A group of Cubans, including human rights activist defenders, unfolded a large banner this Thursday under the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris, in support of the 1,113 political prisoners in Cuba. The banner displays the faces of many of those imprisoned on the island for expressing their discontent with the Castro regime, criticizing communist policies, or demanding respect for human rights.
Meanwhile, activist Avana de la Torre joined this peaceful demonstration in the French capital, while the NGO Prisoners Defenders presented its latest report on political prisoners in Cuba. The report highlighted that all these detainees face sentences imposed without judicial oversight, which violates international standards.
During 2024, repression and human rights violations against political prisoners in Cuba have intensified. On August 4, two Cuban activists were sent to prison accused of “propaganda against the constitutional order” after being detained in Villa Marista. Subsequently, on August 29, the UN condemned the forced labor that political prisoners suffer on the island, supporting a report from the organization Prisoners Defenders on systematic human rights violations. At the beginning of September, the platform Justicia 11J reported that at least ten political prisoners attempted suicide in Cuban prisons due to the harsh conditions of confinement.
At the 57th Human Rights Council session, civil society organisations share reflections on key outcomes and highlight gaps in addressing crucial issues and situations. Full written version below:
States continue to fail to meet their obligations under international law to put an end to decades of Israeli crimes committed against the Palestinian people, including the genocide in Gaza, and most recently Israel’s war on Lebanon. States that continue to provide military, economic and political support to Israel, while suppressing fundamental freedoms such as expression and assembly, as well as attacking independent courts and experts, and defunding humanitarian aid (UNRWA), are complicit in the commission of crimes. We urge the Council to address the root causes of the situation as identified by experts and the ICJ, including settler-colonialism and apartheid, and to address the obligations of third States in the context of the ICJ’s provisional measures stressing the plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and the ICJ advisory opinion recognising that ‘Israel’s legislation and measures constitute a breach of Article 3 of CERD’ pertaining to racial segregation and apartheid. The General Assembly adopted the resolution titled “The Crime of Genocide” in December 1946, which articulates that the denial of existence of entire human groups shocks the conscience of mankind. We remind you of our collective duty and moral responsibility to stop genocide.
States have an obligation to pay UN membership dues in full and in time. The failure of many States to do so, often for politically motivated reasons, is causing a financial liquidity crisis, meaning that resolutions and mandates of the Human Rights Council cannot be implemented. Pay your dues! The visa denials to civil society by host countries is a recurring obstacle to accessing the UN; and acts of intimidation and reprisals are fundamental attacks against the UN system itself. The right to access and communicate with international bodies is firmly grounded in international law and pivotal to the advancement of human rights. In this regard, we welcome the action taken by 11 States to call for investigation and accountability for reprisals against individually named human rights defenders. This sends an important message of solidarity to defenders, many of whom are arbitrarily detained for contributing to the work of the UN, as well as increasing the political costs for perpetrators of such acts. We welcome progress in Indigenous Peoples’ participation in the work of this Council as it is the first time that they could register on their own for specific dialogues.
We welcome the adoption of the resolution that renews the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change by consensus.
We also welcome the adoption of the resolution on biodiversity sending a clear call to take more ambitious commitments at the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and acknowledging the negative impact that the loss of biodiversity can have on the enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. We welcome that these two resolutions recognize the critical and positive role that Environmental Human Right Defenders play. We also welcome the adoption by consensus of the resolutions on the rights on safe drinking water and sanitation; and the resolution on human rights and Indigenous Peoples.
We welcome the adoption of the resolution on equal participation in political and public affairs which for the first time includes language on children and recognises their right to participation as well as the transformative role of civic education in supporting their participation. We also welcome the recognition that hate speech has a restrictive effect on children’s full, meaningful, inclusive and safe participation in political and public affairs.
We welcome the adoption of the resolution from rhetoric to reality: a global call for concrete action against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. The resolution contains important language on the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action as well as the proclamation by the General Assembly of a second International Decade for People of African Descent commencing in 2025. We welcome the inclusion of a call to States to dispense reparatory justice, including finding ways to remedy historical racial injustices. This involves ensuring that the structures in society that perpetuate past injustices are transformed, including law enforcement and the administration of justice.
