Archive for the 'Human Rights Council' Category

« Older posts
Newer posts »

Group of UN Experts on Nicaragua finds escalating persecution against human rights defenders

September 14, 2023

Nicaragua has increased human rights violations and persecution of the opposition as it ratchets up its efforts to stifle dissent, a United Nations group of experts monitoring the country said on 12 September 2023.

The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, that the government continues increasing pressure on human rights defenders to force them to leave the country.

That persecution has extended to the education sector, where the government has systematically cancelled the legal status of private universities and seized their campuses.

“We have observed the intentional and severe deprivation of economic and social rights, in particular the right to education and academic freedom,” said Jan-Michael Simon, chair of the group. “Today, the university sector of Nicaragua as a whole no longer has independent institutions. Nicaragua is being stripped of its intellectual capital and critical voices, leaving the country’s prospects and development on hold.”

Last month, the government confiscated the prestigious Jesuit-run University of Central America in Nicaragua. It was the latest in a series of actions by authorities against the Catholic Church, but also among some 27 higher education institutions that have been cancelled and confiscated.

The group noted that religious figures, in particular from the Catholic Church, are increasingly targets of attacks and some have been forced to leave the country. Once abroad they are sometimes stripped of their nationality and have their assets in Nicaragua confiscated.

The university and other education institutions were important centers of dissent during the popular protests in April in 2018 that became a referendum on President Daniel Ortega’s administration. Ortega was re-elected after jailing seven potential competitors in 2021.

The government’s pursuit of the opposition has continued and intensified. Students and other opposition figures have been imprisoned or forced into exile.

In February, the Nicaraguan government put 222 prisoners on a plane to the United States, declaring them traitors.

“The seriousness of these violations, in conjunction with the other crimes documented to date, perpetrated by reason of the political identity of the group targeted, leads the Group of Experts to conclude that these constitute prima facie the crime against humanity of persecution on political grounds,” the group said.

See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/02/21/nicaragua-death-in-detention-and-sham-trial/

https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2023/09/group-experts-nicaragua-finds-escalating-persecution-against-dissent-and-crackdown?sub-site=HRC

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/nicaraguas-human-rights-violations-persecution-dissidents-rise-103128377

Posted in Human Rights Council | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Human Rights Defenders at the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council

September 11, 2023

On 6 September 2023 the ISHR published its formidable overview of key issues at the upcoming, 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council (from 11 September – 13 October). I have extracted from it – as ussual [for 53rd see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/06/20/human-rights-defenders-issues-at-the-53rd-session-of-the-un-human-rights-council/], the issues most direclty affecting Human Rights defenders

To stay up-to-date: Follow @ISHRglobal and #HRC54 on Twitter/X, and look out for their Human Rights Council Monitor.

Thematic areas of interest

Reprisals

During the 54th session, Ghana, Fiji, Hungary, Ireland and Uruguay will present a draft resolution on cooperation with the UN. ISHR urges all States to support the adoption of a HRC resolution that strengthens the UN’s responses to reprisals.

On 28 September, the Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, Ilze Brands Kehris, will present the Secretary General’s annual Reprisals Report to the Council in her capacity as UN senior official on reprisals. States raising cases is an important aspect of seeking accountability and ending impunity for acts of reprisal and intimidation against defenders engaging with the UN. It can also send a powerful message of solidarity to defenders, supporting and sustaining their work in repressive environments.

This year, ISHR launched a campaign regarding five cases. ISHR urges States to raise these cases in their statements:

  • Anexa Alfred Cunningham (Nicaragua), a Miskitu Indigenous leader, woman human rights defender, lawyer and expert on Indigenous peoples rights from Nicaragua, who has been denied entry back into her country since July 2022, when she participated in a session of a group of United Nations experts on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. States should demand that Anexa be permitted to return to her country, community and family and enabled to continue her work safely and without restriction.
  • Vanessa Mendoza (Andorra), a psychologist and the president of Associació Stop Violències, which focuses on gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive rights, and advocates for safe and legal abortion in Andorra. After engaging with CEDAW in 2019, Vanessa was charged with ‘slander with publicity’, ‘slander against the co-princes’ and ‘crimes against the prestige of the institutions’. She has been indicted for the alleged “crimes against the prestige of the institutions” involving a potentially heavy fine (up to 30,000 euros) and a criminal record if convicted. States should demand that the authorities in Andorra unconditionally drop all charges against Vanessa and amend laws which violate the rights to freedom of expression and association.
  • Kadar Abdi Ibrahim (Djibouti) is a human rights defender and journalist from Djibouti. He is also the Secretary-General of the political party Movement for Democracy and Freedom (MoDEL). Days after returning from Geneva, where Kadar carried out advocacy activities ahead of Djibouti’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), intelligence service agents raided his house and confiscated his passport. He has thus been banned from travel for five years. States should call on the authorities in Djibouti to lift the travel ban and return Kadar’s passport immediately and unconditionally.
  • Hong Kong civil society (Hong Kong): Until 2020, civil society in Hong Kong was vibrant and had engaged consistently and constructively with the UN. This engagement came to a screeching halt after the imposition by Beijing of the National Security Law for Hong Kong (NSL), which entered into force on 1 July 2020. States should urge the Hong Kong authorities to repeal the offensive National Security Law and desist from criminalizing cooperation with the UN and other work to defend human rights.
  • Maryam al-Balushi and Amina al-Abduli (United Arab Emirates), Amina Al-Abdouli used to work as a school teacher. She was advocating for the Arab Spring and the Syrian uprising. She is a mother of five. Maryam Al Balushi was a student at the College of Technology. They were arrested for their human rights work, and held in incommunicado detention, tortured and forced into self-incriminatory confessions. After the UN Special Procedures mandate holders sent a letter to the UAE authorities raising concerns about their torture and ill treatment in detention in 2019, the UAE charged Amina and Maryam with three additional crimes. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found their detention arbitrary and a clear case of reprisals for communicating with Special Procedures. In April 2021, a court sentenced them to three additional years of prison for “publishing false information that disturbs the public order”. States should demand that authorities in the UAE immediately and unconditionally release Maryam and Amina and provide them with reparations for their arbitrary detention and ill-treatment.

Other thematic debates

At this 54th session, the Council will discuss a range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and issues through dedicated debates with the:

  1. Special Rapporteur on truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence
  2. Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
  3. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
  4. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
  5. Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and waste
  6. ID on HC oral update on drivers, root causes and human rights impacts of religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence

In addition, the Council will hold dedicated debates on the rights of specific groups including with the:

  1. Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons
  2. Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Country-specific developments

Afghanistan

The Council will hold an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan on 11 September, and on the OHCHR report on Afghanistan on 12 September, and will consider a resolution on the human rights situation in Afghanistan at this session.

