Posts Tagged ‘UN Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders’
November 8, 2019
On 18 October 2019 the International Service on Human Rights (ISHR) reported on Special Rapporteur, Michel Forst, last appearnace before the UN General Assembly making key recommendations to State and non-State actors and called for human rights defenders to be protected, and for authors of attacks and reprisals to be brought before justice.
On 15 October 2019, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Michel Forst presented his report (A/74/159) to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee on the issue of impunity for attacks and reprisals against human rights defenders. This was followed by an interactive dialogue with States. This is the last time Forst will address the Third Committee in the capacity of Special Rapporteur. Forst voiced specific concern about digital attacks against youth and women human rights defenders, and expressed the need to protect them. He also expressed concern at specific attacks on human rights defenders living in isolated environments, as well as those working on sexual and reproductive rights and on sexual orientation and gender identity issues.
‘Impunity is used as a weapon by those who wish to undermine the rule of law and silence those struggling to uphold human rights. I echo Forst’s comment that impunity is a political choice, otherwise how do we explain that around 98 percent of killings of human rights defenders in certain countries remains unpunished?’ asked ISHR’s Tess McEvoy.
The Special Rapporteur – and the United States – highlighted individuals and groups from various countries who are victims of reprisals. These included:
The Special Rapporteur’s report made recommendations to States on ways to effectively combat impunity. These included:
- Strengthening mechanisms for the protection of human rights defenders;
- Criminalising acts of violence against human rights defenders; and
- Adopting policies that protect the right to defend human rights whilst also recognising the obstacles that certain groups such as women human rights defenders and those protecting the rights of LGBTI and indigenous persons face.
These recommendations were echoed in a side event organised by ISHR and Amnesty International on 16 October, where women human rights defenders from Yemen and Myanmar provided harrowing accounts of attacks they face in their respective contexts.
Several States voiced their support for the report and the mandate, including Norway who called on all States to support this year’s resolution on Human Rights Defenders currently being negotiated. Notwithstanding the adoption by consensus of a definition of human rights defenders in the 1998 Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the usual detractors – including Russia and China – sought to delegitimise the work of human rights defenders by questioning whether the term is universally recognised. China went further to suggest that individuals were using the ‘flag of defending human rights’ to violate the law.
Notwithstanding the primary responsibility of States to combat impunity for attacks against defenders, the Special Rapporteur again emphasised his call for non-State actors to protect human rights defenders, and concluded by referencing his 2017 report on Business and Human Rights (A/72/170).
https://www.ishr.ch/news/unga-74-states-must-put-end-impunity-reprisals-against-defenders
Posted in Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | 2 Comments »
Tags: ISHR, Michel Forst, report, reprisals, UN General Assembly, UN Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
March 28, 2019
Do UN Communications Make a Difference for Human Rights Defenders? asked Janika Spannagel in her new study on the “The Effectiveness of Individual Casework on Human Rights Defenders: An Empirical Study of the UN Special Procedure Cases 2004-2015“
Despite a growing body of literature on the UN special procedures, we still know very little about the effectiveness of one of its core instruments, namely the use of communications to raise individual cases of human rights abuse with the government concerned. Focusing on the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, this working paper explores new data to answer the controversially discussed question of whether or not communications generally make a difference in the situations of individual defenders.
The first part of this paper analyses data obtained from a survey of involved advocates, assessing the UN mandate’s impact on a random sample of cases among the Special Rapporteur’s communications between 2004 and 2015. The second part is concerned with external factors that may impact the further development of a case, suggesting alternative explanations of – but also possible conditions for – the medium term effectiveness of communications. For this purpose, the author uses a logistic regression to analyse a sample of almost 500 cases in order to investigate possible explanations for improvement or deterioration among cases addressed by the Special Rapporteur.
The systematic analysis of impact assessments provided by involved advocates convincingly suggests that individual casework is very often effective in providing protection to defenders whose cases are raised. However, the study of predictors of positive case developments also shows that the effectiveness of individual casework is highly contextual and therefore requires strategic adaptation and creative responses.