We welcome the adoption of a new resolution on human rights on the internet, which recognises that universal and meaningful connectivity is essential for the enjoyment of human rights. The resolution takes a progressive step forward in specifically recommending diverse and human right-based technological solutions to advance connectivity, including through governments creating an enabling and inclusive regulatory environment for small, non-profit and community internet operators. These solutions are particularly essential in ensuring connectivity for remote or rural communities. The resolution also unequivocally condemns internet shutdowns, online censorship, surveillance, and other measures that impede universal and meaningful connectivity. We now call on all Sates to fully implement the commitments in the resolution and ensure the same rights that people have offline are also protected online.
Whilst we welcome the attention in the resolution on the human rights of migrants to dehumanising, harmful and racist narratives about migration, we are disappointed that the resolution falls short of the calls from civil society, supported by the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Migrants, for the Human Rights Council to set up an independent and international monitoring mechanism to address deaths, torture and other grave human rights violations at borders. Such a mechanism would not only support prevention and accountability – it would provide a platform for the people at the heart of these human rights violations and abuses to be heard. The study and intersessional mandated in this resolution must be used to enhance independent monitoring and increase access to justice.
We welcome the adoption of the resolution on Afghanistan renewing and strengthening the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. Crucially, the resolution recognises the need to ensure accountability in Afghanistan through “comprehensive, multidimensional, gender-responsive and victim-centred” processes applying a “comprehensive approach to transitional justice.” However, we are disappointed that the resolution once again failed to establish an independent accountability mechanism that can undertake comprehensive investigations and collect and preserve evidence and information of violations and abuses in line with these principles to assist future and ongoing accountability processes. This not only represents a failure by the Council to respond to the demands of many Afghan and international civil society organisations, but also a failure to fulfil its own mandate to ensure prompt, independent and impartial investigations which this and all previous resolutions have recognised as urgent.
We welcome the renewal of the Special Rapporteur on Burundi.
We welcome the renewal of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate on the human rights situation in the Russian Federation. The human rights situation in Russia continues to deteriorate, with the alarming expansion of anti-extremism legislation now also targeting LGBT+ and Indigenous organisations being just the latest example of this trend. The Special Rapporteur has highlighted how such repression against civil society within Russia over many years has facilitated its external aggression. The mandate itself remains a vital lifeline for Russian civil society, connecting it with the Human Rights Council and the broader international community, despite the Russian authorities’ efforts to isolate their people.
We welcome the resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka renewing for one year the mandate of the OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project and of the High Commissioner to monitor and report on the situation. Its consensual adoption represents the broad recognition by the Council of the crucial need for continued international action to promote accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka and keeps the hopes of tens of thousands of victims, their families and survivors who, more than 15 years after the end of the war, continue to wait for justice and accountability. However, the resolution falls short in adequately responding to the calls by civil society. It fails to extend these mandates for two years which would have ensured that the Sri Lanka Accountability Project has the resources, capacity and stability to fulfill its mandate.
We welcome the renewal of the Fact Finding Mission on Sudan with broader support (23 votes in favor in comparison to 19 votes last year, and 12 votes against in comparison to 16 votes last year). This responds to the calls by 80 Sudanese, African, and other international NGOs for an extension of the mandate of the FFM for Sudan. We further reiterate our urgent calls for an immediate ceasefire and the prompt creation of safe corridors for humanitarian aid organisations and groups, and to guarantee the safety of their operations, as well as our call on the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo on Darfur to all of Sudan and create effective monitoring and reporting mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the embargo.
We welcome the renewal of the mandates of the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela (FFM) and of OHCHR for two more years. The deepening repression at the hands of government forces following the fraudulent Presidential elections in July has made evident the vital importance of continued independent documenting, monitoring and reporting by the FFM and its role in early warning of further human rights deterioration. We are pleased that OHCHR is mandated to provide an oral update (with an ID) at the end of this year. This will be key ahead of the end of the term of the current presidency on 10 January 2025. This resolution is an important recognition of and contribution to the demands of victims and civil society for accountability.
We regret that the Council failed to take action on Bangladesh. We welcome Bangladesh’s cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights including by inviting the Office to undertake investigations into allegations of serious violations and abuses in the context of youth-led protests in July and August, as well as positive steps by the interim government. However, we believe that a Council mandate would provide much needed support, stability and legitimacy to these positive initiatives at a time of serious political uncertainty in the country.
