In advance of the 23rd Session (November 2015) of the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR), CIVICUS has made five joint and stand-alone submissions on the rights to freedom of assembly, association, expression and the environment for human rights defenders (HRDs) in Mauritania, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman and Rwanda. The submissions further provide a number of specific policy recommendations to create and maintain a safe and enabling environment for civil society and ensure greater compliance with international human rights law.
Mauritania: CIVICUS analyses cases of judicial harassment, intimidation and threats to civil society activists and human rights defenders in Mauritania. The submission documents restrictions on freedom of expression, threats to human rights defenders from state and non-state actors and measures taken by the government to curtail freedom of assembly through the unlawful arrest and detention of peaceful protesters.
Myanmar: CIVICUS discusses the severe backsliding on democratic rights and civil society space in 2014 and the failure of the government to address deficits in national legislation governing the rights to freedom of association and assembly. The submission further examines the authorities’ unrelenting use of restrictions laws and policies to imprison and harass human rights defenders, journalists and peaceful protestors.
Nepal: CIVICUS expresses its concern over unlawful limitations on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, harassment and threats against journalists and human rights defenders. CIVICUS highlights in particular threats to civil society organisations and activists promoting the rights of Tibetan refugees, and those demanding accountability for human rights violations committed during Nepal’s decade long conflict (1996-2006).
Oman: CIVICUS and the Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) analyse the continued invocation of legal and policy restrictions to subvert the rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression. CIVICUS and GCHR further examine the shrinking space for human rights defenders and their organizations to conduct legitimate and peaceful human rights work.
Rwanda: CIVICUS and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) outline a series of urgent concerns relating to the systematic targeting of civil society activists, human rights defenders and journalists by the Government of Rwanda since 2011. Specifically we highlight cases of judicial persecution of journalists, intimidation and attacks on human rights defenders and the infiltration of human rights organisations by the authorities.