ISHR supports the call of Afghan human rights defenders to the Council to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan. We also support the call to establish a parallel independent investigative mechanism in the upcoming September session and to ensure meaningful follow up to the joint report of the Special Rapporteur and the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, as well as continuation of a dedicated discussion at the Council on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. Accountability for widespread human rights violations, including gender apartheid and other crimes against humanity, is imperative to securing sustainable peace and development in the country.

Algeria

We urge States to demand that Algeria, a Council member, end its crackdown on human rights defenders and civil society organisations, amend laws aimed at silencing peaceful dissent and stifling civil society, and immediately and unconditionally release arbitrarily detained human rights defenders and activists, including in the interactive dialogue with the Working Group on arbitrary detention. Since the beginning of the Hirak pro-democracy movement, the Working Group has issued at least 6 decisions of arbitrary detention, highlighting Algerian legislation that is inconsistent with international law, violations of due process and the right to a fair trial, as well as violations to the right to freedom of expression, discrimination based on language, ethnicity and religion. They have also condemned Algeria’s abuse of counter-terrorism legislation. States should call on Algeria to implement the recommendations of the working group.

We also urge States to address the case of reprisals against HRDs Kaddour Chouicha and Jamila Loukil, members of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH) before its dissolution by the Algerian authorities. They were prevented from traveling to attend the pre-session organized by UPR-info, a clear case of reprisals against human rights defenders attempting to cooperate with the UPR. Chouicha, Loukil and other HRDs are charged in a criminal case, which includes ‘enrollment in a terrorist or subversive organization active abroad or in Algeria’. They are still awaiting trial as the authorities postponed their court session on 15 June 2023. If convicted of these charges, they face up to twenty years imprisonment.

Bahrain

Civil society organisations, including ISHR, have requested States to urge Bahraini authorities to unconditionally release all those sentenced for their political opinions, including human rights defenders Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Abduljalil Al-Singace, and in the meantime, to ensure that they are provided with life-saving medical care to prevent an imminent tragedy. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/08/20/500-bahraini-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-over-conditions/]

Burundi

The Council will hold an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Burundi on 22 September. As serious human rights violations persist in Burundi and the Government has failed to hold per­petrators accountable or take the concerns raised by Burundian and international actors seriously, the Coun­cil should not relax its scrutiny. The Council should extend the Special Rapporteur’s mandate for a further year.

China

31 August marked one year since the release of the groundbreaking OHCHR report finding possible crimes against humanity committed by the Chinese government in Xinjiang. This Council session also marks one year since the failure of the Council, and most of its Council Members, to stand by principle against Beijing’s coercion and promote a dialogue on the human rights of Uyghurs. Since that time, the recommendations of the OHCHR’s report have been echoed by the CERD in its Urgent Action decision on Xinjiang, by the CESCR and CEDAW in their respective Concluding Observations, and by 15 Special Procedures mandates in their seven benchmarks on Xinjiang. Yet, in a surprise visit to the region in August, President Xi Jinping reiterated its hardline policy and called for further efforts to ensure ‘social stability’ and ‘control illegal religious activities’. States should take collective action to urge China to implement key recommendations from the OHCHR Xinjiang report, and from relevant UN Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures, with a focus on root causes of violations that commonly affect Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers and mainland Chinese human rights defenders, including the abuse of national security laws and measures.

States should further ask for the prompt release of human rights defenders targeted by the Chinese government’s renewed crackdown on human rights lawyers, including lawyer Lu Siwei at risk of refoulement from Laos, activists Chang Weiping, Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong, recently convicted to lengthy prison sentences, as well as Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan, detained en route to meet with EU diplomats in Beijing. Ten years after the detention, and subsequent death in custody, of woman human rights defender Cao Shunli on her way to attend China’s UPR in Geneva, the Council must also pierce the veil of impunity for egregious cases of reprisals, and call on China to acknowledge its responsibility, bring perpetrators to justice and provide adequate remedy. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/09/05/human-rights-lawyer-gao-zhisheng-and-the-practice-of-enforced-disappearances-joint-letter/]

Egypt

Recent arrests and arbitrary detention of several media figures, dissidents and their family members in Egypt are indicative of the ongoing crackdown on basic freedoms and liberties in the country, and reflect a lack of genuine political will to improve the human rights situation by the Egyptian government. In the last ten years, Egyptian human rights organisations have recorded the enforced disappearance of no less than 3,000 citizens for varying periods of time, death by mistreatment and medical negligence of at least 1,200 people in detention centers, the sexual assault of at least 655 people and their family members, and the extrajudicial killing of more than 750 people. The continued silence on Egypt by States at the Council will only encourage further violations. NGOs continue to urge States to ensure appropriate action on Egypt at the Council though the establishment of a monitoring and reporting mechanisms on the human rights crises in the country. As an immediate step, States should deliver a follow-up joint statement condemning the human rights situation in the country and calling on the Egyptian government to refrain from continuing to carry out wide-spread human rights violations.

Israel/OPT

While Israel rejected all the recommendations on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and refugee return made by states during its UPR review, States should reiterate their commitment to putting an end to 75 years of denial of the Palestinian’s people inalienable rights to return and self-determination.

During HRC 53, civil society welcomed the resolution put forward by the OIC to ensure the full implementation of the United Nations database of businesses involved in Israeli’s settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territory. States must ensure that the mandate is implemented in full as it represents a question of credibility to the Council, including by ensuring that the budget adopted in the fifth committee of the General Assembly later this year is in line with the programme budget implications (PBI). 

Russia

The Council will hold an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Russian Federation on 21 September. The Council will also be called upon to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur (HRC Resolution 51/25). ISHR strongly supports the renewal of the mandate and urges States to oppose Russia’s candidacy to the Human Rights Council.

The human rights situation in Russia continues to deteriorate, while Russia also continues to perpetrate atrocity crimes in Ukraine In recent months, Russia has enacted laws providing immunity against war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the ‘State’s interests’, intensified its assault against LGBT persons, adopted further measures to repress civil society and silence independent journalists, and continued to arbitrarily imprison human rights defenders. Of further and direct relevance to the Council, Russia adopted a new law on 28 April 2023 which criminalises assistance, cooperation or confidential communications with international bodies, which may include the HRC and its mechanisms. These regressive developments, and the lack of any improvement in the human rights situation in the country, clearly warrant the extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur.

