On 3 November 2023 the 10th Asian Regional Human Rights Defenders Forum concluded:
Judicial harassment was the most common violation experienced by human rights defenders (HRDs) in Asia from 2021 to 2022.
State actors–such as the police–were the top perpetrators.
The forum coincides with the 25th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which requires states to protect HRDs. Nevertheless, violations against HRDs still persist in Asia.
HRDs call for stronger mechanisms for protecting and creating an enabling environment for human rights work.
This collective call echoed throughout the 10th Asian Regional Human Rights Defenders Forum, which brought together some of Asia’s most courageous voices.
Held from 1 to 3 November 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the forum provided a platform for over 200 human rights defenders (HRDs) to discuss their shared advocacies, struggles, and hopes for promoting and protecting fundamental rights and freedoms across Asia and beyond.
The forum expressed deep concern on the situation in Occupied Palestine Territory and Israel, particularly the indiscriminate bombing and military operations in Gaza by Israel that bears hallmarks of genocide. Participants called for an immediate ceasefire and end to the ongoing siege of Gaza by Israel as well as for unfettered access for humanitarian aid to Gaza. Likewise, defenders called for accountability and an investigation into the alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both Israeli military forces and Palestinian armed groups.
The forum also celebrated the invaluable work of HRDs, emphasising the need for innovative ways of supporting them amid increasingly hostile environments in the region.
In addition, an art exhibit was set up to commemorate the courageous acts of Asian human rights defenders while also showcasing the creativity of young Asian artists, highlighting the power of arts and storytelling as advocacy tools.
The three-day forum was organised by the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) alongside Pusat KOMAS and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM).
Violations against human rights defenders
This year’s forum coincided with the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The latter requires states to protect HRDs in recognition of their crucial contributions to ‘peace, sustainable development, and human rights.’
Unfortunately, violations against HRDs still persist in Asia. In 2021 and 2022 alone, FORUM-ASIA documented 1,636 cases of violations which affected 4,440 defenders–alongside their families, organisations, and communities–across 22 monitored Asian countries. The exact numbers, however, may be higher as cases often go unreported.
Judicial harassment was the most common violation, followed by arbitrary arrests and detention, physical violence, and intimidation and threats. At worst, such cases may result in enforced disappearances, killings, and deaths. Other violations included administrative harassment, restrictions on movement, surveillance, vilification, and abduction. Among all HRDs, pro-democracy defenders were at most risk. Meanwhile, women human rights defenders and sexual orientation and gender identity rights defenders often experienced gender-based harassment. Community-based defenders–including land and environment defenders, indigenous peoples’ rights defenders, and grassroot activists were the third most affected group. Other targeted HRD groups included media workers, students and youth, non-governmental organisations, and minority rights defenders.
Most violations were committed by state actors, with the police topping the list of perpetrators.
Among those who have experienced judicial harassment are FORUM-ASIA members Khurram Parvez in Kashmir, Adilur Rahman Khan in Bangladesh, Cristina Palabay in the Philippines, among many others. FORUM-ASIA is in solidarity with all the defenders facing harassment.
‘I want to emphasise that the government recognizes that human rights defenders and civil society organisations play an indispensable role in advocating for the rights and concerns of marginalised communities. They act as watchdogs, exposing injustices, discrimination, and human rights violations that might otherwise go unnoticed,’ Malaysian Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation YB Chang Li Kang said during the forum.
Despite the many challenges, HRDs in Asia are not giving up.
‘Indeed, we are stronger together. This year alone, human rights defenders and organisations have overcome tremendous challenges in the region. We are never keeping silent, we will continue to demand justice and accountability not only here in Malaysia but across Asia and beyond,’ said Jerald Joseph, Chairperson of FORUM-ASIA and Director of Pusat KOMAS.
A group of human rights organisations, including the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH (see Co-signatories), called on 27 October 2023 for the release of the human rights defender Nasta Loika after more than 396 days of her detention.
