and communities, but also for civil society action, democratic principles, civic space, refugee protection, independent journalism and media freedom,’ the experts stressed, warning that this threatens the ability of individuals and groups to ‘promote, protect and defend human rights, and to engage safely with national, regional and international human rights mechanisms’, including at the UN. Arising from a retreat for UN human rights experts convened by ISHR in June, this joint statement comes a week after the UN Human Rights Council’s first dedicated dialogue on the issue of transnational repression, and arbitrary detention and amid broader efforts by the UN human rights system to address growing acts of transnational repression targeting those who engage with the UN. These efforts include statements and resolutions at the Human Rights Council, and a first brief by the UN Human Rights Office. Transnational repression tactics, the experts said, include extrajudicial killings, torture, harassment, arbitrary detention, travel bans, expulsions, deprivation of nationality, misuse of international law enforcement mechanisms, including INTERPOL Red Notices, intimidation of family members and associates, and more. Signatories flagged the ‘increasingly digital nature of transnational repression’, including through the use of social media, spyware and malware software, warning that all of these are being amplified by artificial intelligence tools. Signatories urge States to refrain from committing or supporting acts of transnational repression and to develop specific laws and policies to prevent, investigate and punish such acts, including when they don’t amount to a crime under domestic law. This includes directing resources to better track and analyse patterns of transnational repression, including digitally, building the capacity of national authorities across different areas, establishing inter-governmental coordination mechanisms and focal points, and regulating surveillance technologies. Signatories stress the need to combat the misuse of frameworks to counter terrorism and organised crime, to apply additional vetting to INTERPOL Red Notices and Diffusions, and to take into account a country’s transnational repression record when considering bilateral cooperation, agreements, and diplomatic assurances. States must also redouble efforts to protect and assist those being targeted or likely to be in the future, including through efficient reporting channels, adequate protection policies and programmes, psychosocial support, and expedited asylum, resettlement and humanitarian visa processes. Experts also call on other actors, including international organisations and businesses – to be wary of transnational repression and of their responsibilities in preventing it. Businesses, in particular tech companies, should conduct due diligence and strengthen privacy and data protection. INTERPOL should also step up efforts to tackle the misuse of Notices, Diffusions, and other mechanisms, including by cooperating with civil society and relevant States. ‘Powerful human rights abusers will not let a border stop them from quashing dissent. At a time when more States are pushing human rights defence into exile, the UN and all States who care about upholding human rights must heed the experts’ call and take action to protect those who seek refuge or engage in critique or dissent abroad.’Raphael Viana David The latest annual report by the UN Secretary-General on acts of reprisals against individuals seeking to cooperate with the UN cites 32 States. Of these, 13 States are cited for acts of transnational repression, affecting at least 43 individuals and four organisations. ‘Allegations of transnational repression across borders seemed to be on the rise, with examples from all regions, some enabled by the misuse of digital technologies,’ the report noted in its conclusions. ‘Transnational repression can cripple key accountability efforts at the UN and leave the global human rights system blind and deaf. States must ensure human rights defenders and activists who seek justice at the UN are safe from the long reach of abusive governments both while engaging with its mechanisms and afterwards.’Madeleine Sinclair, director of ISHR’s office in New York. ISHR has long campaigned to denounce reprisals against those engaging with the UN, and for the UN and States to ensure that human rights defenders and civil society organisations can safely cooperate with human rights experts and mechanisms. This year, ISHR’s campaign is focused on the impact of transnational repression. ISHR urges States, UN officials, businesses and all stakeholders to follow the recommendations in the statement and take proactive steps to address, prevent and punish acts of transnational repression, to enhance assistance and protection of victims, and to ensure everyone can safely engage with the UN and other international human rights bodies.