With respect to Russia’s candidacy for the Council, ISHR only campaigns against countries based on strict and objective criteria. Russia manifestly fulfils all of these criteria, being a country: (1) responsible for a pattern of reprisals against those who cooperate with the UN; (2) responsible for the repression of civil society (Russia is ranked as ‘closed’ (scoring 17/100 in the Civicus Monitor); and (3) directly responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine according to the HRC-mandated CoI. On ISHR’s HRC candidate scorecards, Russia scores just 1/20 on objective criteria.

Saudi Arabia

In light of the ongoing diplomatic rehabilitation of crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi authorities’ brazen repression continues to intensify. Some notable recent trends as documented by ALQST include, but are not limited to: the further harsh sentencing against individuals for peaceful social media use, including a death sentence issued against a man for tweets, the prosecution of women such as Manahel al-Otaibi over her choice of clothing and support for women’s rights, the ongoing forcible disappearance of prisoners of conscience including Mohammed al-Qahtani [see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/78383825-0b3f-4bca-883a-b81e1baecd09]and Essa al-Nukheifi beyond the expiry of their sentences, and; regressive developments in relation to the death penalty, including a surge in executions (95 individuals were executed in 2023 so far), and several young men at imminent risk of execution for crimes they allegedly committed as minors. Human Rights Watch has documented the brutal massacre of migrants at the Yemen border, in what may amount to further crimes against humanity. ISHR continues to call for States at the Council to adopt a resolution mandating an independent international monitoring and investigative mechanism on massive human rights violations perpetrated in and by Saudi Arabia.

Sudan

On 12 September, the Council will hold Interactive Dialogue on the High Commissioner’s oral update on Sudan.

Sudanese Women Rights Action published a report “laying an overview of the conditions of women’s rights and gender equality in Sudan as an extended crisis started on October 25th, 2021, when the military took over the power in Sudan, ending the transitional period on a bloody note…the report presents verified information about the crises scope, context, and responses from a gender perspective based on the needs on the grounds, the challenges, and the recommended interventions according to local actors and women activists.” ISHR urges the implementation of  the recommendations identified by women activists including to “Pressure both fighting parties to commit to sustainable Ceasefire; Pressure the fighting parties to open humanitarian corridors; Provide urgent funding to the humanitarian aid interventions; Ensure protection and evacuation of women and WHRDs from fighting areas”. Ahead of HRC54, ISHR joined over 110 NGOs in reiterating a call on the Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism on Sudan with a mandate to investigate human rights violations and abuses in Sudan, collect and preserve evidence, and identify those responsible.

Tunisia

We regret that the Council failed to exercise its prevention mandate and address the deteriorating human rights situation in Tunisia during HRC 53, during which the High Commissioner and UN Special Procedures raised alarm at the escalating pattern of human rights violations and the rapidly worsening situation in Tunisia following President Kais Saied’s power grab on 25 July 2021. In the last two years in Tunisia there has been a significant erosion of the rule of law, attacks on the independence of the judiciary, reprisals against independent judges and lawyers and judges associations, a crackdown on peaceful political opposition and abusive use of “counter-terrorism” law in politicised prosecutions, as well as attacks on freedom of expression and threats to freedom of association.

In an open letter against the “Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership between the European Union (EU) and Tunisia” and against the EU’s border externalisation policies, 379 researchers and members of civil society decried the use of vulnerable populations as scapegoats to mask the failures of public policy in Tunisia. While Tunisian authorities were persecuting Black African foreign nationals, including migrants, asylum seekers and refugees – deporting at least 1,200 sub-Saharan nationals to the borders with Libya and Algeria, in inaccessible and militarised desert zones, leaving them abandoned without water and food – the signing of the Memorandum effectively gave Tunisia “a blank check, following a strategy that is all the more irresponsible given its inefficacy”. Unless States tackle “the structural socio-economic causes of so-called irregular migration”, and radically rethink access to mobility, “this security approach to border management will only make crossings more deadly and strengthen smugglers”. Addressing these grave violations cannot be done without also urgently addressing the rule of law crisis in the country.

Venezuela

The UN’s fact-finding mission on Venezuela (FFM) will report to the Council on 25 and 26 September. The Mission will focus on the situation for human rights defenders in the country – an essential focus given the existing and proposed legislation adversely affecting civic space, and the threats and attacks HRDs face. The recent sentencing of 6 union leaders, denounced by UN Special Rapporteurs, is a clear example of the criminalisation of HRDs, as is the continued detention of the HRD Javier Tarazona, since July 2021, and that of many other real or perceived opposition figures. The continuing impunity in regard to the killing of defender Virgilio Trujillo Arana a year ago is an example of how little will exists to prevent attacks against HRDs.

In its first report in 2020, the FFM stated that it had reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity had been carried out in Venezuela, with the principal targets of violations including social activists and political leaders at the forefront of protests. The recommendations made by the FFM at that time have not been implemented. We recall that Venezuela continues to refuse to engage with the FFM or allow it to enter the country.

States must participate in the interactive dialogue with the FFM to highlight the essential role of HRDs; express utmost concern at the ongoing, systematic threats, attacks and restrictions against civic space, and urge the Venezuelan authorities to take immediate steps to implement the recommendations issued by the UN human rights system. States must speak out forcefully in support of the FFM and its work, and encourage other states to do the same. This vital accountability mandate must be supported and its recommendations echoed, so that victims of violations in the country can believe that one day justice will be done.

Other country situations:

The High Commissioner will provide an oral update to the Council on 11 September 2023. The Council will consider updates, reports and is expected to consider resolutions addressing a range of country situations, in some instances involving the renewal of the relevant expert mandates. These include:

  • Interactive Dialogue on the report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar and Interactive Dialogue on the OHCHR report on Myanmar
  • Interactive Dialogue on the report of the High Commissioner on Nicaragua and oral update by the Group of Experts on Nicaragua
  • Interactive Dialogue on the report of the OHCHR on Sri Lanka
  • Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia
  • Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
  • Interactive Dialogue on the interim oral update of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in Belarus
  • Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine and Interactive Dialogue on the High Commissioner oral update on Ukraine
  • Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the report of the High Commissioner and experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Interactive Dialogue on the oral update of OHCHR on technical assistance and capacity-building for South Sudan
  • Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Cambodia and presentation of the Secretary-General’s report
  • Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on Somalia
  • Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on the Central African Republic
  • Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner on the interim report on Haiti
  • Presentation of the High Commissioner’s report on cooperation with Georgia
  • Presentation of the High Commissioner’s report on cooperation with Yemen

