Dr. Sabiha Baloch is a woman human rights defender and member of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a network focused on advocating for the human rights and interests of the Baloch people in Pakistan. Dr. Sabiha Baloch has faced reprisals due to her work, including attacks against her family. Notably, her work as a woman human rights defender has led to the abduction of her brother and relative, who were subsequently released after several months in detention. Dr. Sabiha Baloch has been an integral part of peaceful campaigns against extra judicial killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests in Balochistan. She was part of the Baloch Long March and the Baloch National Gathering in 2024, which faced severe State reprisals, including violence and arrests. Since March 2025, following the arrest of several leading human rights defenders and members of the BYC, Dr. Sabiha Baloch has continued to document and highlight violations, and demand the release of detained colleagues and protesters.
On 5 April 2025, Pakistani authorities arrested the father of Baloch woman human rights defender Beebow Baloch. He is currently detained at the Hudda District Prison in Balochistan under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Act (MPO). The woman human rights defender Beebow Baloch has also been held at the same prison under the MPO since her arrest on 22 March 2025.
On 7 April 2025, Pakistani authorities arrested woman human rights defender Gulzadi Baloch in Quetta, Balochistan, with disturbing reports of excessive violence being used during the arrest. For several hours following her arrest, there was no information about her fate or whereabouts, causing serious concerns for her physical and mental safety. She is presently held at the Hudda district prison under the regressive Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Act, which severely restricts access to bail.
The NGO Frontline demands that Baloch human rights defenders in Pakistan are protected from reprisals, and end their ongoing persecution and punishment in the State, including for exercising their right to free expression and peaceful dissent, under the guise of national security.
On 4 April 2025 a joint statement by 13 international, regional and national civil society organisations, strongly condemned violations of the right to protest in Turkey, including police brutality, ill-treatment that may amount to torture, mass arbitrary detentions, and the systematic persecution of human rights defenders.
Mass protests erupted across Turkey on 19 March 2025, following the detention of more than 100 individuals —including the Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu. These arrests, made as part of investigations into allegations of “corruption” and “terrorism”, and their timing have raised widespread concerns that the charges are politically motivated – just days before İmamoğlu’s expected presidential candidacy.
In the immediate aftermath of the arrests, authorities imposed sweeping restrictions, including days-long blanket bans on gatherings across multiple cities, restricted access to several social media platforms curbing access and preventing the dissemination of information, and shut down major public transportation routes in İstanbul, all in a systematic effort to suppress dissent and mobilisations.
Despite these measures, thousands have continued to gather in protest across the country since 19 March. While protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful, journalists and civil society organisations have documented grave human rights violations in several locations, and particularly in Saraçhane, Istanbul, including an indiscriminate and disproportionate display of police violence and brutality that may amount to torture and other ill-treatment, including beatings with batons, demonstrators being kicked while subdued on the ground, close-range targeting with Kinetic Impact Projectiles (KIPs), as well as the indiscriminate use of chemical irritants and water cannons. Based on widely circulated footage and public testimonies, and in line with the UN Committee Against Torture’s recommendations to Turkey following its periodic review in 2024, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) has also denounced the use of restraint methods that inflict unnecessary pain, such as prolonged handcuffing behind the back and stress positions. These practices, known to cause serious health consequences, have at times been publicised by police officers themselves via personal accounts, seemingly as a tactic of intimidation.
Reports have stated that protesters who have been met with excessive police force have suffered grave and long-lasting injuries such as head trauma and eye damage due to tear gas cartridges and KIPs, burns and respiratory issues due to the indiscriminate and widespread use of tear gas and water cannons, which in some cases resulted in their hospitalisation. The full extent of the injuries, as well as the physical and psychological toll on protesters’ health, will only become clear in the following months.