READ THE FULL
STATEMENT HERE
https://crm.ishr.ch/civicrm/mailing/view?reset=1&id=2026&cid=8618&cs=1c0e8879424323feccbd08455c9c775a_1790156122_168

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/03/19/transnational-repression-human-rights-watch-and-other-reports/

https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/over-130-human-rights-experts-issue-global-call-for-states-to-end-transnational-repression

https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/human-rights-council-reprisals-debate-highlights-growing-trend-of-transnational-repression

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/united-nations-human-rights-experts-release-joint-statement-on-transnational-repression

https://mzv.gov.cz/coe.strasbourg/en/news/czechia_hosts_debate_on_digital.html

Posted in human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, UN | 3 Comments »
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Reprisals against human rights defenders threaten civic space in Malaysia – serious concern about human rights defenders Amir Hariri Abd Hadi and Chew Chuan Yang

September 25, 2026

ARTICLE 19 and CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation denounce the intimidation and restrictions of human rights organisations MANDIRI and HAYAT, and their representatives, MANDIRI Executive Director Amir Harir Hadi, and MANDIRI Finance Director and HAYAT Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dobby Chew. The recent incidents signal an intensified, worrying pattern of harassment against human rights defenders in Malaysia, directly undermining the ability of civil society to advocate for accountability and reforms without fear of reprisal.  We stand in solidarity with Amir Hadi, Dobby Chew, and their organisations. Our organisations also urge the authorities to immediately reinstate affected bank accounts, lift the travel bans imposed on Amir Hadi and Dobby Chew, and drop the investigations against them. 

On 11 September, MANDIRI confirmed that Amir Harir Hadi’s personal bank account had been frozen under Section 44(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLA) 2001 until further instructions from the police. The bank accounts of Dobby Chew, as well as those belonging to MANDIRI and HAYAT have also been blocked. MANDIRI also confirmed that, as of 14 September, they have not received an official letter or notice from the police regarding an investigation into the matter.  

Authorities’ harassment of MANDIRI started in May 2026 after a call by Kamil Munim, political secretary to the finance minister and chief of the youth wing of the People’s Justice Party (PKR), for an investigation into alleged foreign funding that had been channelled to organisations, individuals, and politicians. Munim urged the authorities to carry out the investigations in the interest of protecting national security from political activities.  

A week prior, on 3 September, Amir Hadi confirmed that he had been banned from travelling abroad, shortly after Dobby Chew faced issues returning to Kuala Lumpur from Jakarta. Dobby has since been informed that he is also under a travel ban. 

‘Restricting the movement and financial operations of human rights organisations and defenders without transparency, due process, or clear legal justification is disproportionate and unnecessary. Such measures interfere with the legitimate work of civil society organisations, hampering their ability to operate independently, defend human rights, and support communities that they serve,’ said Alfred Wu, Head of the Asia-Pacific Programme at ARTICLE 19.

Both Amir Hadi and Dobby Chew voluntarily presented themselves to the Bukit Aman police station on 14 September to seek clarification regarding the frozen bank accounts and travel bans, having received no prior contact or information from the authorities on these restrictions. 

In recent months, human rights defenders have come under increasing pressure. Examples include investigations into the former CEO of the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center), Pushpan Muruguah, for allegedly committing an activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy; investigations into political commentators and academics; the arrest of youth activists Hamdin Nordin, Fakrurrazzi Khairur Rijal, and Ahsanul Akmal Sulam in connection with allegations of misuse of power involving the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC); probes into activist Shakila Zen for allegedly defaming a royal institution by linking it to sand mining activities; and travel restrictions imposed on three activists from the electoral rights group BERSIH, Asraf Sharafi Azhar, Anas Nor’azim, and Alyaah Hani.  

‘Taken together, this string of incidents points to a troubling pattern of pressure against those who dare speak out and seek accountability. This risks entrenching a culture ofintimidation and silencing critical voices, which cannot be normalised. As Malaysia moves towards its next general elections, the authorities should instead be doing the opposite: ensuring a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders to operate in and hold those in power accountable without fear of reprisal. A protected civic space is not only essential for credible elections, but for a healthy and resilient democracy,’ said Josef Benedict, Civicus Asia Pacific Researcher.

