Statement at the 59th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
Delivered by Sigrid Lipott
Mr President,
CIVICUS commends the report of the Special Rapporteur and supports its findings. Over the past year, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly has faced escalating threats. Protest suppression has become normalised, with authorities deploying excessive force, mass arrests and restrictive legislation to silence dissent. The latest CIVICUS Monitor's Report highlighted a troubling rise in restrictions on freedom of peaceful assembly, including unjustified bans on demonstrations, digital surveillance, disinformation, and the criminalization of dissent.
In several countries, these violations have intensified during electoral processes. In Georgia and Tunisia, violations of peaceful assembly rights have been coupled with attempts to undermine the right to freedom of association, discrediting and isolating civil society associations through foreign influence legislation. In Algeria and Tunisia, we have witnessed an escalating repression of dissent and political freedoms, including through restrictive legislative amendments prior to the elections, whilst in Slovakia a foreign agent law was recently adopted.
In some electoral contexts, civic space proved to be particularly dangerous for historically excluded groups, such as Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala during post-election protests. Other global trends include the widespread use of arbitrary detention as a prominent tactic to punish protestors and/or prevent mass protests, such as in the case of Mozambique, Indonesia, and Venezuela, whilst in all regions concerns arise about the deployment of digital technologies such as surveillance systems without adequate legal frameworks.
We are also gravely concerned about the current crackdown in Tanzania with reports of enforced disappearances, incommunicado detentions, torture and killings, which appear to be escalating ahead of the October elections. We urge States to promote full accountability for grave human rights violations associated with the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, including during electoral processes. Furthermore, we call on this Council to firmly support and renew the mandate of Special Rapporteur for a further period of three years.
We thank you.