According to the report of Human Rights Association (İHD), as of 27 March 2025, a total of 1,879 people—including children, lawyers, journalists, students, union leaders and human rights defenders—have been taken into custody during protests and house raids on the grounds of inciting protests, engaging in violence, concealing their faces with masks, and using bats or other objects. Over 260 of them have been placed in pre-trial detention, while judicial control measures have been imposed on 468 individuals simply for exercising their right to peaceful protest. Istanbul Bar Association Child Rights Committee reported that among the arrested in İstanbul, 20 were under the age of 18.
Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) also highlights incidents of torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence in detention facilities. Lawyers have denounced the treatment of seven female detainees who were subjected to beatings as well as unjustified strip searches while in custody. According to a released testimony, another female victim reported being groped by a police officer while handcuffed behind the back and forcefully pinned to the ground and that she soiled herself out of fear during the ordeal. She was reportedly placed under house arrest after her testimony. The Turkish Medical Association has recalled the importance of medical examinations upon entry in custody and detention to prevent and document torture and other ill-treatment.
Human rights defenders, including those monitoring the protests, have also become targets of State repression during the protests. Journalists and media organisations covering protests have also been persecuted, infringing on the right to freedom of expression and the right to information. As of 28 March, at least 14 journalists were detained after covering the protest.
Lawyers representing those who were arbitrarily detained in the context of protests, were also targeted. At least 14 lawyers were detained, including the lawyer of İmamoğlu, demonstrating the State authorities’ disregard for the rule of law and the right to defence, due process and justice. In the midst of the protests as part of the general intimidation strategy against lawyers, on 21 March the Istanbul Bar Association’s executive board was dismissed by the decision of İstanbul 2nd Civil Court of First Instance- a move that raises serious concerns of further attacks on the independence of the legal profession and the detainees’ right to legal representation. Following the decision, police interfered as lawyers attempted to march from the courthouse in Çağlayan to the Istanbul Bar Association building in Taksim to protest the decision.
Signatories:
ARTICLE 19
Asociación Unidad de Defensa Jurídica, Registro y Memoria para Nicaragua (AUDJUDRNIC)
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
EuroMed Rights
Front Line Defenders
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
ILGA-Europe
United Against Torture Consortium (UATC), through its following members:
The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT)
Omega Research Foundation
Redress
And the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos – Guatemala (UDEFEGUA)
Within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders:
Led by Norway, the resolution crucially covers new grounds and further develops States’ obligations to protect human rights defenders in the digital age. It also considers the needs expressed by human rights defenders during the consultative process leading to its negotiation and approval.
For the first time and in a major win for the human rights defenders movement, the resolution includesa reference to the Declaration +25 and is very much in line with its content.
‘The Declaration +25 is a ground-breaking initiative,’ said Phil Lynch, Executive Director at ISHR. ‘Civil society organisations worldwide have united to produce this authoritative articulation of the international legal framework for the protection of human rights defenders. We are very pleased that the Human Rights Council recognised it,’ Lynch added.
For example, the resolution calls on States to forgo the use of biometric mass surveillance and to refrain from or cease the use or transfer of new and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence applications and spyware to actors that are not liable to operating these in full compliance with international human rights law.
Initially, the resolution included a reference to transnational repression but this was removed in the final version.
‘While we welcome the reference to types of transnational repression referred to in the resolution, we stress that transnational repression is not only about actions taken by a State, but also its proxies, to deter, silence or punish people and groups who engage in dissent, critique or human rights advocacy from abroad, in relation to that State,’ said ISHR’s Lynch and civil society partners in their end of session statement.
Indeed, transnational repression includes acts targeted directly against human rights defenders, journalists or activists, as well as acts targeting them indirectly by threatening their families, representatives or associates. Particularly vulnerable are nationals or former nationals, members of diaspora communities and those living in exile. ISHR will continue to push for States to publicly recognise and acknowledge this form of harassment.
Another lost opportunity is the lack of explicit recognition of the positive role of child human rights defenders in promoting human rights and fostering change in societies, including their active role in the digital space. The resolution also doesn’t tackle the specific challenges and risks they face because of their age and their civic engagement, as highlighted by the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders in her 2024 report.