Nasta Loika is a prominent human rights defender, one of the founders of Human Constanta. For years, she has been promoting human rights education, raising awareness about the repressive “anti-extremist” legislation in Belarus, and protecting foreign citizens and stateless persons in Belarus. She was named Human Rights Defender of the Year 2022 by the Belarusian human rights community. Yet, in the eyes of the repressive Belarusian authorities, she is a criminal and earlier in October, the government put her on a “terrorist” list.
Since 6 September 2022, Nasta has served a total of six 15-day consecutive administrative sentences on trumped-up “petty hooliganism” charges. On 24 December 2022, she was charged with “incitement of racial, national, religious or other social enmity or discord” under notorious Article 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus and on 20 June sentenced to 7 years in prison. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/08/11/nasta-anastasia-loika-in-belarus-sentenced-to-7-years-in-a-penal-colony/]
She was tasered, threatened, and featured in a forced “confession” video as a form of digital degrading treatment which was spread across pro-government channels before she was even charged. Her home was searched two times. Her mother’s home was searched too. She spent 93 days in detention, repeatedly sentenced to “administrative arrests” while the authorities looked for a reason to bring criminal charges against her. The charge was ultimately found, and Nasta was accused of inciting hatred for preparing a human rights report in 2018 on the persecution of anarchists and leftists in Belarus. According to the prosecution, the group she was allegedly inciting hatred against was the police.
Belarusian state authorities continued to ignore both the letter of allegation sent by five Special Rapporteurs and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention following Human Constanta’s appeal to these mandates, as well as the decision on interim measures, adopted by the Human Rights Committee in Nasta’s case.
Her lawyers were repeatedly arrested, disbarred, forced out of the country, and intimidated – hardly a surprising occurrence given en masse persecution of independent lawyers and outlawing of human rights work in Belarus. Disbarment of human rights lawyers is one of the tools the authorities consistently employed to intimidate and persecute lawyers who represent human rights defenders, activists, democratic politicians, and survivors of torture and state-perpetrated human rights violations.
Any assistance to Nasta is punished as well: two people were arrested for 15 and 30 days for bringing her parcels with food and essentials. Now that she has been sentenced, she is only able to receive parcels from her 76-year-old mother, her only family member. Moreover, as she was designated a “terrorist,” it would be impossible to make monetary transfers as those would be characterized as “financing terrorism.”
Nasta also continues her human rights work from behind bars: she helped dozens of other women cellmates to file complaints related to their cases. She also drafted a concept of prison reform in Belarus. This is a powerful reminder that persecution and imprisonment cannot force human rights defenders to stop their work.
In fact, their voices can be amplified not just through letters, but through technology and social media. While the authoritarian government is set on silencing human rights defenders, the Human Constanta team used AI to create Nasta’s animated digital avatar to raise awareness about human rights violations and political persecution of human rights defenders, demand accountability, and support those in detention. The “Human Show” podcast called “Waiting for Nasta” featuring her colleagues and friends also reminds the world about her work and unjustified detention.
“A young girl came up to me [at an event in honor of a human rights award] and said: “Hello, my name is Nasta. I graduated from law school, I’ve entered law school, and I would really like to do human rights work, but I don’t know how. Maybe you could give me some advice?” […] I told her, yes, of course, come to our Committee. She came to the Committee a couple of days later and we hired her. That became her first human rights work.”
Excerpt from “Waiting for Nasta” podcast, episode 1
“And then I asked, “Do you know exactly what you’re doing? This may be the last chance [to flee Belarus].” And Nasta replied very calmly that she was aware of all the risks, that she understood the situation, and that it was not blind stubbornness. In my mind, Nasta lives her life as a person with very high values, who is ready to stand by them to the end.”
Excerpt from “Waiting for Nasta” podcast, episode 2
We call on the Belarusian authorities for Nasta Lojka’s immediate and unconditional release and condemn the physical and psychological torture Nasta was subjected to by state agents. Nasta Lojka’s arrest, torture, and imprisonment are retaliation by the Belarus government for her peaceful and legitimate human rights work.