Council programme, appointments and resolutions

Appointment of mandate holders

The President of the Human Rights Council has proposed candidates for the following mandates:

  1. Special Rapporteur on minority issues
  2. Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
  3. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism
  4. Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
  5. Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, several members

Resolutions to be presented to the Council’s 54th session

At the organisational meeting on 28 August resolutions were announced (States leading the resolution in brackets):

  1. From rhetoric to reality: a global call for concrete action against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (Africa Group)
  2. Technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Africa Group)
  3. Question of the death penalty (Benin, Belgium, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Mongolia, Republic of Moldova, Switzerland)
  4. Special Rapporteur on truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence – mandate renewal (Argentina, Morocco, Switzerland)
  5. Human rights and Indigenous Peoples (Guatemala, Mexico)
  6. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan – mandate renewal (EU)   
  7. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi – mandate renewal (EU)
  8. Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances – mandate renewal (Argentina, France, Japan, Morocco)
  9. Implementation of the UN declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (Bolivia)
  10. Technical assistance and capacity-building for Yemen in the field of human rights (Lebanon on behalf of the Arab Group)
  11. Special Rapporteur on Russia – mandate renewal (Luxembourg on behalf of 26 EU countries)
  12. Right to privacy in the digital age (Austria, Brazil, Germany, Liechtenstein, Mexico)
  13. A world of sports free from racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (Brazil and Africa Group)
  14. Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights (Fiji, Ghana, Hungary, Ireland, Uruguay)

The core group on Sudan (Germany, Norway, UK, US) announced that they are considering presenting a resolution on Sudan at this session. The core group on Syria (Germany, France, Italy, Jordan, Netherlands, Qatar, Turkiye, UK, USA) also announced that they are considering presenting a resolution on the human rights situation in Syria.

Read here the three year programme of work of the Council with supplementary information.

Read here ISHR’s recommendations on the key issues that are or should be on the agenda of the UN Human Rights Council in 2023.

https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/hrc54-key-issues-on-agenda-of-september-2023-session/

Posted in Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, Joint Mobile Group, OHCHR | 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UN Special Rapporteurs express serious concern about Kashmiri human rights defenders

September 5, 2023

The Pakistan Observer of August 11, 2023 carries the story which I wished Indian newspapers would also cover..:

The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts have expressed their serious concern at the arrest, detention and accusations brought against Kashmiri human rights defenders Irfan Mehraj and Khurram Parvez, which they said are “designed to delegitimize their human rights work and obstruct monitoring of the human rights situation in” Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir

A joint communication released by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts, and which is available at the website of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders [https://srdefenders.org/india-arrest-detention-of-kashmiri-human-rights-defenders-irfan-mehraj-khurram-parvez-joint-communication/], said, “We underline the legitimacy of their work and of the activities of the JKCSS and express our fear that the arrest and detention of Mr. Mehraj, as well as the continued detention of Mr. Parvez since 2021 and his involvement in the second case at hand, are designed to delegitimize their human rights work and obstruct monitoring of the human rights situation in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir. [see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/81468931-79AA-24FF-58F7-10351638AFE3]

“As we have repeatedly stressed in the past, counter-terrorism legislation should never be used to sanction human rights defenders. We express our abhorrence at the continued instrumentalization of national-security measures and discourse to undermine, obstruct and persecute those peacefully promoting, defending and seeking the advancement of human rights in the country, as well as to frustrate accountability for human rights violations.”

Disagreeing with the definition of a terrorist by the Modi government, the joint communication said, “As we previously raised in OL IND 7/2020, we are deeply concerned about the definition of ‘terrorist act’ in the UAPA, which substantially departs from the model definition offered by the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism and provides broad powers to the executive, without oversight or control from the judiciary. We further remind your Excellency Government that the definition of terrorism and terrorism offences must be ‘genuinely’ terrorist in nature in accordance with the elements identified by the Security Council in its resolution 1566 (2004).”

The statement warned that “Conflation of human rights work with terrorism is inconsistent with the obligations of State affirmed by the Security Council that counter-terrorism activities by States should not conflict with other international law obligations, particularly human rights, and with the agreed consensus of Member States contained in the Global Counter-Terrorism strategy opposing the misuse of counter-terrorism measures against civil society (A/RES/60/288).”

“We also note our deep concerns about allegation of ‘terror funding’ and highlight that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has set forth international practices and guidelines aimed at preventing global money laundering and terrorist financing. The FATF recommendations, while non-binding, provide recognized international guidance for the countering of terrorism financing. Recommendation (1) states that ‘countries should apply a risk-based approach (RBA) to ensure that measures to prevent or mitigate money laundering and terrorist financing are commensurate with the risks identified’ Recommendation (8) provides guidance to States on the laws and regulations that should be adopted to oversee and protect NPOs that have been identified as being vulnerable to terrorist financing concerns.”

“Such measures must be ‘focused and proportionate’; ‘ ‘one size fits all’ approach to address all NPOs is not appropriate.’ FATF has reaffirmed that State compliance with Recommendation (8) and the other FATF Recommendations ‘should not contravene a country’s obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international human rights law to promote universal respect for, and observance of, fundamental human rights and freedoms, such as freedom of expression, religion or belief and freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.”

Blaming India for targeting civil society, the joint statement said, “We are concerned that these arrests appear to contravene a “risk-based” approach to countering terrorism finance and appear to demonstrate a misuse of countering terrorism finance laws and practice to disproportionately target civil society.”

It is worth mentioning here that the “communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of India on 5 June 2023. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. Regrettably, the Government did not reply within this time frame.”

The communication stated that “If a reply is received it will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database”.

“Since the communication was sent, the detention of Mr. Mehraj and Mr. Parvez has twice been extended following petitions by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), with the latest extension granted on 27 July 2023. Both human rights defenders remain detained in Rohini Prison in Delhi”.—KMS.

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/02/09/forgotten-kashmir-something-has-to-be-done/

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/03/india-un-expert-demands-immediate-end-crackdown-kashmiri-human-rights

https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=28286

UN rights defenders, experts say India misusing laws to disproportionately target civil society in IIOJK

Posted in human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Mary Lawlor urges India to release HRD Saibaba

August 29, 2023
Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

An independent UN human rights expert has called for India to release an activist imprisoned since 2017, expressing concern over his persistent detention and deteriorating health. GN Saibaba, a former English professor at Delhi University, was arrested in 2014 and accused of links to banned Maoist groups, according to media reports. See: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/07/07/g-n-saibaba-in-india-continues-from-his-cell/

He was sentenced to life imprisonment three years later for multiple offences under the country’s Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

“GN Saibaba is a long-standing defender of the rights of minorities in India, including the Dalit and Adivasi people,” said Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders on 21 August “His continued detention is shameful. It bears all the hallmarks of a State seeking to silence a critical voice,” she added.