The resolution fell short of reaffirming States commitments from UNGA A/RES/78/216, to enhance protection measures for child defenders and to provide a safe, enabling and empowering environment for children and young people online and offline.
The negotiation of the resolution was a hard and long process: 12 informal sessions were needed to agree on a text. In a regrettable move, some States presented amendments to the tabled text trying to undermine and weaken it. The text was finally adopted without a vote.
OHCHR is now mandated to convene three regional workshops and a report to assess risks created by digital technologies to human rights defenders and best practices to respond to these concerns.
Watan News on 30 March 2025 came with a rather remarkable story about the UAE’s covert efforts to damage Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s reputations through paid campaigns using African NGOs Human rights sources in Geneva. Whether this is all true or not I cannot say, but it is worth reporting on.
Watan writes that “human rights circles in Geneva’ have revealed the United Arab Emirates’ involvement in leading coordinated incitement campaigns against its adversaries, using African organizations in exchange for financial bribes to attack Abu Dhabi’s opponents and whitewash its own dire human rights record. According to the source, Abu Dhabi’s campaign aims to bring in so-called “victims,” such as migrant workers, to testify before the UN Human Rights Council in an effort to damage Qatar’s international reputation.
Reliable reports indicate that the UAE has continuously funded this campaign over the past three years. Several human rights organizations and active institutions in Geneva have reportedly received large sums of money to support anti-Qatar activities. The funds are reportedly channeled through the UAE Embassy in Geneva and a key intermediary, Issa Al-Arabi, a Bahraini national who acts as a liaison for the UAE in supporting various rights groups at the UN.
According to the source, the campaign is being executed by the Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (African Meeting for the Defense of Human Rights) under the leadership of Nishkarsh Singh, along with the Tomoko Development and Cultural Union (TACUDU) led by Fazal-ur-Rehman, and the International Network for Human Rights (INHR).
Another UN source said that the UAE’s campaign is coordinated by key figures within the diplomatic and human rights community in Geneva and Washington, primarily operating within the INHR network.
This organization plays a major role in organizing human rights events at the UN, with a team of participating legal and diplomatic experts.
Notable individuals involved include:
Biro Diawara – A veteran human rights activist in Geneva for over 20 years, representing African civil society including journalists, parliamentarians, religious leaders, and human rights defenders. He has strong ties to African delegations in New York, Geneva, and the continent, with a focus on Sudan, West Africa, and his native Guinea.
Clément N. Voule – Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association. After completing his term in the summer of 2024, he joined the Geneva Human Rights Institute in September. A Togolese international lawyer, he specializes in human rights and security sector reform and holds multiple roles within Geneva’s human rights community.
Jane Galvão – Director of Resource Mobilization at INHR and Global Health Advisor. With over 20 years of experience managing health programs, she has worked on infectious diseases and women’s and children’s health, managing over $750 million in funding for organizations like UNITAID and WHO.
Eric N. Richardson – Founding President of INHR. A former U.S. diplomat and attorney, he led the U.S. team at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva from 2013 to 2016. With experience in countries like China, North Korea, Libya, Tunisia, New Zealand, and Israel, he now focuses on mediation efforts with Amnesty International and teaches law at the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley.
John Shyamana – Expert in Social and Economic Rights, New York. With over 30 years of experience, he specializes in child policy, labor rights, and social welfare, having worked with the U.S. Congress and state legislatures on legislative and advocacy efforts.
Kumar – Senior Human Rights Advisor, Washington D.C. Former Advocacy Director for Amnesty International USA. With more than two decades of experience, he has championed human rights and humanitarian causes worldwide, particularly in Asia, Afghanistan, and Myanmar.
Jeff Landsman – Managing Director and Treasurer at INHR. A certified financial planner and seasoned international buyer, he oversees the institute’s financial operations and strategic planning.
Asel Alimbayeva – Program Officer and Director, INHR Geneva. Fluent in English, French, Russian, and Kazakh. She has worked at the UN Office in Geneva and Kazakhstan’s Permanent Mission, leading social media and HR operations at the institute.