We continue to call upon the international community to take measures to urge the Belarusian authorities to respect their obligations towards human rights defenders, by raising awareness in various fora, publicly condemning human rights violations, requesting visits to human rights defenders in detention, and inquiring with the Belarusian authorities about their health and detention conditions, demanding the release of imprisoned human rights defenders in bilateral and multilateral fora, exploring additional targeted measures against the individuals allegedly responsible for the torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary detention and harassment of human rights defenders, and keeping the situation of defenders in Belarus high on the political agenda.
We also call to utilize and explore available mechanisms for holding the Belarusian authorities account for human rights abuses against human rights defenders, inter alia, by means of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction and inter-state complaints under relevant treaties, and through strengthening existing accountability mechanisms.
The New York Times of 22 September 2023 and other outlets report on the increasing crackdown on dissent: Huang Xueqin, the journalist who gave #MeToo Victims a voice, and Wang Jianbing, a labor activist, have been accused of inciting subversion.
The Chinese journalist Huang Xueqin in Singapore in 2017. She has been in detention in China for two years.Credit…#FreeXueBing, via Associated Press
On 22 September saw the start of their trial after two years of arbitrary detention. A large number of civil society organisations, including the FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) expressed their deep concern about their conditions of detention and called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Huang Xueqin, an independent journalist who was once a prominent voice in China’s #MeToo movement, and her friend Wang Jianbing, the activist, were taken away by the police in September 2021 and later charged with inciting subversion of state power. Their trial was held at the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court in southern China.
Little is known about the government’s case, but the vaguely worded offence with which the two were charged has long been seen as a tool for muzzling dissent. Since China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, came to power in 2012, the ruling Communist Party has sought to essentially silence people who have fought for free speech and political rights. A steady stream of activists, lawyers, tycoons and intellectuals have been put on trial and sentenced.
In Ms. Huang and Mr. Wang’s cases, the authorities questioned dozens of their friends in the months after their detentions and pressured them to sign testimonies against the two, according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, an advocacy group that is in close contact with many activists.
In the meantime the Washington Post of 22 September reports that Rahile Dawut, a prominent Uyghur academic who disappeared six years ago at the height of the Chinese government’s crackdown in Xinjiang, has been given a life sentence in prison, according to a human rights group that has worked for years to locate her..
Dui Hua, a California-based group that advocates for political prisoners in China, said in a statement Thursday that the 57-year-old professor — who was convicted in 2018 on charges of endangering state security by promoting “splittism” — had lost an appeal of her sentence in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region High People’s Court.
At a regular press briefing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said she was “unaware” of Dawut’s case. “What I can tell you is that China is a law-based country and handles relevant cases in strict accordance with the law.”
“The sentencing of Professor Rahile Dawut to life in prison is a cruel tragedy, a great loss for the Uyghur people, and for all who treasure academic freedom,” said John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation.
On 14 September 2023 the Cyber Tribunal, Dhaka sentenced to two years imprisonment Odhikar’s Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and Director ASM Nasiruddin Elan for allegedly breaching Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006. They were charged for releasing a report on extrajudicial killings committed on 5 and 6 May 2013, centering around the Hefazat-e-Islam protests.
Immediately, 39 organizations in a joint call said that Bangladesh should quash their convictions, and end all reprisals against them and other human rights defenders for their legitimate human rights work. The Bangladesh Government has persistently targeted and launched a smear campaign against Khan and Elan, the secretary and director, respectively, of prominent Bangladesh human rights organization Odhikar. Following the 2013 publication of Odhikar’s fact-finding report documenting extrajudicial killings during a protest, both defenders were arbitrarily detained; Khan for 62 and Elan for 25 days. After being released on bail, they continued to face prosecution and judicial harassment on trumped-up allegations that their 2013 report was “fake, distorted, and defamatory.”
After the Government reopened the examination of witnesses and presented additional prosecution witnesses in July and August 2023, the judge convicted Khan and Elan to two years in prison and a fine of 10,000 Bangladeshi Taka (equivalent of USD$91.17).