Serious concern about the arrest and detention of human rights defenders, Amir Hariri Abd Hadi and Chew Chuan Yang in Malaysia

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) has called on authorities to stop targeting human rights defenders and instead ensure transparency and accountability in matters involving corruption.

The call came after Mandiri executive director Amir Hariri Abd Hadi and finance director Dobby Chew were arrested on Sept 22 under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).

On 22 September 2026 Frontline issued a call for the release of Amir Hariri Abd Hadi and Chew Chuan Yang in Malysia.

https://www.article19.org/resources/malaysia-reprisals-against-human-rights-defenders-threaten-civic-space

https://www.sinardaily.my/article/741140/focus/national/stop-targeting-rights-defenders-cij-tells-authorities-after-mandiri-case

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/amir-hariri-abd-hadi-and-chew-chuan-yang-arrested-under-anti-money-laundering-law

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UN report on SLAPPs: the lawsuits that silence those who speak out

September 24, 2026

A journalist exposes corruption. An Indigenous leader defends their community’s land. An environmental activist raises the alarm on devastating pollution. Then comes a lawsuit. Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are designed to intimidate, exhaust and silence people who speak out on issues that matter to society. On 16 September, UN Human Rights presented a report during the 63rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, examining their impact on human rights.

The report was prepared following a request from the Council in Resolution 56/7 and draws on discussions held during an expert workshop organized on 28 May 2025.

At the expert workshop, a representative of UN Human Rights held that the use of SLAPPs constitutes an abusive instrumentalization of judicial systems. They not only distort the purpose of legal proceedings; they transform courts from instruments of justice into tools of repression.

see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/strategic-lawsuits-against-public-participation-slapps/

In their first session of the workshop, centered on the impact of these strategic lawsuits on journalists, journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown spoke from her personal experience. Brown said that she had been the target of multiple strategic lawsuits against public participation, regarding her work on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.

The scandal involved theft and laundering of more than 4.5 billion US dollars from wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad into American financial institutions. The brave reporting led to the conviction of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on money laundering and abuse of power charges in 2022.

Unfortunately, the case also had consequences for the reporters. Two Malaysian business publications were suspended for three months, and two Australian journalists were detained and deported from Malaysia.

She was subject to intimidation by letters which alleged that her reporting amounted to libel, defamation, and an invasion of privacy. In 2017, a lawsuit on her reporting on a Malaysian political party led to lengthy proceedings ultimately depleted her pension and put her family at financial risk. 

Protesters hold placards, banners and shout slogans to protest in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 08 August 2015. © EPA/AHMAD YUSNI

Her case is a clear example of the use of SLAPPs to suppress the work of investigative journalists, the tense relationship between litigants and media freedoms, and emphasizes a need for reform. Brown was interviewed by UN Human Rights in May 2024, on her experience reporting on environmental violations and corruptions in Malaysia.

Irene Khan, the former Special Rapporteur on promotion and protection of right to freedom of opinion and expression, said these lawsuits occur frequently because they are a subtle form of repression than overt physical attacks. In many cases, they are effective at silencing dissent and often succeed to bankrupt or deter defendants.

Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, agreed that this is a misuse of the legal system predominantly by large corporations: 474 lawsuits have been initiated by private actors since 2015, and 68 percent involved criminal charges.

Satterthwaite outlined recommendations to put an end to this abuse of legislation: Judges must be trained to identify and discuss these lawsuits properly. Bar associations must develop ethical guidance to sanction lawyers who misuse the legal system. States must enact legislation to counter the use of such lawsuits and decriminalize defamation where appropriate.

The expert workshop also examined ways to counter SLAPPs.