Pedro Cherinos Terrones – Legal Advisor, Lima. A Peruvian lawyer specializing in international trade, business law, human rights, and compliance with international law.
Sean Wessing – AI and Innovation Specialist, Bologna. Holds dual Master’s degrees from SAIS–Johns Hopkins and Bologna Business School. Leads fundraising and AI governance projects at INHR.
Zaf Haseem – Videographer and Reconciliation Specialist, Asia. A conflict mediator who has worked in Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia, and the Central African Republic, using film as a training tool for peacebuilding.
UAE’s Smear Campaign Targeting Qatar and Saudi Arabia
Diplomatic sources indicate that the UAE is recruiting African civil society organizations to conduct media and human rights attacks against Qatar. These efforts are expected to intensify during the UN Human Rights Council sessions in June and September 2025, with a major campaign planned for the September session. Additionally, the UAE is reportedly preparing similar activities within the African Union Commission, targeting both Qatar and Saudi Arabia as part of its escalating geopolitical rivalry in Africa.
These developments underscore rising regional tensions in Africa, where the UAE is leveraging human rights tools and diplomatic influence to advance its political agenda.
They also raise serious concerns about the independence of some Geneva-based human rights organizations, which are increasingly being used as instruments of political influence rather than neutral advocacy.
During the 58th regular session of the Human Rights Council, ISHR delivered a statement during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders affirming that human rights, peace and security are deeply interconnected, and the importance of the international system to human rights defenders.
The international system – to which many human rights defenders turn for justice, solidarity and accountability – is under attack.
Already weakened by double standards by States from all regions, human rights and the rule of law are being destroyed by a cabal of authoritarian leaders and unaccountable corporations. We thank the Special Rapporteur and other experts for their 27 February statement on this issue.
It was gratifying to see the rapid solidarity of many States with Ukraine following Friday’s White House confrontation with one such authoritarian. It is disheartening that the shortsighted response of many of those same States to the existential human rights funding crisis is to increase security spending by reducing development assistance. Human rights, peace and security are deeply interconnected.
Of course, no single State can fill the US gap or counter its influence, but a diverse group of States with a shared interest in universal rights and the rule of law must do so. Human rights defenders globally need your increased political and financial support, now. Our common interests are not served by lawlessness and raw power.
Madame Rapporteur, thank you for endorsing the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders +25. Read with the 1998 Declaration, it elaborates authoritative standards on the rights of defenders, and State and non-State actors’ obligations to respect and protect them.
Finally, alongside 196 organisations, ISHR calls on States to support a strong Norway-led resolution on human rights defenders and technology at this session.
A group of UN Special Rapporteurs condemned the criminal prosecution of 85-year-old human rights defender Mark Kuperman, who has a disability and uses a wheelchair.
Kuperman, a prominent Russian human rights advocate, faces severe “terrorism” charges and is being targeted for his anti-war views and human rights work. A celebrated human rights defender, Kuperman is the head of the Public Human Rights Center in Sakhalin region and in 2022, was awarded the Moscow Helsinki Group’s human rights prize.
On 4 April 2024, the Sakhalin Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Kuperman on charges of “extremism.” When the investigation concluded in early December 2024, the case was unexpectedly reopened on 20 December 2024, and the authorities escalated the charges to “public calls for terrorist activities” under article 205, part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code. These charges stem from a draft document Kuperman received from a colleague and allegedly shared with his team in January 2023, discussing potential scenarios for Russia’s democratic development and the role of the West in supporting future democratic institutions.
The experts voiced serious concerns about the impact of judicial harassment on Kuperman, especially considering his advanced age, disability, and deteriorating health. The court proceedings, set to start immediately, could endanger his life and well-being, particularly if he is detained.
“It is appalling to prosecute an older human rights defender with a first-degree disability on unsubstantiated charges of “terrorism”, brought against him just to punish him for his criticism of the war against Ukraine,” the experts said.
