20th session of the UN Human Rights Council
Item 5
Reprisals, protection, prevention
Delivered by Renate Bloem, CIVICUS UN Geneva Representative, 26 June 2012
Thank you Mme President
CIVICUS wishes to raise the issue of reprisals against persons cooperating with the UN. The joint statement of Special Procedures at today’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture brings it to the point: “Reprisals against people who cooperate with the United Nations mechanisms in protecting and advancing human rights are absolutely unacceptable and are in violation of international law and States’ legal obligations. There must be an effective means of ensuring that reprisals do not occur, and if they do, the individuals involved and the State must be held accountable”.
The first session of the second cycle of the universal periodic review (UPR) process in May saw Bahrain’s human rights record called into scrutiny. Civil society members, including victims of detention and torture, had come to Geneva to lobby and speak out against Bahrain’s appalling human rights record and treatment of civil society activists, which has seen arrests, imprisonment, torture, violence and other forms of harassment.
After the adoption of the preliminary report of Bahrain, you, Madame President, reminded the Bahrain government of their responsibility to protect their citizens against reprisals. You pointed to several articles that were written by pro-government media defaming activists as traitors and calling for action against people present at the Geneva meeting on their return to Bahrain. You called out the names of those present in Geneva to explicitly seek commitment to their protection.
Madam President, during a high-level side event on 19 June on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), panellists and members engaged in the discussion on tools the Human Rights Council can apply. The Global Centre for the R2P proposed:
- Providing early warning
- Urging states to take preventive action in accordance with their responsibility to protect
- Employing tools such as issuing statements and resolutions, or creating Commissions of Inquiries
In relation to the Bahrain activists we would like to highlight the preventive action which you have used, Madame President. CIVICUS salutes you!
Thank you for your attention.