Nikhil Dutta, Senior Legal Advisor at the International Center for Not-For-Profit Law, noted that responses designed to counter such lawsuits had been enacted in numerous jurisdictions, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Ireland, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the European Union.

Other approaches to solve these blatant human rights violations outlined in the expert workshop include enacting protections for public participation through legislation, empowering courts to dismiss abusive proceedings, establishing public funds for defense against SLAPPs, and establishing punitive damages on entities that file these lawsuits.

UN Human Rights has released a briefer on SLAPPs, a comprehensive summary of the report and the impact of these lawsuits on human rights, civic space, and victims. It suggests measures that States should take to tackle SLAPPs, including the decriminalization of defamation; the adoption of anti-SLAPPs laws; the possibility for courts to dismiss SLAPPs early; and the need to compensate victims and penalize abusive claimants.

The message is clear: states and others need to make it easy for people to speak up, to influence decisions that affect them, and to hold state institutions accountable. They must do what is in their power to ensure people do not face legal intimidation for defending human rights.

Freedom of expression and opinion is a precious good critical for protecting all human rights, and the law must not become a weapon to silence those who speak out.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2026/09/lawsuits-silence-those-who-speak-out

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450 NGOs urge Turkey to end criminalization of LGBTI+ movement

September 24, 2026

More than 450 civil society organizations from 65 countries have called on Turkey to end what they described as the criminalization of the LGBTI+ movement and release people detained solely for human rights work.

In a joint statement on 22 September 2026 titled “Stop the Criminalisation of the LGBTI+ Movement in Turkey,” the groups said human rights advocacy, publishing, organizing, membership, donations, fundraising and lawful domestic or international funding should not be treated as evidence of criminal activity and called for an end to raids and online restrictions targeting LGBTI+ organizations and human rights defenders.

The statement, published by Turkey-based Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR), was signed by organizations including the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), CIVICUS, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA), PEN Norway and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). CIVICUS is a global alliance of civil society organizations and activists.

The groups objected to what they described as the use of organized-crime provisions and broadly defined concepts such as “obscenity,” “morality” and “family” to criminalize LGBTI+ identities, visibility and advocacy.

The appeal follows a nationwide operation that began September 13 with police raids on LGBTI+ organizations, activists’ homes, gay bars and nightclubs, a day after Turkish authorities restricted access to social media accounts belonging to more than a dozen groups.

Organizations targeted in the investigations include the Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL), the Families and Friends of LGBTI+ People Association (LİSTAG) and the Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (SPoD), as well as several other LGBTI+ and HIV-related groups.

According to Turkish media, 116 people had been detained in the raids and 82 were jailed pending trial. The cases include LGBTI+ activists and members of rights organizations as well as people accused of prostitution, drug offenses and other crimes, meaning not everyone detained or jailed in the operation was accused of activity connected to LGBTI+ advocacy.

More than 450 groups from 65 countries urge Turkey to end criminalization of LGBTI+ movement

https://www.omct.org/en/resources/urgent-interventions/turkey-mass-arbitrary-detention-of-lgbtqi-human-rights-defenders

https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/press-releases/article/tuerkiye-global-unions-express-their-unwavering-solidarity-with-lgbti-organisations-activists-and-human-rights-defenders

Amnesty urges Turkey to drop charges against 11 LGBTI+ rights defenders

https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/10/12/turkiye-end-internet-censorship

https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/10/13/turkiye-cop31-host-curbs-environment-defenders

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/10/turkiye-un-experts-alarmed-crackdown-lgbti-human-rights-defenders-and-civil

TÜRKIYE: Lawyers targeted in crackdown on LGBTQI+ organisations and rights defenders

Posted in Amnesty international, FIDH, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, OMCT | Leave a Comment »
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Borderline Harassment: Human Rights Defenders in Poland Targeted at the Belarus Border

September 23, 2026

On September 22, 2026 Human Rights First issued a report on harassment of HRDs at this border.