“Russian authorities rushing the case to trial and denying Kuperman adequate time to prepare his defence demonstrates once again the lack of judicial independence and instrumentalisation of the judicial system to silence the independent and dissenting voices in Russia.”
The Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court set an unreasonably short five-working-day deadline for Kuperman to study the case files, without providing any procedural accommodations and ignoring his disability, cognitive decline, chronic pain, movement restrictions, and weak vision. On 24 January, the investigator arbitrarily ended the review process, hindering Kuperman’s defence preparation and blocking his ability to request case dismissal due to lack of evidence. Additionally, the Russian security services (FSB) apparently installed listening devices in his apartment, preventing his confidential communication with his lawyer, as Kuperman is unable to leave his apartment due to his physical impairment.
“This case fits the broader pattern of using counter-extremism and counter-terrorism legislation in Russia to target human rights defenders, anti-war activists, and political opponents for exercising their freedom of expression,” the experts added. “Kuperman’s private discussions and human rights work have been criminalised, undermining the integrity of legal proceedings and violating due process. All charges against Kuperman should be dropped.”
On the fifth anniversary of the “Xiamen Gathering” crackdown, 34 civil society organisations (on 10 February 2025) across the world reaffirm their solidarity with Chinese human rights defenders and lawyers persecuted for advocating for human rights:
26 December 2024 marked the fifth anniversary of the crackdown on the “Xiamen gathering”, a private gathering that about 20 Chinese human rights defenders and lawyers convened in Xiamen, China in December 2019 to discuss the situation of human rights and civil society in China. In the weeks after, Chinese authorities interrogated, harassed, detained and imprisoned every participant who was not able to leave China then and subjected almost all of them, including some families and friends, to travel bans, up to the present day, under the pretext of national security.
Among those detained were legal scholar Xu Zhiyong and human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi. Both are leading human rights defenders who spearheaded the “New Citizens’ Movement”, empowering citizens as rights-bearers to advocate for a more equal, rights-respecting and free society, and to combat corruption, wealth inequality and discrimination in access to education. In 2014, Xu and Ding were both sentenced to four years and three and a half years in prison, respectively, for participating in the New Citizens’ Movement and charged with “gathering a crowd to disturb public order”.
From 26 December 2019, and over the weeks that followed, the Chinese authorities forcibly disappeared both under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL), a criminal procedure allowing secret detention for up to six months without access to legal counsel or family. RSDL is considered by UN Special Procedures experts to constitute secret detention and a form of enforced disappearance, and may amount to torture or other ill-treatment. While held under RSDL, both men were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, before being charged with the national security crime of “subversion of State power”. They were subsequently convicted in a secret trial and handed severe prison sentences of 14 and 12 years, respectively, in April 2023. Despite multiple calls from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and from UN Special Procedures’ experts as recently as November 2024, China has failed to address these grave violations.
These cases are emblematic of a broader and alarming trend of persecution of human rights defenders and lawyers in China. Authorities systematically employ RSDL, harsh national security charges, torture and other ill-treatment, prolonged detention, travel bans and harassment to silence dissent and dismantle independent civil society. The use of vague charges such as “subversion of State power” or “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” has become a routine tactic to criminalise human rights work, despite UN human rights experts’ repeated call for them to be repealed. Victims often face prolonged pre-trial detention, lack of due process, restricted access to lawyer and adequate healthcare, and torture or other ill-treatment aimed at extracting forced ‘confessions’.
This systematic repression is further reflected in the cases of human rights lawyers Xie Yang and Lu Siwei, feminist activist Huang Xueqin, labour activist Wang Jianbing, and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, all of whom are currently subjected to arbitrary detention or imprisonment . UN Special Procedures’ experts have recently described these cases as part of “recurring patterns of repression, including incommunicado detention and enforced disappearance aimed at […] silencing human rights defenders and dissenting or opposing views critical of the Government”.
As we commemorate the fifth anniversary of the crackdown, we, organisations and activists from all over the world, continue to stand in solidarity with all human rights defenders and lawyers in China who courageously advocate for justice despite knowing the risks of doing so.