UN human rights experts have repeatedly raised grave concerns about the prosecution of Mr. Saibaba, who has suffered from a spinal disorder and polio since childhood and uses a wheelchair. 

His detention was declared arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in an opinion issued in 2021.

In March 2024 came the good news: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court set aside the conviction, Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/108246679.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/08/1139932

https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/world/un-expert-pitches-for-ex-delhi-university-professor-g-n-saibaba-s-release-1.8840381

Posted in Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,

UN experts demand detailed information on nine Tibetan environment defenders

August 18, 2023

From TibetanReview.net, on 11 August 2023:

Three UN human rights experts have issued a joint statement on Aug 10, asking the Chinese government to provide information about nine Tibetans imprisoned for their peaceful efforts to protect Tibet’s fragile environment.

The experts—the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders (Ms Mary Lawlor); the Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association (Mr Clément Nyaletsossi Voul); and the Special Rapporteur on human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (Mr David Boyd)—have asked Beijing to provide details about the reason for the detention and the health conditions of the nine Tibetans, who were all taken in between 2010 and 2019.

“We urge the Chinese government to provide details on why and where they are being held and their health conditions, provide them with adequate medical care and permit their families access to visit them,” the Special Rapporteurs have said.

The experts have further made it clear that the lack of information shared by Chinese authorities could be interpreted as a “deliberate attempt” to hide the environmental defenders from global attention.

The nine Tibetans, identified in the release as Anya Sengdra, Dorjee Daktal, Kelsang Choklang, Dhongye, Rinchen Namdol, Tsultrim Gonpo, Jangchup Ngodup, Sogru Abhu and Namesy were all detained after they protested illegal mining activities or exposed the poaching of endangered wild lives.

Three of the activists are serving up to 11-years jail sentences. However, China has not made public the jail sentences of the remaining six, namely Dhongye, Rinchen Namdol, Tsultrim Gonpo, Jangchup Ngodup, Sogru Abhu and Namsey. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/08/31/enforced-disappearances-in-china/]

The experts have sought to know the extent of access to legal representation the imprisoned Tibetans had, and whether any of them had been provided with medical assistance while in prison.

Since the defenders were sentenced, the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment was recognised at the international level by the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.

“If China is committed to tackle the impacts of climate change, it should refrain from persecuting environmental human rights defenders and release all nine immediately,” the experts have said.

China has declared mining as one of its pillar industries in occupied Tibet, and has also continued to carry out massive environmentally devastating urbanization and infrastructure projects. These have led to increasing persecution and long-term imprisonment of many environment defenders.

In a report published in June 2022, Washington-based advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet had documented 50 known cases of such Tibetans arbitrarily detained, arrested, tried and/or sentenced since 2008. Of the 50 documented cases, the prison sentences imposed on 35 of the individuals are known. The sentences range from one year and nine months to 21 years, with an average sentence length of nine years, said the group Aug 10 while reporting on the UN experts’ statement.

The environmental health of Tibet has major global implications. As the world’s “Third Pole” and Asia’s “water tower,” the Tibetan Plateau holds the largest volume of frozen freshwater outside the polar regions and is the source of Asia’s eight great rivers, ultimately sustaining the livelihoods of up to 1.4 billion people living downstream, the group has pointed out.

http://www.phayul.com/2023/08/12/48800/

Posted in Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Clips from young Human Rights Defenders

August 17, 2023
Mary Lawlor

Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, shows on her LinkedIn page young human rights defenders who are the ones who will carry the human rights movement into the future, and to who we need to listen now.

👉 e.g. meet Zeinab, a young WHRD from #Kenya who took part in the 2023 Vienna Youth & Children HRD conference:

#YouthForRights #InternationalYouthDay #YouthLead #InSolidarityAndHope

Posted in films, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Results of 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council as seen by NGOs

July 19, 2023

Over a dozen organisations share reflections on the key outcomes of the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, as well as the missed opportunities to address key issues and situations. A shortened version was delivered at the Council. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/06/20/human-rights-defenders-issues-at-the-53rd-session-of-the-un-human-rights-council/]

We welcome the resolution put forward by the OIC to ensure the full implementation of the United Nations database of businesses facilitating Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as the recent publication of the partial update to the database issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 30 June 2023. The effectiveness and credibility of the HRC and OHCHR has suffered considerably from the chronic under-implementation of the database by this Council. The resolution put forward at the 53rd session represents an important step forward, and it is crucial that future updates are conducted annually, regularly, including both the addition and removal of businesses from the database, as appropriate, to ensure accurate and comprehensive information for all stakeholders involved. We regret that some States failed to vote in favor of the resolution to ensure the full implementation of the database.  We believe this failure constitutes a dangerous example of double standards and urge States who abstained or voted against the resolution to begin to approach this issue in line with international human rights standards and their duties as UN member States. 

We welcome the fact that the resolution on civil society space addressed the limitations to civil society access and participation in decision-making processes, including at the UN, and called on States to “enable and institutionalize meaningful online participation in hybrid meetings” and to establish “a transparent, fair and gender-responsive accreditation processes”. We welcome that the resolution acknowledges the significant role played by civil society in the promotion and protection of human rights, including with regard to monitoring, documenting and raising awareness about human rights violations and abuses, but we regret that the role of civil society in the prevention of human rights violations, as well as the Council’s prevention mandate, was not highlighted. We also welcome that the resolution emphasizes undue restrictions of civic space, including on funding of civil society actors, nonetheless we express concern that it does not address the misuse of restrictive laws in a more comprehensive manner. We appreciate the call upon States to establish or enhance information-gathering and monitoring mechanisms, including by benefiting from data collected by civil society, for the collection, analysis and reporting of data on threats, attacks or violence against civil society, and the request to the High Commissioner to prepare a report identifying challenges and best practices in regularly assessing civic space trends drawing on the views of civil society, amongst others. This may lead, in the longer term, to the development of a collective methodology including indicators and benchmarks that will permit the effective and systematic monitoring of civic space developments on the international level. We also call on States to prevent the deterioration and closure of civic space and provide support to build civil society resilience.