Local Human Rights Defenders working near Poland’s border with Belarus say that Polish authorities continue to target them for providing food, medical care, and legal assistance to migrants and asylum seekers crossing from Belarus.

In August 2026, Human Rights First returned to the border region and spoke with activists. They described searches of their homes, phone seizures, questioning by border guards, online abuse and threats, fading public, political, and media interest, and shrinking funding. Several HRDs remain under criminal investigation or face prosecution. Many said they were exhausted.

Since 2021, Belarus has encouraged and enabled tens of thousands of people to cross its border into Poland, with smaller numbers sent to Latvia and Lithuania, to create political problems for the European Union. Many of those crossing are fleeing conflict and persecution in the Middle East and Africa.

The Polish government has responded to the crisis with harsh measures that violated rights. It introduced an exclusion zone at the border which remains in place and bans non-residents, including journalists and NGO workers, from entering the area. It also stationed soldiers at the border and built a high fence along the frontier. Since March 2025, it has also suspended the right to seek asylum at the Poland-Belarus border. In the wake of various developments, the number of crossings has fallen sharply, but pressure on those who help migrants continues.

Read the Report.

https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/library/borderline-harassment-human-rights-defenders-in-poland-targeted-at-the-belarus-border

Posted in HRF, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
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UN rights expert speak out against Moscow’s transnational repression

September 23, 2026

Kasmira Jefford on 23 September 2026 in Geneva Solutions discusses the transnational repression by Russia as exposed in Mariana Katzarova’s report to the UN.

Reporting to the Human Rights Council this week on the Kremlin’s widening crackdown on Russian critics overseas, Mariana Katzarova urged states to create a binding international instrument to put a stop to authoritarian governments reaching across borders.  Since being appointed special rapporteur on Russia by the Human Rights Council in October 2022 – eight months after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – Mariana Katzarova has reported widely on the Kremlin’s expanding efforts to stifle critics and anti-war voices within its borders.

But her latest report took her into new territory. “Today, I report on how Russia is exporting that rule of fear,” she told members gathered in the Palais des Nations’ Assembly Hall on Monday. The country in question was conspicuously absent.

The Bulgarian human rights expert and former journalist described how Vladimir Putin’s government “has become one of the most prolific perpetrators of transnational repression” by building a state-run system to surveil, intimidate and punish any citizens seen to be voicing dissent abroad.

Drawing on more than 400 documented cases, Katzarova noted these were “not a series of isolated incidents”. “It is the continuation, beyond Russia’s borders, of the same structural, state-sponsored system of repression I have documented at home,” she added.

Her report, she claims, is the first UN country-specific report on transnational repression – a concept for which Katzarova said there is still no universal definition but which she describes as a state reaching beyond its borders to silence political or civic opponents.

In August, Russia introduced a new law imposing sweeping financial, property and consular restrictions on Russians living abroad who have pending convictions, including under legislation used to prosecute critics. “My report calls this civic death, de facto statelessness for people who remain on paper citizens,” she added, calling on Moscow to rescind the law.

Russia declined Geneva Solutions’ request to comment. In a statement issued earlier this month, Moscow’s foreign ministry said its stance was unchanged from previous years. “We do not recognise the mandate of this illegitimate special procedure, and any form of interaction with it is unacceptable to us”.

Several journalists and rights defenders targeted by Russia were also present at the Human Rights Council on Monday to share their testimonies – including Natalia Arno, an exiled Buryat human rights defender, who fell ill in 2023 with suspected poisoning symptoms during a conference visit in Prague.

Arno, who lives in the United States where she founded the Free Russia Foundation, recalls finding her hotel room door open and noticing a strange smell inside. She woke up the next day with sharp dental pain and cancelled the rest of her trip. On the flight back, she said her organs started to fail, and she was rushed to the hospital on arrival.

Arno said US authorities investigating the case couldn’t tell her what happened, claiming it was a matter of national security. However, according to the special rapporteur, she was told informally by a military hospital that was analysing her bloodwork that she had been targeted by a new type of Novichok.