We urge the Chinese government to:
Immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders and lawyers arbitrarily detained or imprisoned for their human rights work, including Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi;
End the systematic crackdown on civil society, including harassment, unjustified detention, enforced disappearance, and imprisonment of human rights defenders and lawyers;
Amend laws and regulations, including national security legislation, the Criminal Law and the Criminal Procedure Law, to bring them fully in line with international human rights standards;
Rescind the travel bans imposed on the gathering participants as well as their friends and families immediately.
Signatories:
Alliance for Citizens Rights
Amnesty International
Asian Lawyers Network (ALN) (Japan)
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Free Tibet (United Kingdom)
Human Rights in China
India Tibet Friendship Society Nagpur Maharashtra (India)
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
International Campaign for Tibet
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
International Tibet Network
Judicial Reform Foundation (Taiwan)
Lawyers for Lawyers (Netherlands)
LUNGTA – Active for Tibet (Belgium)
PEN America (United States)
Safeguard Defenders (Spain)
Swiss Tibetan Friendship Association (Switzerland)
Taiwan Association for Human Rights (Taiwan)
The 29 Principles (United Kingdom)
The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders
The Rights Practice (United Kingdom)
Tibet Justice Center (United States)
Tibet Solidarity (United Kingdom)
Voluntary Tibet Advocacy Group (V-TAG) (Netherlands)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Acción Solidaria (Venezuela)
Amnistía Internacional Chile (Chile)
CADAL (Argentina)
Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Francisco de Vitoria OP, A.C. (Mexico)
CONTIOCAP – Coordinadora Nacional de Defensa de Territorios Indígenas Originarios Campesinos y Áreas Protegidas en Bolivia (Bolivia)
Movimiento Autónomo de Mujeres (Nicaragua)
Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos Todos los Derechos para todas, todos y todes (Mexico)
The fourth anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar is a time to mourn the loss of thousands of innocent lives at the hands of a brutal 2025military regime while celebrating the heroism of those who continue to stand up for human rights in a country under siege, a UN expert said on30januaary
“It is also a time for the international community to provide the people of Myanmar a genuine partnership to help end this nightmare,” said Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar.
Andrews said four years of military oppression, violence and incompetence have cast Myanmar into an abyss.
“Junta forces have slaughtered thousands of civilians, bombed and burned villages, and displaced millions of people. More than 20,000 political prisoners remain behind bars. The economy and public services have collapsed. Famine and starvation loom over large parts of the population,” the Special Rapporteur said.
“The junta’s plans, including holding sham elections this year in a backdrop of escalating armed conflict and human rights violations, are a path to ruin,” Andrews said.
He said it was not possible to hold a legitimate election while arresting, detaining, torturing and executing leaders of the opposition and when it is illegal for journalists or citizens to criticise the junta.
“Governments should dismiss these plans for what they are – a fraud,” Andrews said.
He lauded pro-democracy activists, journalists, doctors, human rights defenders and citizens from all walks of life who have risked their lives to fight for Myanmar’s future.
“The resilience and courage of Myanmar’s people continue to amaze and inspire others around the world. I am heartened by the courageous efforts of those documenting the junta’s crimes, caring for those injured by the attacks, providing food and shelter to those displaced, and teaching children whose education was upended by the coup. These heroic efforts are compelling indicators that Myanmar’s best days lie ahead,” the expert said.
Andrews said action by member states including targeted sanctions and a crackdown on the arms trade by Singapore have contributed to a one-third drop in the volume of weapons and military supplies the junta has been able to purchase through the formal banking system since the year ending March 2023.
“When governments muster the political will, they help save lives and support freedom in Myanmar,” the Special Rapporteur said, calling for stronger action from the international community. “The failure of the Security Council to take action requires that UN Member States who support human rights coordinate strong, sustained actions that can deny the junta the means to continue its brutality against the people of Myanmar.”
