Safe and enabling environment
1. To ensure human rights defenders are able to cope in conflict and post-conflict situations, States must create and protect a safe and enabling environment for HRDs and urgently roll back legislative and policy programmes that have led to the erosion of civic and democratic space in recent years all over the world. In addition, States must reaffirm the importance of civic space and lift all undue restrictions on the rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression. These include restrictive “NGO laws”, foreign agent and foreign funding laws, “fake news” laws, and measures including media outlets and internet shutdowns
[see: Resolutions on civil society space; reports on civil society space A/HRC/44/25, A/HRC/32/20; Report of UNSR on HRDs operating in conflict and post-conflict situations A/HRC/43/51; Disease pandemics and the freedom of opinion and expression, A/HRC/44/49; UNSG Call to Action on Human Rights; recent HRC resolution with references to internet shutdowns A/HRC/47/L.22 ]
Use of counter-terrorism measures
2. States should express deep concern at the invocation of countering terrorism and extremism in several countries as a justification to target, threaten, or limit the activities of human rights defenders operating in conflict or post-conflict areas;
3. The rights and activities of human rights defenders, including in conflict and post-conflict situations, must not be subject to any unlawful or arbitrary restrictions or interferences online or offline, and may never be taken when they fail to comply comport with the principles of legality, non-discrimination, necessity, proportionality, and legitimate purpose;
4. In conflict situations, there exists an asymmetrical power balance which enables one party to designate another as “terrorist”, thereby circumventing the application of international humanitarian law in favour of counter-terrorism measures through which power can be consolidated.
[see: Resolution on the freedom of opinion and expression (July 2020, A/HRC/44/L.18/Rev.1); Resolution on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests (July 2020, A/HRC/44/L.11)]
5. Legislation and policies introduced under the guise of combating terrorism, crime/money laundering, or dealing with crises (such as state of emergency laws and other measures to deal with violence, environmental and public health crises) must comply with human rights standards and not be misused against human rights defenders and civil society organizations, humanitarian workers, journalists, health and education professionals and those assisting people that are displaced and on the move. The use of digital surveillance tools must be regulated to ensure they are not used for violating human rights, including by targeting human rights defenders or journalists and the policing of assemblies must comply with human rights norms and not used to intimidate and silence human rights defenders.
[ see these reports by independent experts: report of the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, 3 September 2020, A/75/337; Surveillance and human rights, 28 May 2019, A/HRC41/35; Joint report on the proper management of assemblies, 4 Feb 2016, A/HRC/31/66; Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on The right to privacy in the digital age A/HRC/48/3;];
Accountability
6. Impunity and failure to protect and provide effective remedy prevails in several conflict and post-conflict situations. All manners of threats and attacks against defenders, including extrajudicial killings, often remain unresolved and unaddressed. This is not just a risk for HRDs and the rights and communities they defend, but a threat to meaningful and lasting peace processes as grievances arising from impunity can fuel further conflict and prevent healing. This is why it is key that perpetrators are brought to account, and civil society is able to participate in processes around truth, justice and reparations. Where there are threats and attacks against HRDs, the investigation should be conducted with the presumption that it is such a crime until proven otherwise, and relevant lines of enquiry related to the victim’s express activities have been exhausted.