The Council’s persistent inaction and indifference in the face of Yemen’s escalating human rights crisis is deeply troubling. Since the dissolution of the Group of Eminent Experts, and despite years of mounting atrocities, we have yet to see the type of robust, independent international investigation that is desperately needed. Instead, the Council’s approach has been marked by half-measures and complacency, allowing widespread violations to continue unchecked. Despite the precarious humanitarian situation, the recent campaign of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention by the de facto Houthi authorities and recent Israeli bombardments, Yemen has increasingly become a forgotten crisis. The current resolution on Yemen represents this failure. Technical assistance without reporting or discussion is an insufficient response. The decision to forgo an interactive dialogue on implementing this assistance is an oversight, undermining the principles of accountability and transparency. We welcome the inclusion of language in the resolution recognizing the vital role of NGO workers and humanitarian staff who the Houthis have arbitrarily detained. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of those who continue to be detained for nothing more than attempting to ensure the rule of law is respected and victims are protected. We urge this Council to act decisively, prioritize the creation of an independent international accountability mechanism, and place civilian protection at the forefront of its deliberations on Yemen.
We continue to deplore this Council’s exceptionalism towards serious human rights violations in China committed by the government. On 17 August, the OHCHR stressed that ‘many problematic laws and policies’ documented in its Xinjiang report remain in place, that abuses remain to be investigated, and that reprisals and lack of information hinder human rights monitoring. We welcome the statement by the Xinjiang Core Group on the second anniversary of the OHCHR’s Xinjiang report, regretting the government’s lack of meaningful cooperation with UN bodies, the rejection of UPR recommendations, and urging China to engage meaningfully to implement the OHCHR’s recommendations, including releasing all those arbitrarily detained, clarifying the whereabouts of those disappeared, and facilitating family reunion. It is imperative that the Human Rights Council take action commensurate to the gravity of UN findings, such as by establishing a monitoring and reporting mechanism on China as repeatedly urged by over 40 UN experts since 2020. We urge China to genuinely engage with the UN human rights system to enact meaningful reform, and ensure all individuals and peoples enjoy their human rights. Recommendations from the OHCHR Xinjiang report, UN Treaty Bodies, and UN Special Procedures chart the way for this desperately needed change.
Finally, we welcome the outcome of elections to the Human Rights Council at the General Assembly. States that are responsible for atrocity crimes, the widespread repression of civil society, and patterns of reprisals are not qualified to be elected to this Council. The outcomes of the election demonstrate the importance of all regions fielding competitive slates that are comprised of appropriately qualified candidates.
Signatories:
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Following a concerted campaign led by ISHR together with other civil society partners, Saudi Arabia was just defeated in its bid to be elected to the UN Human Rights Council!
Ms Machado is a co-founder and former leader of Venezuelan vote-monitoring and citizens’ rights group Súmate, a former member of Venezuela’s National Assembly and currently the National Co-ordinator of the Vente Venezuela political movement. Barred from running in Venezuela’s recent Presidential election, she went into hiding in August 2024, declaring that she feared for her life, her freedom, and that of her fellow citizens.
Opening the award ceremony, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos pointed out that today, 6 of the 11 previous winners of the Havel Prize are in prison, and urged their immediate release. “These individuals committed only one ‘crime’ – they simply wanted to make their voices heard, to share their vision of a just and free society.”
Making the award to Ms Corina Machado’s daughter Ana, the President underlined that the Council of Europe “stands alongside those who risk their lives to make our societies more democratic and just”.
Ms Corina Machado herself, addressing the Assembly remotely from Venezuela, said she was “deeply moved, honoured and grateful” to be the first Latin American to win the distinction. “I want to dedicate this recognition to the millions of Venezuelans who, every day, embody Havel’s values and ideas – some without even realising it.” Her movement had demonstrated “the victory of democrats over dictatorship” in Venezuela’s recent elections, she said, declaring: “Today our struggle continues, because the truth persists until it prevails.”
The two other shortlisted nominees were Azerbaijani human rights defender and activist Akif Gurbanov, who is currently in pre-trial detention in Baku, and Georgian feminist activist and human rights lawyer Babutsa Pataraia, who was present at the ceremony.
As part of the ceremony, the Assembly was also addressed by Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was being held in detention in Russia when he was awarded the Havel Prize in 2022. He was released in August of this year as part of a prisoner exchange.
Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Global CITIZENS FESTIVAL 2024
New York
Friends, New Yorkers, global citizens.