Human rights defenders should be allowed to conduct their necessary and important work without fear of harassment, intimidation, and reprisals. Instead of prosecuting and punishing those who document and expose human rights violations, the Government should investigate and hold the perpetrators of these violations accountable.
List of signatories:
Advocacy Forum Nepal
Amnesty International
Anti-Death Penalty Asian Network (ADPAN)
Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD)
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL)
Association of Family Members of the Disappeared, Sri Lanka
Capital Punishment Justice Project, Australia
Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR)
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Defence for Human Rights Pakistan (DHR)
Desaparecidos – Philippines
Eleos Justice, Monash University, Australia
Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND)
FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Forum ONG Timor-leste
Free Jonas Burgos Movement
HAK Association, Timor-leste
Human Rights First
Human Rights Hub
Human Rights Watch
Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared Families (IKOHI)
International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED)
International Federation of ACATs (FIACAT)
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Karapatan Alliance Philippines (KARAPATAN)
KontraS (the Commission of the Disappeared and Victims of Violence)
Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Disappeared-Detainees (FEDEFAM)
Legal Literacy – Nepal
Liga Guatemalteca de Higiene Mental
Madres de Plaza de Mayo – Linea Fundadora, Argentina
Martin Ennals Foundation
Nonviolence International Canada
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
Sindhi Foundation
The Asian Alliance Against Torture (A3T)
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition, Washington DC
We Remember-Belarus
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Odhikar itself denounces the arrest, trial and imprisonment of these two human rights defenders and added that “It believes that justice has not been served. As an organisation Odhikar has drawn the sustained wrath of the establishment for becoming the voice of the victims of human rights violations, including those of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention and against the suppression of free expression and assembly; and for its engagement with the United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms. Earlier the government arbitrarily deregistered the organisation. Today’s judgement is likely to have a chilling effect on human rights defenders and civil society organisations around the country.“
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 forcedmarriage 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 forcedmarriage 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.
A large group of civil society organizations, condemn the three-year prison sentence handed down to human rights researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and academic Patrick George Zaki for his writings highlighting the hardship and discrimination faced by Coptic Christians in Egypt, such as himself.
On July 18, 2023, following a trial rife with due process violations, an Egyptian emergency state security court handed down a three-year prison sentence to Patrick on trumped up charges of spreading false news. Patrick, who was a graduate student at the University of Bologna at the time, was arrested by Egyptian authorities on February 7, 2020, while at the Cairo Airport during a visit home to see his family. In custody, he was held incommunicado for a 24-hour period; he was beaten, stripped, electrocuted, verbally abused, and threatened. He was initially accused of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news. In September 2021, lawyers learned that he had been referred to emergency state security court on false news charges for a 2019 article that he authored for independent digital media outlet Daraj on his experience as a Coptic Christian religious minority, titled, “Displacement, Killing & Harassment: A Week in the Diaries of Egypt’s Copts.” On December 7, 2021, following 22 months behind bars, he was ordered released from detention pending trial, and placed on travel ban. His trial continued until the July 2023 verdict, following which he was taken back into custody today.
Verdicts handed down by an emergency court are not subject to legal appeal, only to ratification by the President. The President also has the authority to commute the sentence or to quash the verdict. Furthermore, under Circular No. 10 of 2017 governing emergency state security courts, “If the accused is brought to trial while not in custody and sentenced to a prison penalty, he must be released immediately without executing the penalty pending the decision of the ratifying authority.” Per this provision, Patrick must legally be free while the President considers ratification; for Egyptian authorities to have taken him into custody constitutes a clear violation of this circular.
The targeting, arrest, prosecution, and sentencing of Patrick Zaki for writing about his experiences as a Coptic Christian is an egregious measure by Egyptian authorities that is indicative of a larger failure by the state to protect religious minorities. Instead, the authorities target Copts for merely expressing themselves and bringing attention to the discrimination they regularly endure. This sentence occurs in violation of Egypt’s domestic laws and international legal commitments, and sends a clear message that the Egyptian government is not serious about implementing its national human rights strategy or carrying out a meaningful national dialogue. At a time during which Egyptian authorities should be addressing the dire economic crisis, this step raises severe questions on the trajectory of the country.
