56th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council: Post- Session Assessment and Key Outcomes

The Council adopted several key Resolutions on thematic and country-specific issues. CIVICUS worked towards enhanced protection and promotion of fundamental rights in some of the Resolutions outlined below, and towards mainstreaming of civic space related issues.

The Council adopted a new Resolution on The promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests, which was brought in compliance with General Comment 37 of the UN Human Rights Committee. We welcome that the Resolution acknowledges that new technologies may be also used by law enforcement to support the facilitation of assemblies and increase transparency and accountability of law enforcement operations related to assemblies, including by contributing to a record-keeping system for all decisions, actions and orders made by law enforcement officials at all levels.  We also welcome the new language related to emergency measures, which must be necessary, proportionate to the evaluated risk and applied in a non-discriminatory way, have a specific focus and duration, and be in accordance with the State’s obligations under applicable international human rights law.

The Resolution also devotes attention to the positive contribution of peaceful protests to sustainable peace and democratic transitions and to the necessity to address the management of assemblies so as to contribute to their peaceful conduct to avoid unlawful or excessive use of force to prevent injuries and loss of life of protesters, those observing, monitoring, and recording such assemblies, as well as references to surveillance and spyware. Nevertheless, we regret that the Resolution fails to fully recognise the importance of monitoring of protests by civil society organisations and to acknowledge the right to monitor even if an assembly is declared unlawful or dispersed.  The Resolution also mandates the convening of a global consultation on the role of different stakeholders in promoting the application of the technical and practical toolkit for law enforcement developed pursuant to Resolution 50/21 and country level application of the toolkit through technical cooperation in-country workshops. 

We welcome a new Resolution on Freedom of opinion and expression, which highlights the right to freedom of expression as an enabler for all other human rights and sustainable development and expressed concerns at the growing trend of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), thus setting a precedent for the possible inclusion of SLAPPs in other relevant Resolutions including the Resolution on Civil Society Space to be adopted at the 59^th session of the Human Rights Council, since the Resolution also mandates a report and expert workshop to explore the impact of SLAPPs.

We welcome the adoption of the Resolution renewing of the mandate of the Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement (EMLER) by consensus, which also requests to strengthen the administrative and substantive support to the Mechanism and to provide the resources necessary for it to effectively fulfil the mandate, and recognises the need for a systemic response to systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent. Much as in the case of other mandates, full cooperation with the mechanism by States, including by implementing its recommendations and responding promptly to requests for information and country visits, is key towards the effective fulfilment of the mandate’s goals.

Likewise, we welcome the adoption of the resolution on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls requesting human rights-based, gender-responsive and intersectional approaches and the new resolution on Technology-facilitated gender-based violence as well as other Resolutions focussed on women and girls.

The Resolution on climate change and human rights represents a key achievement, although the Resolution fails to explicitly include the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as recognised by the Human Rights Council (Resolution 48/13) and the General Assembly (Resolution 76/300). The Resolution also fails to recognise the role that environmental human rights defenders play in the promotion and protection of human rights and the environment and risks facing environmental defenders including Indigenous Peoples and others seeking to protect the right to live in an environment adequate to their health and well-being.

CIVICUS lauds the mainstreaming of peace and security issues into Council sessions and related human rights discussions, particularly efforts aimed to address the human rights impacts of arms. The adoption of the Resolution on human rights and the civilian acquisition, possession and use of firearms is a significant contribution to these efforts. The Resolution mandates OHCHR to produce a report to explore the root causes and risk factors of firearms-related violence and its impact on the enjoyment of the right to participation, particularly of individuals in vulnerable or marginalised situations, which opens up new opportunities to highlight the human rights impact of civilian firearms, particularly in regard to excluded groups as well as impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association, and expression.  

We welcome the adoption of the Resolution on Independence and Impartiality of Judges and Independence of Lawyers focussed on the use of digital technologies and the inclusion of language addressing serious concerns relating to the potential negative impact on international fair trial standards, which could also have a positive impact on the increase in the systematic use of arbitrary detention as a top violation of core civic freedoms at the global level.

Finally, CIVICUS commends the acknowledgment of international solidarity as a foundation pillar of international law, amid growing criminalisation of solidarity networks over the past 5 years as documented by the CIVICUS Monitor. The draft Declaration on the right to international solidarity issued by the International Expert on International Solidarity and presented by the mandate holder during the Council session represents a milestone for advocacy and solidarity action. The Declaration outlines the principles, scope and objectives of international solidarity, international solidarity as a right and duty, and the implementation of the right. Among the general objectives, the Declaration gives emphasis to the empowerment of civil society organisations and social movements. The Declaration, which remains a non-legally binding instrument, also encourages States, among other things, to cooperate with each other and with non -State actors to implement the right to international solidarity to prevent and overcome global challenges, to conduct assessments of the actual and potential risks to and impacts on human rights to ensure full compliance with their human rights obligations, and to adopt and implement policies and programmes domestically and transnationally to promote and protect solidarity based on cultural diversity, engagement and exchange. CIVICUS also welcomes the proposal for States and international organizations to create indicators to measure the impact of transnational solidarity actions and deliver reports under the universal periodic review mechanism.