Human rights defenders are champions for our future – shining a light on repression, on injustice and on solutions to humanity’s greatest challenges.
In return, they are often smeared, intimidated, imprisoned, and worse.
According to data gathered by my Office, last year, 320 human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists in 40 countries were killed. Many of them while protecting nature and the environment.
Across the globe, environmental human rights defenders are leading efforts to tackle a climate crisis that is growing ever more ferocious, more terrifying, and more present.
They are standing up for the marginalized, for the natural world, and for the planet.
For the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
They deserve our gratitude and our protection.
My office is proud to support the Leaders Network for Environmental Activists and Defenders (LEAD), a new initiative focused on meaningful and safe participation of defenders in climate and environmental discussions.
But they need your support too. So I urge you to join my office.
Take action to protect civic space and help us to build a more sustainable and more equal future.
MR’s Sophie Wilmès (Renew). Credit: Belga/Benoit Doppagne
Human rights, democracy and the rule of law are at the heart of the powers that were delegated to Belgian Vice-President of the European Parliament Sophie Wilmès (Renew), President Roberta Metsola announced during the September plenary session in Strasbourg.
Metsola announced the powers delegated to the different vice-presidents for their two-and-a-half-year mandate. For Belgium’s Wilmès, there was a strong emphasis on human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
“Defending our fundamental values is a priority for me. With the democratic model clearly under threat around the world and under attack from all sides in Europe by those who indulge in authoritarian adventures, we democrats must show ourselves combative,” she said. “We are talking about the great inviolable principles that are part of our identity as Europeans. That is non-negotiable.“
In practice, Wilmès’ powers will take form in her work within the Democracy Support and Elections Coordination Group, which focuses on election observation and supporting parliaments to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in third countries, especially candidate countries.
She will also develop mediation initiatives to promote a culture of dialogue and support proponents of democratic change and human rights defenders. Additionally, she will represent the European Parliament at the United Nations, where it remains important to raise these issues.
Catholic aid agency CAFOD has called for justice, after the murder of a prominent environmentalist that CAFOD supported.
Following the news of the murder of Juan Lopez – anti-mining, environmentalist, community leader and Municipal Councillor of Tocoa, northern Honduras – who was shot dead by several men as he headed home in his car from church, Paz Redondo, CAFOD’s Country Representative for Central America said: “The assassination of Juan Lopez clearly shows once again the complicity between the authorities, international companies, and organised crime in Tocoa, and the inability of the government to protect environmental and human rights defenders in the emblematic case of the Guapinol river – despite the fact that precautionary measures had been ordered by the Interamerican Court of Human Rights – IACHR.“
Juan Lopez denounced the corruption within local and central governments in Honduras during a public press conference just before he was killed.
Paz Redondo continues: “Justice needs to be more than words for the state of Honduras, a state that shows once again its fragility and inability to combat corruption within its ranks, as it continues to serve the interests of extractives and organised crime. Juan publicly denounced this corruption within local and central governments and was killed days after his and his fellow activists’ latest public press conference.”
For over a decade, the communities of Guapinol, San Pedro and other areas in the vicinity of Tocoa have been denouncing the illegal granting of mining concessions in the “Carlos Escaleras National Park” in Honduras. Their advocacy efforts were fruitful in February, when the Honduran government approved Decree 18-2024 to protect the core zone of the national park, a key achievement to safeguard the environment against mining and energy projects in the area.
The murder of Juan Lopez is not the first killing in the Guapinol case. Over 160 community members in Tocoa have been killed protecting their land and natural resources since 2010 (Amnesty, 2024). In 2023, three community leaders were killed in what the community saw as retaliation, following the release of defenders who had been criminalised. Later in the year, in October 2023, 30 members of the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa and of the Bufete Justicia para los Pueblos, were granted precautionary measures by the Human Rights Interamerican Court (IACHR).
Juan Lopez was killed despite precautionary measures which were ordered by the IACHR last October. The community of Tocoa believes his death could have been prevented if the Honduran authorities had implemented the precautionary measures granted to Juan Lopez. CAFOD, alongside ERIC has accompanied the Guapinol community in their fight to protect the land and natural resources essential for their survival, and we will continue supporting them as they defend their environmental rights.