The undersigned civil society organizations, call on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi not to ratify the verdict handed down to Patrick Zaki and instead to quash it in its entirety. We call on Egyptian authorities to immediately release Patrick Zaki from custody, to drop all charges and close all cases brought against him in their entirety, and to lift the travel ban brought against him. We urge all of Egypt’s international, multilateral, and government partners to press the Egyptian government to immediately release Patrick and cease persecuting him for his legally protected speech and vital human rights work.
In a joint statement published today, over 60 human rights organisations {such as the ISHR}, bar associations, scholars and Chinese human rights activists in exile urge global attention to the Chinese government’s new wave of repression against human rights lawyers unfolding over the past three months.
Human rights lawyers are a cornerstone of China’s human rights movement. From Uyghurs, Tibetans and Hong Kongers, to religious minorities, LGBTQI and feminist advocates, journalists, and political dissidents: human rights lawyers defend the full spectrum of civil society. They accompany and empower the most vulnerable against land evictions, discrimination, health scandals, or extra-legal detention. They embody the promise of rule of law and hold the government accountable to its commitments under China’s constitution, laws, and the international human rights treaties it has ratified. They ensure that no one is left behind.
As a result of this work, for many years and particularly since the round-up of over 300 human rights lawyers and legal assistants in the days following July 9, 2015 – an episode known as the 709 crackdown -, this profession has been ‘effectively criminalised in China,’ according to UN experts.
China’s abuse of national security to target lawyers has been growingly mimicked in Hong Kong, where Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho are awaiting trial under the territory’s overbroad National Security Law.
Beyond arrests, authorities are also increasingly using travel bans and enforced disappearances – including through a criminal procedure known as ‘Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location’ (RSDL) – to intimidate and silence human rights lawyers. Lawyer Li Heping and his family were intercepted at Chengdu airport in June this year, while lawyer Tang Jitian was detained for 398 days for attempting to attend a Human Rights Day celebration in December 2021. For RSDL, see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/residential-surveillance-at-a-designated-location-rsdl/
Released lawyers increasingly face disbarment, while their relatives, including underage children, are subjected to unrelenting harassment from the authorities. In recent months, Beijing-based lawyer Wang Quanzhang and his family have been forced to move 13 times, reporting constant threats and repeated cuts to their gas and electricity supply.
‘Human rights lawyers are one of the last avenues left to Chinese citizens seeking justice for the trampling of their most basic rights. Without sustained global pressure, the government will ramp up its campaign to imprison, disbar or silence these critical advocates for a more equal, just and rights-respecting China.‘
Raphael Viana David, ISHR’s China Programme Manager
Detained human rights lawyers are constantly subject to physical and psychological torture and ill-treatment in pre-trial detention and prison. They are routinely denied contact with their relatives and access to medical care, despite critical health issues. The government impedes family-appointed lawyers from accessing court documents and representing victims, instead imposing government-appointed lawyers whose identities are not disclosed or refuse to communicate with relatives. Detained lawyers are often convicted during sham closed-door trials, without notification to families nor disclosure of court verdicts for prolonged periods.
My husband Ding Jiaxi and his colleagues always fought for what’s right, despite knowing they risked being disappeared, tortured, disbarred. Their bravery is only equalled by their moral commitment to defending the rights of the most vulnerable, enshrined in China’s constitution and international treaties. Their sacrifice cannot be in vain: governments should stand with China’s human rights lawyers.
Sophie Luo Shengchun, human rights activist and wife of Ding Jiaxi
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that China has a ‘systemic problem with arbitrary detention which amounts to a serious violation of international law.’