He urged governments to back efforts to hold perpetrators of grave human rights violations accountable, including in the International Criminal Court (ICC), and by supporting the democratic movement and civil society as they build the foundation for a strong justice system and transitional justice processes.
“Impunity has enabled a decades-long cycle of violence and oppression in Myanmar. Ultimately, this sad chapter of Myanmar’s history must end with junta leaders being prosecuted for their crimes,” Andrews said.
At the upcoming 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Norway will present a draft resolution on human rights defenders and new and emerging technologies.
ISHR has prepared the attached letter urging States to actively support the adoption of a resolution that recognises updated frameworks to protect human rights defenders in the digital era, addresses the growing risks of cybercrimes, online harassment, surveillance, and the suppression of free expression through censorship and disinformation.
ISHR will be collecting NGO signatories until 7 February 2025. Please sign the letter using this link. Please feel free to circulate the link to sign on the letter to your civil society networks. We will be circulating the final version with signatories for publishing and sending it to Geneva missions on 10 February .
Please note that ISHR is not able to take on comments/edits on this letter. We invite interested NGOs to send their inputs directly to the drafters of the resolution – the Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva.
On 30 January 2025 Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said that Algeria continues to restrict and harass human rights defenders for their peaceful activities, an independent human rights expert said today.
“More than a year after I visited Algeria – at the end of 2023 – I am deeply disappointed to see that human rights defenders in different fields of work, some of whom I met, are still being arbitrarily arrested, judicially harassed, intimidated and criminalised for their peaceful activities under vaguely worded provisions, such as ‘harming the security of the State’,” said Mary Lawlor. [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/12/07/mary-lawlor-returns-from-algeria-visit/]
“The case of Mr. Merzoug Touati, an independent journalist and human rights defender who has been subjected for years to trials on spurious charges, is among the most alarming cases I have recently examined,” Lawlor said.
“Since 2024, he has been detained three times. During his latest arrest, in August 2024, his family was reportedly subjected to ill-treatment. He was then allegedly physically and psychologically tortured while in police custody for five days. He continues to be judicially harassed even after his release,” the expert said.
“No less concerning is the arrest of three human rights lawyers and a young whistleblower between February and July 2024,” Lawlor said, highlighting the cases of Toufik Belala, Soufiane Ouali and Omar Boussag.
Belala was summoned for interrogation three times since April 2024 and finally accused of publishing false information that may threaten the security of the State, before being freed under judicial control.
The human rights lawyer Soufiane Ouali was taken from his home during a violent dawn raid by police in July 2024, and placed in custody along with 14 others, including the young whistleblower Yuba Manguellet. They were charged under Article 87bis of the Penal Code, a vaguely worded counter-terrorism provision that is often misused to crackdown on freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
Other restrictive articles of the Penal Code have been used to accuse human rights lawyer Omar Boussag of ‘incitement of an unarmed gathering’ and ‘contempt of an official body’ following the publication of his posts on Facebook.
“These are not the only cases,” Lawlor said. “The environmental rights defender Karim Khima has been pursued for years in court for organising protests against a housing development on land with historical remains and for the protection of the ecosystem around Lake Mezaia, which is threatened by the planned construction of an amusement park. Fortunately, he was finally acquitted.”
Lawlor also drew attention to the case of the ‘Collectif des Familles de Disparus,’ an organisation set up during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s to seek answers to the forcible disappearance of persons. This year, the organisation has repeatedly been prevented from holding events by huge contingents of police forces surrounding its office in Algiers. Its female lawyer and members, many of whom are mothers of disappeared persons, have been manhandled and forced to leave the location on these occasions.
“I want to repeat that I met nearly all of these human rights defenders,” the Special Rapporteur said. “Not one of them was in any way pursuing violent acts. They all must be treated in accordance with international human rights law, which Algeria is bound to respect.”
She said that during her visit to Algeria, she also met with many public officials in an atmosphere of constructive exchange. “I am therefore doubly disappointed to see that restrictions against human rights defenders are continuing,” Lawlor said.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 