Press releases Special Procedures

UN expert on freedom of peaceful assembly and association to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina

11 April 2024

GENEVA (11 April 2024) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, will conduct an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 14 to 22 April 2024.

The Special Rapporteur will assess the legal framework for the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and procedural and practical measures in place for holding peaceful assemblies and for establishing and operating associations.

He will also assess the facilitation of assemblies by law enforcement officials and mechanisms available to address cases of human rights violations, in particular excessive use of force.

Voule will travel to Sarajevo and Banja Luka and meet government officials, law enforcement agencies, parliamentarians, representatives of the judiciary, civil society organisations and trade unions, UN agencies, international organisations, and diplomats.

Voule will hold a press conference on 22 April at 11:00 local time, at the UN House Congress Hall (Zmaja od Bosne bb) in Sarajevo. Access will be limited to accredited journalists. To register for the press conference, please email ajla.becirspahic@un.org by 19 April 2024.

The Special Rapporteur will submit a comprehensive report on his visit to the Human Rights Council in June 2025.

Mr. Clément Nyaletsossi Voule was appointed Special Rapporteur on the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of association by the United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2018. Prior to his appointment, he led the Africa programme of the International Service for Human Rights. Mr. Voule has also worked as Secretary General of the Togolese Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, as a campaigner for the Togolese Coalition for the International Criminal Court, and as Secretary General of Amnesty International - Togo. Since 2011, Mr. Voule has been an expert member of the Working Group on Extractive Industries, the Environment and Human Rights Violations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. His mandate covers all countries and was renewed in 2022 by Resolution 50/17 of the Human Rights Council.

Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights country page: Bosnia & Herzegovina

For more information and media requests, please contact Ms. Bethany Hender (bethany.hender@un.org and hrc-sr-freeassembly@un.org)

For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) and Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts

The Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association is on X: @cvoule

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