The Resolution on Human rights and international solidarity equally recognises international solidarity as a foundational principle underpinning international human rights law and a fundamental tool alongside capacity building and technical assistance in the promotion and protection of human rights. We welcome the request to the Independent Expert to examine in her reports ways and means of overcoming existing and emerging obstacles to the realization of the right of peoples and individuals to international solidarity, including the challenges of international cooperation, and we invite the mandate holder to seek the views and contributions of civil society with regard to the development of the reports and the Declaration on the right to international solidarity.

CIVICUS welcome the adoption of the resolution on Eritrea, renewing the Special Rapporteur’s crucial mandate in line with calls by civil society. Nevertheless, the Resolutions failed to substantively highlight grave human rights violations and cross-border attacks committed against civic groups.

The Resolution on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities remains high on the Council agenda. While CIVICUS welcomes the Resolution, we remain concerned about the calls for repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar in the current context particularly against the objective of ensuring protection of Rohingya and creating conditions for their safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return.

 The Resolution on Libya fails to address the urgent need to end impunity for widespread and serious human rights abuses across the country. The Resolution does not take into account the findings of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission, which documented likely war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by State security forces and armed militia groups, and recommended the creation of an independent international investigation mechanism, and does not take into account the severe repression of civil society.

CIVICUS highlighted the increase in restrictive laws, regulations, guidance and policies that criminalise civil society under the guise of national security, public order, and counter-terrorism, which often also serve to deter or hinder cooperation with the United Nations, as well as global trends related to public assemblies, such as the increasing and combined use by both state and non-state actors of arbitrary arrest and detention of peaceful protesters and excessive or unlawful use of force as tactics to disperse protests. These key global trends, compounded by endemic impunity for grave violations associated with the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, as well as criminalisation of solidarity actions among civil society and growing prosecution of human rights defenders, seriously impede the protection of human rights. Noting that through advocacy and campaigning, monitoring and litigation civil society organisations have played a significant a role in the mitigation of risks associated with these restrictions, we called on civil society organisations to use international support provided by UN Special Rapporteurs and other international mechanisms to promote accountability for restrictions on civil society related to the exercise of the rights and on Member States to fully cooperate with the mandate of the Special Rapporteur to address key global trends and increasing restrictions to the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and association as first warning signs on which the Council should act to avert further human rights violations and crisis escalation.

The international community must intensify efforts on human rights in Myanmar

We highlighted our concerns about the state of civic space and the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar, the indiscriminate attacks against civilians, with weapons supplied by a number of countries, and the impact of the conscription law, and cases of arbitrary detention of political prisoners on fabricated charges. Noting that members of the Rohingya community experienced new violence and violations since the resumption of hostilities in Rakhine in November 2023, we drew attention to the need for the international community to do more and support accountability efforts, including in the light of ASEAN’s inaction in regard to the crisis in Myanmar.

UN Human Rights Council should respond to the institutional crisis in Venezuela
We expressed concerns about the escalating repression in Venezuela as the presidential elections approach and highlighted cases of arbitrary detentions of human rights defenders such as Rocio San Miguel, Javier Tarazona and journalist Carlos Julio Rojas as a pattern of persecution to silence critical voices and prevent mobilization. In May, nine articles of a bill were approved that threatens the existence of civil society organizations, and together with the so-called bill " against fascism", increases the risk of arbitrary detentions and criminalisation targeting human rights defenders. We also highlighted how freedom of expression continues to be under attack, amid closure of radio stations.

Dire situation for journalists and human rights defenders in Eritrea demands assertive action
CIVICUS highlighted heightened civic space restrictions in Eritrea where peaceful protesters continue to be subject to the threat of prolonged or indefinite periods of detention and the gravity of violations of the right to a fair trial de facto result in arbitrary detention. The excessive use of force by law enforcement authorities to disperse protests is also of great concern. Furthermore, freedom of association is severely restricted and independent civil society organisations are not able to operate in the country due to censorship and onerous reporting guidelines. An even more worrying trend is the commission and facilitation of serious human rights violations in Ethiopia's Tigray region by security forces.

Arbitrary detentions in Belarus continue amid liquidation of civil society organisations
At the Council session we shed light on the systematic destruction of civic space and civil society in Belarus. Repression against Belarusian civic groups continues, including arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of activists, protesters, journalists, human rights defenders and lawyers, and forced liquidation of civil society organisations. In May, 161 people were reportedly arbitrarily convicted. We called on the immediate release and rehabilitation of all those arbitrarily or unlawfully detained for exercising their core civic freedoms, including all members of Viasna in pre-trial detention and called on states to honour their international obligations, such as the non-refoulement principle, when considering the status of Belarusian nationals. In particular, we brought to the attention of the Council the cases of Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, Andrey Gnyot, and activists from the Nobel prize-nominated NGO, Our House.