The suspected attack was unlike anything she had experienced before. “This was another eye-opening level, because it seemed like surveillance, cyberattacks – they just wanted some information about us. But to physically attack us, it was something new,” Arno said.

She said that more needed to be done at an international level to raise awareness of transnational repression. “This issue should not only be treated as a human rights issue. It’s definitely a national security issue because it’s also an attack on the sovereignty of your country,” she said as she addressed states in the room.

Roman Dobrokhotov, Russian journalist and editor-in-chief of news platform The Insider, was also at the side event. “You don’t see my name here because of security reasons – I can’t announce in advance when I’m flying to a conference, even if it is a UN event.”

The Kremlin has targeted Dobrokhotov following investigations by his media into the government’s role in a string of deadly incidents, including the poisoning of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in 2020. Last year, in a long-running trial in the UK, where the journalist and his family have been residing, a court found six Bulgarians guilty of spying for Moscow in a sophisticated operation that included Dobrokhotov among their targets.

He echoed Arno’s concern that repression of individuals was also a problem of global security, saying the same groups targeting him “were also responsible for a big wave of sabotage operations in many different countries”.

Katzarova said countries, particularly in Europe and the United States, where she had seen many cases of transnational repression, needed to work more closely to combat the problem, especially by vetting international compliance databases like Interpol to prevent politically motivated entries or arrest warrants from being automatically cleared.

The expert called for a UN convention to establish common definitions, host-state responsibility, and frameworks for prevention, accountability, and cooperation.

“I hope this is not just a distant dream, but there is a lot of work to be done by member states to initiate such a new instrument,” she told journalists, adding that the Human Rights Council should be at the forefront of such a movement.

“In the meantime, while we don’t have this convention in place, I am calling on the host states to actually develop on their national level a whole framework set up to tackle transnational repression with a strategy, with involvement of their law enforcement, prosecutors, civil society, in order to identify who the victims are,” she said.

Human Rights Council members will vote at the end of the session on whether to renew her mandate – in a resolution being led by the European Union. Commenting on the report on the human rights situation in Russia, the EU ambassador noted the existence of a systematic mechanism of repression in Russia that operates even beyond the country’s borders to suppress criticism.

“The EU is concerned about the report’s findings, the cases of murders and poisonings, the abuse of legal and administrative procedures, the conduct of digital operations, and the use of Interpol contrary to its intended purpose — all of which are directed against individuals both within Russia and beyond its borders,” the EU representative noted. [https://ua.news/en/world/es-zaklikav-rosiiu-pripiniti-peresliduvannia-gromadian-cherez-interpol]

see also:

Transnational Repression: A Year in Review
Transnational repression: Human Rights Watch and other reports
Human rights defenders increasingly face reprisals through transnational repression – #EndReprisals campaign!

https://genevasolutions.news/human-rights/un-rights-expert-calls-out-moscow-s-intensified-repression-of-opponents-outside-russia

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Open letter by NGOs to forthcoming EU-CELAC ministerial meeting on Security

September 23, 2026

To the leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union,

As you gather in the forthcoming EU-CELAC ministerial meeting, security will be in everyone’s minds: security of your populations; international security in the context of a growing number of armed conflicts around the world; as well as transnational security challenges, such as transnational crime and drug trafficking.

This security framing is not baseless.The deterioration of the security situation in the continent results from the complex interplay of state policies, corporate interests, transnational criminal groups, high levels of corruption and geopolitical dynamics. Latin America and the Caribbean remains one of the most dangerous regions of the world to be a human rights defender. According to data from the HRDMemorial, a global consortium of human rights organisations coordinated by Front Line Defenders dedicated to verify and document killings of human rights defenders, 274 human rights defenders were killed in 2025 in the Americas.

