On Thursday 21 March 2013 a resolution, led by Norway was adopted by consensus by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. It calls on all States to support the work of human rights defenders and to protect them from harassment, threats and attacks.
The use and abuse of national laws to impair, restrict and even criminalise the work of human rights defenders is a contravention of international law and must end, according to a landmark resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council today.
Introducing the resolution, Norway’s Ambassador to the UN, Steffen Kongstad, said he was ‘gravely concerned by the serious nature of risks faced by human rights defenders’ and called on all states to ‘facilitate their work’ and ensure it is not ‘criminalised or stigmatised’.
‘The resolution is a clear affirmation that national law must conform with international human rights law. The resolution demands the amendment of national laws which target human rights defenders, including laws which restrict NGOs from receiving foreign funding, which criminalise “homosexual propaganda”, or which limit freedom of expression or assembly on discriminatory grounds.’ Michael Ineichen of the ISHR, expressing an opinion similar to that of many other human rights NGOs.
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