We welcome the focus of the resolution on human rights of migrants on human rights violations in transit. However, the resolution fails to answer the call from over 220 CSOs for the Council to establish an investigative mechanism on deaths, torture and other grave human rights violations at and around international borders. The focus on monitoring in the intersessional panel requested must be used as a stepping stone towards a response from the Council that matches the severity of the situation. The 53rd session opened as yet another horrific incident unfolded with hundreds presumed dead at sea. The normalisation of deaths caused by border management policies and practices, as well as criminal networks, must end. It is unclear what scale of atrocity will prompt this body to act.     

We welcome the adoption of resolutions on child and early forced marriage and on violence against women and girls, despite hostile amendments contravening international human rights law, UN technical guidance and WHO Guidelines. The resolution on child and early forced marriage on the theme of forced marriage, identifies root causes of forced marriage and calls for practical guidelines to be developed by the OHCHR which can help States work to prevent and eliminate forced marriage, centering the autonomy of women and girls. The resolution on violence against women and girls looks at systemic violence against women and girls in criminal detention systems. The resolution centers the respect, protection and fulfillment of human rights for women and girls in criminal detention, in addition to the Bangkok and Mandela Rules.

We welcome the adoption of the resolution on ‘the impact of arms transfer on human rights‘. Ensuring arms related risks to human rights continues to be part of the Council’s work is critical – both those acquired by civilians and those transferred. We look forward to the stocktaking intersessional workshop on the role of States and the private sector in preventing, addressing and mitigating negative human rights impacts of arms transfers.

We welcome the resolution on new and emerging digital technologies, which reinforces the need to respect, protect and promote human rights throughout the lifecycle of artificial intelligence systems. The resolution mandates an enhanced role of the OHCHR in providing its expertise on the human rights implications of these technologies, including artificial intelligence, to other UN bodies, mechanisms, and processes. We believe that bolstering this existing expertise is vital in ensuring a consistent human rights-first approach to the growing number of UN initiatives relevant to this topic. We also particularly welcome that the resolution stresses that certain applications of artificial intelligence “present an unacceptable risk to human rights”. We now call on States to put this language into practice and ban those technologies that cannot be operated in compliance with international human rights law.

We welcome the adoption of the resolution extending the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers for three years.

We regret the adoption of a new resolution on countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination hostility or violence. While we are dismayed over the rise of hate against persons on the basis of their religion or belief worldwide, this resolution ultimately aims to protect not individuals but rather religious books and symbols that do not enjoy protection under international human rights law. We note that prohibitions on the defamation of religions fuel division and religious intolerance by shutting down interfaith dialogue, and can facilitate human rights violations against religious minorities. While the burning of holy books is considered disrespectful and offensive by many, this is not an act of incitement in and of itself, and such acts should only be challenged through open space for dialogue, debate, and dissent. By evoking language on the defamation of religions, this resolution puts over a decade of progress in jeopardy and risks undermining the consensual, positive action plan to combat religious intolerance achieved in landmark Resolution 16/18 in 2011.

We regret that the resolution on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of human rights weakens the interdependence of human rights and sustainable development. We reiterate deep concerns at the long-term goal of this initiative, in light of the penholder’s remarks during negotiations that the ‘contribution of development to human rights’ is a methodology ‘conflicting with’ human rights-based approaches to development (HRBA) widely-endorsed by the Secretary-General, UN agencies and States. We regret the inclusion of undefined domestic concepts such as ‘better life’, ‘high-quality development’ and ‘people-centred approach to development’, and the failure to consider middle-ground proposals to reallocate resources to meet the OHCHR’s needs for additional capacity on HRBA to development. We lament that the penholder disregarded strong concerns shared across all regions, including from developing countries as reflected in the abstentions of Costa Rica, Chile, Georgia, India and Paraguay, despite commitments to seek consensus and engage constructively.

We welcome the adoption of the resolution on Belarus, which re-mandates the Special Rapporteur for a further year. The Special Rapporteur on Belarus remains critical to civil society, whose options for seeking redress for human rights violations at an international level were further reduced recently when Belarus withdrew from the First Optional Protocol of the ICCPR.

We welcome the adoption of the resolution presented by Colombia seeking to enhance technical cooperation to implement the recommendations made by the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition in the country – a resolution looking towards a future of peace.. The text highlights the OHCHR report’s findings that violence disproportionately affects, inter alia, human rights defenders, Indigenous Peoples, people of African descent, peasant leaders, women and girls, as well as persons on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We regret however that Pakistan, on behalf of the OIC except Albania, tabled an amendment to remove the reference to ‘sexual orientation and gender identity’, and in doing so did not respect Colombia’s decision to acknowledge the vulnerability of populations inside its own territory, and meant that a vote was called on the resolution.

This year’s strengthened resolution on Eritrea is in line with civil society’s ask to substantively address violations Eritrean authorities commit at home and abroad and to move beyond merely procedural resolutions that extend the Special Rapporteur’s mandate. We encourage States to go even further next year and to reinstate fully substantive resolutions on Eritrea’s human rights situation, as was the rule before 2019.

We welcome the adoption of the Item 10 resolution on Ukraine, maintaining the Council’s regular dialogues with the High Commissioner on the human rights situation in Ukraine. The work of the OHCHR in Ukraine is critical, complementary to the work of the International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, and it is important that HRC is kept abreast of this work.

While we believe the resolution on Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar is an important step to maintain the situation of Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar high on the agenda of the Council, we regret that the resolution failed to reflect the reality of the situation on the ground in Myanmar especially following the 1 February 2021 military coup. It calls for immediate commencement of repatriation of Rohingya refugees in direct contrast to conclusions and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur, the High Commissioner as well as Rohingya themselves that conditions for safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return for Rohingya do not exist in Myanmar, and that their return under the current circumstances could lead to the recurrence of violence that led to their displacement.

The holding of a Special Session on Sudan on 11 May 2023, does not preclude, but rather should be seen as the start of a process toward, stronger resolutions. Civil society will continue to push for the establishment of an investigative mechanism, which is the least the Council can do for the victims and survivors of the conflict and violations and abuses committed in the country in the last three decades. We highlight the need for a holistic, comprehensive response by the international community. In this regard, the Final Communiqué of the First Meeting of the IGAD Quartet Group of Countries for the Resolution of the Situation in the Republic of Sudan resolved to request that “the East Africa Standby Force (EASF) summit … convene in order to consider the possible deployment of the EASF for the protection of civilians and guarantee humanitarian access” and committed “to work closely with the international community to put in place a robust monitoring and accountability mechanism that will be instrumental in bringing perpetrators to justice.”