However, the undersigned organisations share the concern that the securitisation of politics and policies, rather than achieving safer societies and lowering levels of violence, is being misused to unduly target human rights defenders and civil society, undermine the rule of law as well as to push through an economic agenda of extractivism without proper consultation and safeguards nor a popular mandate.

The instrumentalisation of counter terrorism and other security legislation is nothing new and has been extensively documented, including against indigenous communities in the Americas and pro Palestine peaceful protesters in Europe. Human rights defenders have long been accused of being part of “extremist” or criminal organisations; and the finances of leading human rights organisations on both regions have been hit with false accusations of money laundering, financing of terrorism, foreign influence or tax evasion, weaponising the international security and financial normative architecture to cripple their legitimate and peaceful human rights work.

From these trends we are seeing a model emerge and grow rapidly across the Americas. This model, perfected and championed in El Salvador by the government of Nayib Bukele, follows a similar pattern: successive states of emergency justified under guise of security for the population, growing militarisation that enables arbitrary arrests, prolonged pretrial detention, violation of fair trial rights, harsh penalties, high-lethality police, deaths in custody, torture, sexual violence and enforced disappearances in what international jurists and experts have concluded may constitute crimes against humanity.

At the last EU-CELAC summit, on 9 November 2025, both sides jointly recognised “the role of civil society organisations and human rights defenders” and committed to combat “transnational organised crime and drug trafficking […] in full compliance with international law”. We note with alarm that the reality on the ground seems to be very different, as a slate of punitive measures and restrictive legislation, including foreign agents laws modelled on Russian legislation, is adopted across the region.

Human rights defenders are targeted and stigmatised as pawns of criminal groups – while boundaries between state institutions, private economic interests and criminal networks are often blurred and go unexamined. In this context, securitisation is not only a response to crime, it is used to facilitate economic interests by enabling governments and private actors to gain access to land, suppress resistance to projects, and concentrate power without transparency or oversight.

Security narratives become a justification for militarisation, restriction or closure of civic space and criminalisation of defenders, silencing them and ultimately clearing the path for extractive and infrastructure projects so they can move forward with little to no opposition. Too often, the international community reads this dynamic as a necessary trade-off between human rights and security and progress, which in turn reinforces the narratives used by these governments to sell this choice to their voters.

Respect for human rights and the rule of law have been jointly and repeatedly endorsed by all participants in successive EU-CELAC summits and other forums. The forthcoming EU-CELAC ministerial meeting thus presents an important opportunity for partners from both sides of the ocean to push back on this narrative of security versus human rights and democracy.

As both sides deepen their cooperation on security and strategic investment, through the Global Gateway and partnerships on critical raw materials and other sectors, all cooperation must be firmly anchored in values that both regions share: rule of law, human rights and respect for international norms and standards. To accept restrictions on civic space and attacks on human rights defenders as necessary for security and economic development is a cold and false trade off that betrays those values.

The leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union must be clear: there can be no sustainable security, responsible value chains and sustainable development goals without human rights and democratic institutions. Human rights defenders and civil society are not enemies, but play a crucial role in their societies, and must be allowed to carry out their legitimate human rights work.

Therefore, the undersigned organisations call on EU-CELAC leaders to issue a joint declaration dedicated to protect civic space and human rights defenders, and the rule of law committing to:

  • End the misuse of anti-terrorism and financial laws against civil society and publicly reject the criminalisation of human rights defenders;
  • ensure the rule of law and human rights safeguards in security and investment frameworks and in region to region cooperation, including under the Global Gateway and in any cooperation on critical raw minerals;
  • Condemn the indiscriminate and prolonged use of states of emergencies,and the creeping militarization of multiple aspects of public life, including military ownership of infrastructure and resources;
  • Develop policies to combat organized crime that are grounded in human rights, address the root causes of socio economic conflicts, and integrate anti-corruption measures;
  • Condemn the adoption of “foreign agent” laws and legal instruments designed to restrict civic space and foreign funding for human rights and non-governmental organisations.