Against this new wave of repression, which has been known as the ‘709 crackdown 2.0’, the 63 signatories call on the international community to urge the Chinese government to:
Put an end to its crackdown on human rights lawyers and defenders;
Immediately and unconditionally release all those arbitrarily detained;
Amend laws and regulations, including national security legislation, its Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law, to bring them into full compliance with international human rights standards; and meaningfully cooperate with the United Nations human rights bodies to that end.
The Human Rights Council should urgently address the deterioration of the human rights situation in Tunisia, four human rights organizations said on 27 June 2023 as the 53rd Council’s session is underway.
In a letter sent to UN Member States’ Representatives on 5 June 2023, the four undersigned organizations warned against the rapidly worsening situation in Tunisia, and urged States to seize the opportunity of the ongoing Human Rights Council’s session to address it. The organizations called on the Council and Member States to press the Tunisian authorities to comply with their obligations under international human rights law particularly those guaranteeing the rights to fair trial, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and non-discrimination.
The Human Rights Council should urge Tunisia to end the ongoing crackdown on peaceful dissent and freedom of expression, and drop charges against, and release, all individuals being detained and prosecuted solely on the basis of their peaceful political activities and the exercise of their human rights. The Council should also call on Tunisia to conduct prompt, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent and investigation into a wave of anti-Black violence – including assaults and summary evictions – against Black African foreign nationals, including migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and bring to justice anyone reasonably suspected to be responsible, and provide victims with access to justice and effective remedies.
Over the past two years, Tunisia has witnessed a significant rollback on human rights. Judicial independence guarantees have been dismantled and individual judges and prosecutors have been subjected to arbitrary dismissal, politicized criminal prosecutions and increased interference by the executive. Lawyers are being prosecuted for the discharge of their professional duties and exercise of their right to freedom of expression.
‘The Tunisian authorities’ interference in the judiciary and attacks on lawyers have greatly undermined the right to fair trial and public trust in the integrity of the justice system. The authorities must ensure that the courts are not weaponized to crush dissent and free expression,’ said International Commission of Jurists’ MENA director Said Benarbia.
Under the guise of ‘fighting offences related to information and communication systems’, punishable by up to a 10 years’ imprisonment and a hefty fine according to Decree Law 54, at least 13 individuals, including journalists, political opponents, lawyers, human rights defenders and activists, have been subject to police or judicial investigations and are facing possible prosecutions.
‘With Tunisia facing political uncertainty and economic crisis, it’s more important than ever that Tunisians be free to debate their country’s future without fear of reprisal. The authorities should strive to allow the effective enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression of everyone; instead, they are attacking it,’ said Rawya Rageh, Amnesty International’s acting deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Last week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the Tunisian authorities to stop restricting media freedoms and criminalizing independent journalism. In a statement published on 23 June, Volker Türk expressed deep concern at the increasing restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and press freedom in Tunisia, noting that vague legislation is being used to criminalize independent journalism and stifle criticism of the authorities. ‘It is troubling to see Tunisia, a country that once held so much hope, regressing and losing the human rights gains of the last decade,’ said the High Commissioner.
Since February 2023, a wave of arrests targeted political opponents and perceived critics of Tunisia’s President, Kais Saied. In the absence of credible evidence of any offences, judges are investigating at least 48 people, such as dissidents, opposition figures, and lawyers, for allegedly conspiring against the State or threatening State security, among other charges. At least 17 of them are being investigated under Tunisia’s 2015 counter-terrorism law.
‘By jailing political leaders and banning opposition meetings, the authorities are dangerously trampling on the fundamental rights that underpin a vibrant democracy. The democratic backsliding and the human rights violations, which are unprecedented since the 2011 revolution, require urgent attention from the Human Rights Council and Member States,’ said Salsabil Chellali, Tunisia director at Human Rights Watch.
We, the undersigned human rights organisations, call on Saudi authorities to reveal the health condition of and immediately and unconditionally release prominent Saudi human rights defender and co-founder of the now dissolved Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA)*, Dr. Mohammed al-Qahtani, who has been detained incommunicado for six months. We also call for the immediate and unconditional release of four ACPRA members who remain in arbitrary detention.