Implications for Practice
- In considering only direct impact, the finding that the Special Rapporteur’s individual casework very often positively influences defenders’ situations provides an important argument for continued, or even increased, support for the special procedures’ communications activity.
- Based on the sample cases, it can be concluded that international attention paid to cases with business involvement did not result in any substantial improvements in the medium term. The recently increased efforts by the Special Rapporteur to raise cases with companies directly, rather than only through the government concerned, may prove more effective.
- Regime type matters with regard to case development, although only as an indirect effect on the predictive value of certain variables. This includes the previous violations, a country’s aid dependency, and a forthcoming UPR process. Such variables should be taken into account when considering the potential impact of a communication on a certain case.
- The Special Rapporteur often refers to ‘follow-up’ on cases, however, rarely if ever does this reflect repeat communications regarding the same violation against a given defender. In reality, further communications serve instead to highlight new violations against the individual involved. The data suggests that these – often ‘high profile’ – defenders have a very low chance of seeing their situation improved. This finding makes the case for a more detailed assessment of the likely added value that repeated mentions by the Special Rapporteur can or cannot provide.
- The main leverage in terms of possible impact relies on the selection of cases. However, both the ethical implications and multiple purposes of casework should be acknowledged and respected. While a focus on increased impact can be useful, the documentation function and more indirect protection effects should also be taken into account during case selection.
- What remains unclear in the dataset is the extent to which ‘improvements’ in a defender’s situation following a communication also reflect a restored ability to carry out their work, and to what extent the experience of violations, or the continued threat thereof, inhibits this. Further research into the effects of case-specific improvement on defenders’ ability to effect change is needed.
…
https://www.gppi.net/2019/03/26/do-un-communications-make-a-difference-in-the-situations-of-human-rights-defenders
This working paper is available for download from the University of York Human Rights Defenders Hub.
Posted in books, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OHCHR, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: academic research project, communications, human rights documentation, impact, international community, international human rights mechanisms, Janika Spannagel, study, UN, UN Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, York university
November 11, 2013
If the coming days I am a bit less prolific with news on human rights defenders (maybe a welcome respite!) there is a good human rights reason: I will be in Berlin where on 13 November 2013 the first annual Werner Lottje Lecture will be inaugurated. It is an initiative by Bread for the World and the German Institute for Human Rights. As a good friend of Werner I am delighted to be allowed to speak about his enormous contribution to the human rights world as it is today: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights | 2 Comments »
Tags: Berlin, Bread for the World, Brot fur die Welt, EKD, film, Foreign Policy, German Institute for Human Rights, German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, human righs, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, HURIDOCS, Igor Kalyapin, International Alert, International Service for Human Rights, Joint Mobile Group, lecture, Margaret Sekaggaya, Martin Ennals, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, UN Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, United Nations, Werner Lottje, World Council of Churches
March 5, 2013
Margaret Sekaggya (UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré)
Margaret Sekaggya, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, presented her report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. She said inter alia that the response of law enforcement authorities in Tunisia to violations against human rights defenders appears ‘unsatisfactory’ and that the lack of independence of the judiciary is also a cause for concern. “I am concerned about the considerable polarization I observed in Tunisian society between secularists and Islamists, including so-called Salafists, a divide which also transpires to civil society. All stakeholders, including the international community, should work together to ensure dialogue, understanding and respect between different parts of society.”
Ms Sekaggya also told the Human Rights Council that she’s particularly concerned about the way human rights defenders are treated in countries in the Gulf region, especially in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. And on recent developments in Egypt she said that the considerable violence suffered by peaceful protesters, including gender-based violence against women human rights defenders, points to a situation that is getting out of hand.
To hear the radio interview of 1’32″ by Nicki Chadwick of UN Radio in Geneva go to http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2013/03/human-rights-defenders-more-at-risk-in-tunisia-since-the-revolution/ and press LISTEN.
For the full report of the Special Rapporteur in PDF: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session22/A.HRC.22.47_en.pdf
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Bahrain, Egypt, Geneva, Human right, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human rights defender, Human Rights Defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, Middle East, protection, radio, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UN Radio, UN Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, United Arab Emirate
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 