In parallel, we urge you to act for mutual accountability in upholding the international human rights commitments of EU and LAC states by:

  • Maintaining continued international scrutiny for violations in EU-LAC exchanges and in multilateral forums, and promoting relevant structural reforms;
  • Condition cooperation and technical assistance on issues of security and justice on compliance with human rights standards and judicial guarantees;
  • Pro-actively and publicly support human rights organizations, journalists, defenders and families of victims through joint public declarations, robust diplomatic efforts and concrete cooperation; on protection programmes, psychosocial support, legal assistance and sustainable financing;
  • Promote effective legislation and policies for the protection of human rights defenders and ensure adequate funding for their implementation.

Download the Joint Letter

On behalf of the following organizations:

  • ActionAid
  • Amnesty International
  • Asociación Nacional de Centros (ANC) del Perú
  • CELAC – EU Civil Society Working Group
  • Coordinadora de la Mujer
  • Coordinadora de ONGs Española
  • Esquel
  • EU – LAT Network
  • European Network OIDHACO – International Office for Human Rights- Action Colombia
  • International Federation for Human Rights – FIDH
  • Foro para las Relaciones CELAC-UE
  • Front Line Defenders
  • Protection International
  • World Organisation Against Torture – OMCT

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/re-securitization-militarization-and-its-impact-human-rights

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Netanyahu backs legislation that would strip ‘NAZA’ makers of citizenship – unlikely to succeed

September 22, 2026

Jewish Telegraphic Agency on 18 September reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would advance legislation allowing Israel to revoke the citizenship of people who defame soldiers or the state abroad, citing “NAZA,” the prize-winning documentary accusing the military of knowingly killing large numbers of civilians in Gaza.

But President Isaac Herzog rejected the idea of stripping the filmmakers’ citizenship, telling Channel 12 that it was “completely irrelevant” and had “no chance” of happening. Herzog nevertheless called “NAZA” “a shame and disgrace” and accused those involved in its making of “tarnishing” Israel’s name abroad.  Under current Israeli law, citizenship can be revoked only in narrowly defined cases involving a “breach of loyalty,” such as terrorism, treason or serious espionage, and the process requires court involvement. 

“NAZA,” directed by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, is based on three years of interviews with 24 anonymous Israeli soldiers, most of them intelligence personnel, who describe their roles in surveillance, target selection and strikes in Gaza. The film argues that expected civilian deaths were routinely calculated in advance and, in some cases, accepted as part of the targeting process, allegations the IDF has rejected. 

Lt. Col. (res.) Sarit Zehavi, a former military intelligence officer who was involved in issues of civilian warnings and target approval, disputed the film’s interpretation of “NAZA.” The acronym is Hebrew military term for “collateral damage,” or the civilian casualties that are likely to come in attacking a military target. 

Zehavi, who said she had not seen the full film and was responding to its promotional material, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency the estimate of civilian deaths is used in the planning process as a warning about the number of civilians who could be harmed in a strike.

….Channel 12 also reported that Israeli diplomats believed the Prime Minister’s Office was “fueling the internal debate around the film for political reasons and as part of an election campaign,” arguing that the government’s attacks were working against Israel’s interests abroad. 

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel also criticized the proposed measures, saying the government was entitled to challenge the film’s claims but using state power to threaten its creators or sources was “illegitimate and violated freedom of expression and freedom of the press.” The Committee to Protect Journalists called the citizenship proposal a “dangerous escalation” in efforts to intimidate journalists and filmmakers. 

More than 2,000 Israeli film professionals signed a petition supporting Abraham and Szor, warning that the campaign against them was nearing the legitimization of violence. Forty-three Israeli human rights, equality and peace organizations — including B’Tselem, Peace Now, Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Breaking the Silence — also urged authorities to avoid prosecuting the filmmakers or their sources. Prominent international filmmakers and festival leaders joined their defense.

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