Today, 24 April 2023, marks six months since prominent Saudi human rights defender and co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA)* Mohammed al-Qahtani last contacted his family. Since then, the authorities have subjected him to incommunicado detention. Al-Qahtani served his full sentence in November 2022. Five ACPRA members remain imprisoned in reprisal for their peaceful human rights activism: Mohammed al-Qahtani, Essa al-Hamid, Mohammed al-Bajadi, Fawzan al-Harbi, and Abdulaziz al-Shubaili.
Mohammed al-Qahtani was arbitrarily arrested in March 2012 and interrogated regarding his work with ACPRA and his peaceful activism. On 9 March 2013, the Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced him to 10 years in prison to be followed by a travel ban of equal length on charges including “breaking allegiance to the ruler”, “questioning the integrity of officials”, “seeking to disrupt security and inciting disorder by calling for demonstrations”, and “instigating international organizations against the Kingdom.” The authorities failed to release Al-Qahtani on 22 November 2022, when he finished serving his prison sentence. However, since 24 October 2022, Saudi authorities have denied him any contact with his family and continue to keep him in incommunicado detention.
Despite al-Qahtani’s wife making several inquiries about him to al-Ha’ir prison, where al-Qahtani was serving his sentence, prison officers continue to refuse to disclose any information about him. His family has reasons to believe that he has entered into a hunger strike and his health has considerably deteriorated, putting his life at imminent risk. This is not the first time Mohammed al-Qahtani was denied contact with his family. In April 2021, he was held incommunicado after testing positive for Covid-19, raising fears regarding his health and well-being for the duration of his illness. For the past 10 years of imprisonment, security forces subjected al-Qahtani to inhumane and degrading conditions of detention, and they have also subjected him to torture and ill-treatment, including beatings.
We are all the more concerned about -al-Qahtani’s well-being considering the death of ACPRA co-founder Abdullah al-Hamid in detention on 23 April 2020. Abdullah al-Hamid suffered from hypertension, and his doctor told him three months before he passed away that he needed to undergo heart surgery. He was threatened by prison authorities that if he told his family about his health condition, they would cut his communication with his family. Dr Abdullah al-Hamid had suffered a stroke on 9 April 2020 and remained in detention, despite being in a coma in the intensive care unit at al-Shumaisi Hospital in Riyadh.
Following al-Hamid’s death, the Saudi authorities carried out a wave of arrests against several individuals who expressed sympathy over his passing.
Created in 2009 by 11 human rights defenders and academics, ACPRA was established to promote and protect fundamental rights and freedoms in Saudi Arabia, including through promoting constitutional reforms. While ACPRA was never officially registered by the government, it was formally banned as an organization and dissolved by court order in 2013. As of May 2016, all of its 11 members had been sentenced by the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) to lengthy prison sentences ranging between seven and 15 years for their human rights activism and cooperation with the United Nations human rights mechanisms.
In light of the above, we, the undersigned organisations, reiterate our call on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mohammed al-Qahtani and other imprisoned members of ACPRA who are arbitrarily detained solely for their peaceful activism. In the interim, we call on the authorities to disclose the fate and whereabouts of Mohammed al-Qahtani, ensure immediate contact with his family, and provide him with any medical care he may need. Saudi Arabia should ensure a free and enabling environment for all human rights defenders, in order for them to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals and without undue restrictions.See also: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/78383825-0b3f-4bca-883a-b81e1baecd09
Among the co-founding members of ACPRA, five remain imprisoned today: Dr Mohammed al-Qahtani (sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by a 10-year travel ban. He completed his sentence in November 2022, yet remains in detention incommunicado); Mohammed al-Bajadi (sentenced to four years in prison, four years of suspension followed by a 10-year travel ban, and currently detained since May 2018); Abdulaziz al-Shubaili (sentenced to eight years in prison followed by an eight-year travel ban); Fowzan al-Harbi (sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by a 10-year travel ban); Essa al-Hamid (sentenced to 11 years in prison, followed by an 11-year travel ban). Sheikh Sulaiman al-Rashudi (sentenced to 15 years in prison and a 15-year travel ban. He was released in April 2018 for medical reasons; Abdulkarim al-Khodr (sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by a 10-year travel ban. He was released in January 2023 upon the completion of his sentence but remains subject to the travel ban); Abdulrahman al-Hamid sentenced to 9 years in prison, followed by a 9-year travel ban. He was released in January 2023 upon the completion of his sentence but remains subject to a travel ban); Dr Abdullah al-Hamid (sentenced to 11 years in prison followed by an 11-year travel ban), passed away on 23 April 2020 in custody. Abdullah al-Hamid and Mohammed al-Qahtani, alongside Waleed Abu al-Khair, have received the Right Livelihood Award in November 2018.