[See: Report of UNSR on HRDs operating in conflict and post-conflict situations A/HRC/43/51; Report on the killings of human right defenders, A/HRC/46/35; UN and regional mandates’ joint declaration on crimes against freedom of expression 2012]
7. States must recognize the critical role of lawyers and legal professionals in upholding the rule of law during conflict and post-conflict situations, including by assisting victims and challenging deviations from human rights norms, as well as in pursuing accountability and justice post conflict, and in the pursuit of a sustainable peace;
8. Emphasizing the need to ensure that legal professions are able to perform their professional functions without intimidation, harassment, sanction, or interference, or fear thereof, during conflict and post-conflict situations, as well as to ensure the independence and impartiality of the legal profession in full accordance with the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers;
[See Resolution on the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, jurors and assessors, and the independence of lawyers (July 2020, A/HRC/RES/44/9) See also 2021 addendum of the UN Special Rapporteur on FoAA re: Guidelines for lawyers in support of peaceful assemblies A/HRC/47/24/Add.3 ]
9. Concerned that abuses against older persons during armed conflict remain largely invisible and overlooked by parties to conflict and bodies monitoring and reporting on conflicts, and that older persons, including older persons with disabilities, who are unable to flee attacks during armed conflict are at particular risk; and recognising the critical role of organisations advocating for the protection of the rights of older persons during conflict and post-conflict situations,
[See 2021 report to UNGA of the UN Special Rapporteur on rights of persons with disabilities in armed conflict A/76/146, para. 36]
Prevention of conflict
10. Good governance and the rule of law are key elements of conflict prevention. States should respect and protect freedom of expression, of peaceful assembly and of association, and take measures to prevent attacks on and the harassment of journalists, media workers, civil society groups and human rights defenders, in the interest of fostering an open and inclusive political environment that supports sustainable peace, – A/HRC/46/23
11. Human rights defenders documenting and reporting on gross and systematic human rights violations or systematic targeted violations against particular populations and communities also serve to provide an early warning of escalating conflict. States should consider their calls and recommendations so as to avoid escalation of conflict.
Funding for HRDs and their organisations
12. Flexible and relevant funding for HRDs and their organizations and communities to carry out their substantive work and to increase their protection and resiliance is hard to get by at the best of times, and harder to access in a situation of crisis due to NGO laws / foreign funding / counter-terror / anti-money laundering legislation, sanctions imposed by third states, and practices by financial institutions (see closure of banks and Western Union outlets in Afghanistan). We call for an urgent review of such legislation and practices (and international counter-terror and anti money-laundering architecture) to avoid hampering access to funding for legitimate use by HRDs and their organization
[See: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Impact of measures to address terrorism and violent extremism on civil space and the rights of civil society actors and human rights defenders (March 2019, A/HRC/RES/40/52)
Obligations of business enterprises
13. At times of conflict and crisis, regulations and institutions can be weaker and unable to provide oversight over the operations of business enterprises. In addition, when businesses commit human rights abuses, they can contribute to further conflict and attacks on human rights defenders who are often left alone and unprotected as they alone resist corporate abuse. States have a responsibility to ensure businesses are not involved with such abuses and businesses have a responsibility to exercise due diligence and respect human rights
[UNGPs – Guiding Principle 7 – see also 12, 17, 23]
Telecommunication companies should do their outmost to uphold services during conflict situations.
Women human rights defenders and women peacebuilders
14. The role of women human rights defenders and women peacebuilders in the prevention, in mediation and the resolution of conflicts, in peacebuilding and in development efforts must be recognised.
15. In particular, there is a substantial link between women’s full and meaningful involvement in efforts to prevent, resolve and rebuild from conflict and the effectiveness and long-term sustainability of those efforts.
16. The work and activism of, inter alia, women mediators, women mediator networks, women’s civil society organizations, women peacebuilders and women human rights defenders, in the creation and implementation of all relevant activities related to conflict prevention and resolution, mediation, post-conflict reconstruction, peacemaking and peacebuilding must be recognised, supported and resourced.[A/HRC/42/17, A/HRC/45/28, UNSC resolution 1325]
Child human rights defenders
17. Reaffirm the positive, important, and legitimate role played by child human rights defenders for the promotion of human rights in conflict and post-conflict situations, and urge States to provide a safe and empowering environment, both online and offline, for child human rights defenders initiatives and those of child-led movements, promote child-centered innovation and ensure protection from all negative consequences and reprisals. Minimal attention has been given to the rights of child human rights defenders, including at the Council, especially in context of conflict and post-conflict situations, where most violations go unreported and where the delivery of basic services takes precedence over measures aimed at supporting children to act and exercise the full spectrum of their rights as defenders.
[See for example: A/HRC/RES/45/30 PP32 and OP9 (c); A/HRC/RES/40/11 OP14 (e)
Protection and security
18. Acknowledging the precariousness that human rights defenders can experience working in conflict and post-conflict situations due to the disruption to basic supplies and services and increased security risks, as well as the risks associated with defending human rights in such contexts which can be experienced in unique ways by different groups of human rights defenders. Attention must be paid to particular protection needs of groups of human rights defenders in these contexts.