We deplore the sustained failure of this Council to respond meaningfully to the human rights situation in China, gradually undermining its credibility and ability to scrutinise countries on the basis of objective, impartial UN documentation, including the OHCHR Xinjiang report. We further regret the failure of the joint UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect to act in line with its mandate on the CERD’s historic referral of the situation in Xinjiang, weakening the UN’s genocide-prevention architecture. The CESCR, the CEDAW, the CERD, the OHCHR, the ILO, as well as Special Procedures through three joint statements, nearly 30 press releases and 100 letters to the government since 2018, have provided more than sufficient evidence pointing to systematic and widespread human rights violations. So long as the Council is not able to take principled action on the basis of objective criteria, other powerful perpetrators will feel empowered to continue committing atrocity crimes, relying on the Council’s silence. We reiterate our pressing call for all Council Members to support the adoption of a resolution establishing a UN mandate to monitor and report on the human rights situation in China.

We regret that the Council failed to adequately respond to the situation in Egypt. Since the joint statement delivered by States in March 2021 at the Council , there has been no significant improvement in the human rights situation in Egypt despite the launching of the national human rights strategy and the national dialogue. The Egyptian government has failed to address, adequately or at all, the repeated serious concerns expressed by several UN Special Procedures over the broad and expansive definition of “terrorism”, which enables the conflation of civil disobedience and peaceful criticism with “terrorism”. The Human Rights Committee raised its concerns “that these laws are used, in combination with restrictive legislation on fundamental freedoms, to silence actual or perceived critics of the Government, including peaceful protesters, lawyers, journalists, political opponents and human rights defenders”. Egyptian and international civil society organisations have been calling on the Council to establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the human rights situation in Egypt, applying objective criteria and in light of the Egyptian government’s absolute lack of genuine will to acknowledge, let alone address, the country’s deep-rooted human rights crisis.

We regret the Council’s repeated failure to address the situation in India including to exercise its prevention mandate in relation to the potential escalation of violence against religious minorities and Dalits and Adivasis into mass atrocity crimes with unchecked hate speech and incitement to violence by Hindu nationalist leaders, the most recent illustration of which is the ongoing communal violence in the Northeastern state of Manipur.  We remind the Council that this is happening in the context of systematic rollback of fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and independent institutions as well as the ongoing  criminalisation, harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders, activists, journalists, and dissidents, and targeting of civil society organisations using national security and counter-terrorism infrastructure.  Silence of the Council further enables impunity and makes the international community complicit.

We regret that the Council failed to adequately respond to the situation in Saudi Arabia. In light of the ongoing diplomatic rehabilitation of crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi authorities’ brazen repression continues to intensify, as ALQST has documented. Some notable recent trends include, but are not limited to: the further harsh sentencing of activists for peaceful social media use, such as women activists Salma al-Shehab (27 years), Fatima al-Shawarbi (30 years and six months) and Sukaynah al-Aithan (40 years); the ongoing detention of prisoners of conscience beyond the expiry of their sentences, some of whom continue to be held incommunicado such as human rights defenders Mohammed al-Qahtani and Essa al-Nukheifi, and; regressive developments in relation to the death penalty, including a wave of new death sentences passed and a surge in executions (47 individuals were executed from March-May 2023), raising concerns for those currently on death row, including several young men at risk for crimes they allegedly committed as minors. We call on the Council to respond to the calls of NGOs from around the world to create a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the ever-deteriorating human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.

We regret that the Council failed to exercise its prevention mandate and address the deteriorating human rights situation in Tunisia. Civil society organizations, the High Commissioner and UN Special Procedures all have raised alarm at the escalating pattern of human rights violations and the rapidly worsening situation in Tunisia following President Kais Saied’s power grab on 25 July 2021 leading to the erosion of the rule of law, attacks on the independence of the judiciary, reprisals against independent judges and lawyers and judges associations, a crackdown on peaceful political opposition and abusive use of “counter-terrorism” law in politicized prosecutions, as well as attacks on freedom of expression and threats to freedom of association. A wave of arrests that started in February 2022 continued to include at least 40 members of peaceful political opposition. On 21 February 2023, President Saied made inflammatory comments that triggered a wave of anti-Black violence and persecution – including assaults and summary evictions – against Black African foreign nationals, including migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. Between February and early March 2023, police indiscriminately arrested at least 850 Black African foreign nationals, apparently based on racial profiling. Since July 2, 2023 Tunisian security forces collectively expelled several hundreds of Black African migrants and asylum-seekers to the Tunisian-Libyan borders without any due process, along with reports of beatings and sexual assaults. The High Commissioner has addressed the deteriorating situation in the three latest global updates to the HRC. Special Procedures issued at least 8 communications in less than one year addressing attacks against the independence of the judiciary, as well as attacks against freedom of expression and assembly. Despite the fact that in 2011 Tunisia extended a standing invitation to all UN Special Procedures, and received 16 visits by UN Special Procedures since, Tunisia’s recent postponement of the visit of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, is another sign of Tunisia disengaging from international human rights mechanisms and declining levels of cooperation.

Signatories: International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Center for Reproductive Rights, DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project), Gulf Centre for Human Rights.

https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/hrc53-civil-society-presents-key-takeaways-from-human-rights-council/

Posted in Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, OHCHR | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,

State of Human Rights in Belarus called ‘Catastrophic’ at the UN

July 12, 2023
The regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko — seen here in Minsk, Belarus, on April 10, 2023 — is deliberately purging civil society of its last dissenting voices, a United Nations special rapporteur told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday.

The human rights situation in Belarus is catastrophic, and only getting worse, the United Nations special rapporteur on the country said on 4 July 2023, according to AFP.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s regime in Minsk is deliberately purging civil society of its last dissenting voices, Anais Marin told the U.N. Human Rights Council.

“The situation remains catastrophic. Unfortunately, it keeps on worsening,” said the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus. “The Belarusian government amended an already restrictive legislation aimed at dismantling civic freedoms, leading to a surge in politically motivated prosecutions and sentencing.

“The lack of accountability for human rights violations fosters a climate of fear among victims and their families,” Marin said. Marin has been in post for five years and reminded the council that she alerted them two years ago to the “totalitarian turn” taken by Minsk, evidenced by the “disregard for human life and dignity” during the crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2020. In her annual report, the French political scientist said more than 1,500 individuals were still being detained on politically motivated charges, with a daily average of 17 arbitrary arrests since 2020.