Signatories:
MENA Rights Group
Right Livelihood
ALQST
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
European Center for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)
European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)
Freedom Initiative
Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
Amnesty International
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
Human Rights First
Action des Chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture (ACAT France)
14 NGOs call on Bahrain to ensure that human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is allowed adequate medical treatment, as well as the right to access and respond to allegations made by the Government of Bahrain in a response to a UN communication.
In a joint communication made public on 4 May 2023, six UN experts – including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, and the Vice-Chair of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Mumba Malila – expressed their utmost concern at the continued arbitrary detention of human rights defender Mr. Al-Khawaja. He is a widely recognised HRD, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/4d45e316-c636-4d02-852d-7bfc2b08b78d
The UN communication addresses troubling allegations of torture, ill treatment and poor prison conditions of Mr. Al-Khawaja, including intimidation, restriction of communication with family, deprivation of basic rights, including his inability to give power of attorney to his lawyer in court, as required, shackling of hands, despite doctors’ orders to the contrary, as well as fabrication of cases against him and other political prisoners in Bahrain.
The UN communication was sent to the Government of Bahrain on 17 February 2023 and remained confidential for 60 days, as is UN protocol. The Government of Bahrain replied to the six UN experts on 17 April 2023, which was recently translated and made publicly available.
The Government of Bahrain’s response denies that Mr. Al-Khawaja has been subject to torture. This is contradicted by findings from the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which was established by the King of Bahrain and medically documented that Al-Khawaja was subjected to torture and sexually assaulted by security forces in 2011. Furthermore, the Government of Bahrain’s response fails to adequately recognize Mr. Al-Khawaja as a human rights defender or acknowledge the arbitrary nature of his detention.
On more than one occasion, Mr. Al-Khawaja attempted to receive information over the phone about the nature of the UN communication, including the Government of Bahrain’s response, but the calls were systematically cut by the authorities. Therefore, Mr. Al-Khawaja officially requested through his lawyer that he be allowed a hard copy of the mentioned documents. The signatories call on Bahrain to ensure that the request is honored.
In addition, Mr. Al-Khawaja has continued to be repeatedly denied access to a cardiologist, as well as other appointments with relevant doctors, despite being at risk of a heart attack or stroke at any time. As recently as the past two weeks, Mr. Al-Khawaja was denied two medical appointments, the most recent being on Thursday 11 May 2023.
Since 9 May 2023, Mr. Al-Khawaja has protested in the yard of Jaw Prison on a daily basis holding up two signs in front of the CCTV cameras stating “Treatment prevention is slow systematic killing” and “You commit torture and prevent treatment” in order for him and his fellow prisoners of conscience to be allowed his necessary medical appointments. He informed his family on 14 May 2023 that he has suspended his protest temporarily due to promises made by the prison administration to improve conditions and allow access to adequate treatment.
The signatories call on the Government of Bahrain to:
Immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, as well as all other prisoners of conscience.
Ensure that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is taken to the necessary medical appointments for diagnostics and treatment.
Ensure that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja obtains the requested documents related to the UN communication and that he is allowed a written response.
Signatories:
The #FreeAlKhawaja Campaign
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
European Center for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)