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders is seeking input for her upcoming report to the Human Rights Council, which will focus on human rights defenders working in remote and rural areas. The report, to be presented in March 2025, will explore the unique challenges faced by these human rights defenders, such as geographic isolation, limited access to resources, and lack of meaningful consultation. Despite these challenges, human rights defenders in these regions play a critical role in defending human rights, maintaining public institutions, and ensuring the rule of law.
This call for input invites contributions from a range of stakeholders, including States, businesses, civil society organizations, and human rights defenders themselves. The aim is to assess the nature of threats, obstacles, and opportunities for human rights defenders in these remote regions. Submissions should focus on topics like gender-specific challenges, protection strategies, successes achieved, and examples of good practices. These inputs will help shape practical recommendations on improving safety, access to resources, and support for defenders in rural areas.
The collected inputs will inform the report and be published on the OHCHR website to foster dialogue and improve protection measures for human rights defenders in these challenging environments.
36-year-old Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is a Afro-Cuban self-taught artist. He comes from a poor and marginalized neighbourhood in Havana and uses sculptural and performance art to protest violations against freedom of expression. He has been arrested multiple times for his art and activism and is currently in prison.
Otero Alcántara is the general coordinator of the San Isidro Movement – a constellation of artists, journalists and academics promoting freedom of expression. It was established in 2018 as a reaction to Decree 349. The decree requires artists to obtain advance permission for public and private exhibitions and performances. Decree 349 is one of the legal instruments used to silence artists, musicians and performers who are critical to the Cuban government.
Otero Alcántara’s artivism has come at a high personal cost. Since 2016 he has been the subject of interrogations, political persecution and arrests, and his art has been confiscated and destroyed by state security officers.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara creates sculptures, drawings, and performative art. He is currently serving a five-year sentence in the high-security prison Guanajay outside of Havana.
Expressing oneself through art: A basic human right
Despite this, he continued his artivism through performance pieces to raise awareness of Cuba’s ongoing repression of independent artists and activists. Otero Alcántara was detained on July 11, 2021, after posting a video online of his planned participation in the protests. In 2022, he was convicted for “contempt, public disorder and insults to national symbols”. He is currently serving a five-year sentence in Guanajay maximum security prison outside Havana.
The Rafto prize 2024 aims to highlight the importance of the work of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and the basic human right to expressing oneself through art. We call upon the Cuban government to stop the persecution of artists and human rights defenders. We also urge them to free Otero Alcántara and all political prisoners in Cuba.
UN experts called on the Tunisian authorities to respect the right to judicial guarantees and judicial protection of Sihem Bensedrine, who was arrested on 1 August 2024.
“In a context marked by the suppression of numerous dissenting voices, the arrest of Ms Bensedrine raises serious concerns about the respect of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in Tunisia and has a chilling effect on journalists, human rights defenders and civil society in general,” the experts said.
Bensedrine is the former President of the Truth and Dignity Commission (TVD) which documented the crimes committed under previous regimes, and a journalist who has long denounced human rights violations in the country.
Since 2021, she has been involved in a judicial investigation into the alleged falsification of a chapter in the TVD´s final report regarding corruption in the banking system. The independent human rights experts have already held discussions with the Tunisian government concerning this investigation.
“This arrest could amount to judicial harassment of Ms Bensedrine for work she has undertaken as President of the Truth and Dignity Commission,” the experts said. “It appears to be aimed at discrediting information contained in the Commission’s report, which could give rise to legal proceedings against alleged perpetrators of corruption under the previous regimes.”
The Special Rapporteurs urged Tunisia to uphold its obligation to protect members of commissions of enquiry into gross human rights violations from defamation and civil or criminal proceedings brought against them because of their work, or the content of their reports.
“We call for strict respect for Ms Bensedrine’s right to judicial guarantees, including the right to a fair trial by due process, impartiality and independence, and for an end to abusive proceedings and reprisals against her.”
Civil society actors across the world frequently operate in challenging or hostile environments in their efforts to defend human rights. The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) supports members of the SOS-Torture network, along with local actors, working to end torture and impunity and to support the rehabilitation of victims. We provide support by:
Engaging in joint activities and campaigns.
Sharing expertise and capacity-building opportunities.
Providing financial support to local actors, individuals, organisations, and initiatives, primarily outside the European Union.
This assistance enables them to carry out their crucial work in defending human rights and ending torture.
Our activities in support of the human rights movement are made possible by the generous contributions of our donors.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 