“I have good reasons to believe that prison conditions are deliberately made harsher for those sentenced on politically motivated grounds, by placing them in punishment cells for petty infraction to prison rules,” said Marin.

“No one has been held accountable in Belarus for arbitrarily detaining tens of thousands of peaceful protesters in 2020, nor for the violence or torture many of them have been subjected to.

“This general impunity, and the climate of fear resulting from ongoing repression, have compelled hundreds of thousands of Belarusians into exile.

Human rights defenders face ongoing persecution, she said, with more than 1,600 “undesirable organizations forcibly dissolved, including all remaining independent trade unions.

“This illustrates a deliberate state policy of purging civic space of its last dissenting elements,” she said.

Marin said independent media outlets had been labelled as “extremist organizations,” while academic freedom is “systematically attacked.”

“Ideological control and disciplinary measures restrict freedom of opinion and their expression,” she said.

Primary and secondary education is also subject to “ideological control,” with children “discouraged from expressing their own opinions” and facing “threats and consequences” for holding dissenting views.

Consequences for speaking out

As for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, individuals face challenges when trying to speak out against it or question Belarus’s role in facilitating the 2022 invasion.

“Anti-war actions led to numerous detentions and arrests, some on charges of planning terrorist attacks — a crime which can now be punished by death,” she said.

Belarus was immediately offered the Human Rights Council floor to respond to Marin’s comments but was not present.

On 11 July HRW underlined this with the case of Belarusian lawyer Yulia Yurhilevich and journalist Pavel Mazheika who ace up to seven years in prison

https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/un-geneva/hrc53-interactive-dialogue-situation-human-rights-belarus-eu-statement_en?s=62

https://www.voanews.com/a/state-of-human-rights-in-belarus-catastrophic-un-told-/7167606.html

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/11/travesty-justice-reaches-new-low-belarus

Posted in HRW, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

ISHR launches its 2023 Annual Report, highlighting ‘wins’

April 25, 2023

Human rights defenders around the world are coming together in powerful coalitions and turning to international human rights laws and systems to achieve justice and accountability. And while the threats and challenges remain enormous, we’re starting to win! says ISHR in its latest annual report, outlining key impacts during the last year and its vision for 2023 and the years ahead.

Here are just a few examples:  In July 2022, a coalition of more than 1200 NGOs from almost 150 countries secured a win for equality with the renewal of a vital international mechanism to combat violence and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. Just a few weeks later, land, environment and indigenous rights defenders secured a win for climate justice with the landmark recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment at the UN General Assembly. Wins for accountability were achieved in April and October when international, regional and national civil society organisations coordinated successful campaigns to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council and establish an independent international expert monitoring mechanism on the human rights situation in the country. International human rights organisations and Uyghur communities came together to score a win against impunity in August by securing the release of a landmark UN Rights Office report on the human rights crisis in Xinjiang, as well as the first ever formal initiative on China at the Human Rights Council just weeks later in September.

See more achievements by visiting the website!
In a recent conversation with Björk, environmental activist Greta Thunberg reflected that hope is not something you feel, but something you do. ‘When people act,’ she said, ‘they create hope’. In 2023, fuelled by indignation and sustained by hope, ISHR’s commitment is to provide solidarity to defenders, contribute to positive momentum and, with your support, achieve even more significant human rights wins!

https://mailchi.mp/ishr/ishrs-human-rights-council-monitor-june-33837?e=d1945ebb90

Posted in books, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,

UN Rapporteur on Iran comes with devastating assessment

March 22, 2023

Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor of the Guardian, reported on Monday 20 March 2023 that the he UN rapporteur on Iran, Javaid Rehman, has said the scale and gravity of Iran’s violations of human rights amount to a crime against humanity. Javaid Rehman, a special rapporteur on Iran, told the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday the country was experiencing the most serious violations in four decades.

Rehman warned Iran was experiencing the most serious violations in four decades. He also claimed the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman, in September 2022 resulted from beatings by the “morality police”. Iran has said she died from a pre-existing neurological disorder, but Rahman said reliable medical sources pointed to state culpability. He said Iran had refused to conduct an impartial or transparent inquiry into her death, including the allegations that she was beaten up and tortured.

“The scale and gravity of the violations committed by Iranian authorities, especially since the death of Ms Amini, points to the possible commission of international crimes, notably the crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual violence, and persecution,” he said.

Drawing on evidence, including eyewitness testimony and comments from reliable medical sources, the report said it was clear she had died on 16 September “as a result of beatings by the state “morality police”.

“I would like to stress that her death was not an isolated event but the latest in a long series of extreme violence against women and girls committed by the Iranian authorities,” Rehman said. He said “the responsibility of top senior officials in instigating this violence can … not be ignored.”

The UN human rights council decided last November – despite protests from Beijing and Tehran itself – to launch a fact-finding mission into the repression of peaceful demonstrators after protests erupted around Iran. A fact-finding team has been appointed but has been denied access to Iran. See: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/11/23/un-human-rights-council-holds-special-session-on-iran-on-24-november/

“Protesters including children were beaten to death,” Rehman said, adding that “at least 527 people, including 71 children were killed, and hundreds of protesters severely injured.”He also said dozens of protesters “have lost their eyes because of direct shots to the head”, while Iranian doctors had reported that women and girls participating in the demonstrations “were targeted with shotgun fire to their faces, breasts and genitals”.

He said: “Children released have described sexual abuses, threats of rape, floggings, administration of electric shocks and how their heads were maintained underwater, how they were suspended from their arms or from scarves wrapped around their necks.”

The EU says it has now imposed sanctions on 204 individuals and 34 entities in six waves of sanctions. The UK announced it was putting sanctions on five members of the board of directors of the IRGC Co-operative Foundation. This organisation funnels money into the Iranian regime’s repression, the UK Foreign Office said.

He voiced outrage at the executions of at least four people associated with the protests “after arbitrary, summary, and sham trials marred by torture allegations”. He added: “These summary executions are the symbols of a state ready to use all means to instil fear and quash protests,” pointing out that at least 17 other protesters have so far been sentenced to death and more than 100 others face charges that carry the death penalty.

See also: //humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/03/13/women-human-rights-defenders-from-iran-and-pakistan-explain-why-women-resisting-are-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/20/iran-rights-violations-crime-against-humanity-un-expert

Also Human rights violations by authorities in Belarus and Venezuela may amount to crimes against humanity, the UN human rights council has heard. SEE: https://genevasolutions.news/global-news/un-finds-possible-crimes-against-humanity-in-belarus-venezuela-iran?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

Posted in Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

« Older posts
Newer posts »