19. Human rights defenders should be meaningfully consulted in the provision and implementation of protection measures to ensure that the measures are holistic, including both individual and collective protection aspects, and that these measures also function as early warning and rapid response mechanisms that enable human rights defenders, when threatened, to have immediate access to authorities that are competent and adequately resourced to provide effective protective measures, taking into account the intersectional dimensions of violations and abuses against women human rights defenders, indigenous peoples, people of african descent, children, persons belonging to minorities, and rural and marginalized communities. (A/HRC/40/11, para. 9)
20. The UN or Groups of like-minded UN Member States should consider to develop alarm systems for human rights defenders at risk.
21. Protection mechanism: there are a number of recommendations from the Special Rapporteur’s report in 2019, and also see https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/FAssociation/newpage_jointdeclaration_9dec2021_en.pdf] relating to protection and emergency support that we would be particularly supportive to see built on in the resolution relating to emergency support, inter alia:
(i) Deepen the engagement by diplomatic missions with defenders operating in conflict and post-conflict areas and with official or de facto authorities whose actions or omissions affect the protection and operations of defenders. UN Country Teams must prioritise and coordinate in-country support for HRDs.
The UN and other international organizations should step up support for security training and training in documentation skills for human rights defenders that operate in conflict or post-conflict situations.
(ii) Support and facilitate domestic, regional and international relocation initiatives and access thereto, including through flexible procedures and visa policies, ensure that these take into account their identity, family situation or other circumstances. Acknowledging that human rights defenders will also need rest, treatment, and to rehabilitate due to working in extremely challenging and dangerous situations.
The Special Rapporteur on HRDs previously made a recommendation to States to “Enable fast and efficient visa processing for human rights defenders who need to relocate.” See para. 112 of the SR’s report on killings of HRDs (https://undocs.org/A/HRC/46/35)
(iii) Strengthen the protection of foreign defenders relocated from conflict-affected States and ensure their access to effective international protection procedures, their protection against refoulement and their access to complaints and protection mechanisms and to an effective remedy when still faced with threats or other violations of their rights.
22. The resolution should recall that States should ensure that any interference with the right to privacy is consistent with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. It should also call on States to refrain from the use of surveillance technologies, in a manner that is not compliant with international human rights obligations, including when used against human rights defenders, and to take specific actions to protect against violations of the right to privacy, including by regulating the sale, transfer, use and export of surveillance technologies. See paras. 2 and 6(k) of the recent privacy in the digital age resolution (A/HRC/RES/48/4).[5 UN experts have called for an immediate moratorium on the surveillance tech trade see A/HRC/47/24; A/HRC/44/24; A/HRC/41/25; A/HRC/41/35; https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25488]
23. States that are party to conflicts should not shut down mobile networks and internet access as this increase the security risks of human rights defenders and other actors that strive to uphold rights and services in conflict situations.
24. The UN, Member States, and civil society organizations should support human rights defenders by providing cloud solutions for storage of documentation. Locally stored files risks being destroyed and represent a security risk for local defenders. Several human rights organizations have developed systems where local actors can easily upload and secure sensitive material. UN and other international organization’s field offices should help developing such systems.
Follow-up and implementation
25. The resolution should include a paragraph related to States monitoring and reporting on the implementation of this resolution in a comprehensive and systematic way and share updates on challenges faced and progress made during relevant Un dialogues and debates.
Recommendations on language not to include
- In the negotiations around the civil society space resolution in the Council’s 47th Session, suggestions were made to include language relating to civil society ‘acting lawfully’. This of course had the potential to legitimize the widespread criminalisation of civil society by States which adopt laws that are not compatible with international human rights laws and standards. We urge Norway to ensure that such language is not included in the human rights defenders resolution to avoid such risks.
- Language that is exclusionary of gender or other types of diversity or otherwise discriminatory or that creates caveats and situations in which States could exclude human rights defenders they dislike or choose to ignore.
NGOs supporting these recommendations:
African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies
Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Man – Palestine
Amnesty International
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
Center for Reproductive Rights
Centro para los Defensores y la Justicia (CDJ) – Venezuela
Child Rights Connect
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
Freedom House
Front Line Defenders
Human Rights Watch
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Protection International (PI)
World Organisation against Torture (OMCT)