Impact of the work of Special Procedures: Prevention and/or cessation of human rights violations

Prominent journalist and human rights defender – subject of special procedures communications is freed of all charges in Bangladesh

Ms. Rozina Islam, a Bangladeshi investigative journalist for Prothom Alo, Bangladesh’s largest newspaper, has been cleared of all criminal charges and had her passport returned. This follows Ms. Islam’s case being raised by special procedures in two communications in June 2021 and February 2023 and the creation of a new interim Government in August 2024.

Ms. Islam is the recipient of several national and international awards for her investigative journalism, largely focused on corruption. She was first detained on 17 May 2021, as she went to the Health Ministry for a meeting with the health services Secretary. Her work prior to the arrest included the publication of investigative reports on alleged corruption and mismanagement in the health sector, as well as irregularities in the purchasing of emergency medical supplies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Ms. Islam was accused of photographing without authorization documents related to Government negotiations to purchase Covid-19 vaccines. She faced up to 14 years in prison and the possibility of the death penalty for violating several sections of the colonial era Official Secrets Act 1923 and the Penal Code.  On 23 May 2021, Ms. Islam was granted bail on the condition that she surrender her passport and not leave the country. 

On 28 June 2021, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression sent a communication to the authorities of Bangladesh jointly with other special procedures mandate holders. The letter urged the authorities to indicate both the factual and legal basis for Ms. Islam’s detention and expressed grave concern about her prosecution appearing to be in retribution for her critical reporting and expression of opinion about the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

On 20 February 2023, through a second communication, special procedures reiterated their previous call and urged the dismissal of the charges brought against Ms. Islam.

Ms. Islam was acquitted of all charges on 17 August 2023 following 3 years and 3 months of legal harassment. Her passport has since been returned, and she is now able to exercise her freedom of movement and continue her journalistic activity.

Mali releases journalists arbitrarily detained following intervention by experts

On 19 April in Bamako, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court determined as inadmissible and dismissed the Prosecutor’s appeal in the case against a journalist and four senior officials. These persons were earlier subject of communications sent by special procedures mandate holders. On 31 March 2021, the Independent Expert on the human rights situation in Mali, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers sent communication MLI 1/2021 conveying concern on arbitrary detention of these persons to the government. The mandate holders followed it with a press release on 08 April 2021.  (https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/04/mali-charges-against-journalist-and-co-defendants-still-detained-after-court)

As a result, all five men were released on the same day.

Other impact: Mechanism of redress/victim support

Iran releases journalist arbitrarily detained

Several Special Procedures mandate holders welcomed release of Iranian human rights defender Arash Sadeghi, from Raja’i Shahr Prison this month after five-and-a-half years in detention. Mr. Sadeghi received prison sentences totalling 15 years by a Revolutionary Court on multiple charges, including publishing “lies in cyberspace”, “propaganda against the regime” and insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Under Iranian law, he would have to serve seven-and-a-half years in prison, the longest of his sentences.

Since his arrest, mandate holders had repeatedly sent communications to Iran highlighting the unjustified imprisonment and requesting his release. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found in an opinion issued in 2018 that the deprivation of Mr. Sadeghi’s liberty was arbitrary and called for his immediate release. (https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/05/iran-un-experts-welcome-release-arash-sadeghi)

Other impact: Mechanism of redress/victim support

Following several interventions by special procedures mandate holders, Albania finally releases a Turkish national seeking asylum in a third country and allows the person to travel.

Mr. Selami Şimşek, a Turkish national who was subjected to short-term enforced disappearance during a foiled transfer from Albania to Turkey, was released from a detention facility in Tirana and allowed to travel to Sweden where he was granted asylum. Mr. Şimşek’s case was the subject of two urgent appeals, and follow-up letter by several special procedures mandate holders, and focused advocacy with UNHCR and UNRCO in Tirana that have all contributed to the successful outcome.

Other impact: Mechanism of redress/victim support

Saudi Arabia releases human rights defender Loujain al-Hathloul

Following communications and press releases* from several Special Procedures mandate-holders since 2018, women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was released on 10 February 2021 after serving three years in a Saudi prison. Ms. Al-Hathloul was imprisoned in 2018 on national security grounds for promoting women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.  In a recent press release published in December 2020**, the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur on countering terrorism, the Special Rapporteur on torture and Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association called for her immediate release. In the same press release, the Chairperson of the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls reiterated that defending human rights can never be considered a threat to national security. The intervention of the mandate holders, which was widely reported by the global media, is believed to have contributed to her release.

* https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23889
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24291
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2018/06/saudi-arabia-must-immediately-free-women-human-rights-defenders-held
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2018/10/saudi-arabia-must-immediately-release-all-womens-rights-defenders-say-un
https://www.ohchr.org/en/latest
** https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/12/saudi-arabia-un-experts-alarmed-loujain-al-hathloul-trial-call-immediate

Other impact: Mechanisms of redress – victim support

Following interventions by mandate holders and OHCHR Mauritania prisoners are released

Several Mauritanian Christian converts who had been charged with blasphemy, apostasy and proselytism, which could carry the death penalty under Mauritania national law, were released from prison. Several Special procedures mandate holders, including freedom of peaceful assembly and association, religion, minorities, freedom of opinion and expression, human rights defenders, summary executions and WG on arbitrary detention sent joint communications which were used by OHCHR Mauritania in their advocacy with the authorities that lead to this successful outcome.

Other impact: Mechanisms of redress – victim support

Release of Human rights lawyer in Tanzania

Tito Elia Magoti, human rights lawyer in Tanzania,was released on 5 January 2021. A number of special procedures mandate holders took up his case in a communication sent to the Government on 31st January 2020. The Working Group on arbitrary detention also released a decision on his case, see links below:
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25049
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Detention/Opinions/Session88/A_HRC_WGAD_2020_38_Advance_Edited_Version.pdf

In addition, on 20 December 2020, the one-year anniversary of the detention without trial of Mr. Magoti, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of assembly and association issued a tweet to remind the public of his detention: https://twitter.com/cvoule/status/1341080167893098496.

Other impact: Mechanisms of redress – victim support

Burundi releases four journalists

On 24 December 2020, the President of Burundi pardoned and released Egide Harerimana, Christine Kamikazi, Terence Mpozenzi and Agnès Ndiribusa, of media group IWACU – Les Voix du Burundi, who had been arbitrarily detained for 430 days.

The four journalists were arrested on 22 October 2019, and on 30 January 2020, they were found guilty of "an impossible attempt to aid and abet a breach of state security" and sentenced to two and a half years in prison and a fine of one million Burundian francs (approximately 418 Euros) by the High Court of Bubanza. On 5 June 2020, this sentence was confirmed by the Court of Appeal of Ntahangwa (Bujumbura). At the time of their arrest, the four journalists were going to investigate clashes between Burundian security forces and a rebel group in Musigati, Bubanza province (in the west of the country, on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo), which reportedly resulted in the displacement of many civilians. Although they informed provincial authorities of their movement in the area, they were arrested upon arrival at the scene.

Special Procedures mandate holders had issued communications and press releases regarding their detention, had been following up regarding the issue and called on the Burundian authorities to put an end to all forms of harassment, against all human rights defenders in the country. See links below
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25068
https://www.ohchr.org/fr/2020/02/burundi-un-experts-denounce-jail-terms-given-journalists-elections

Other impact: Mechanisms of redress – Accountability

Chile releases female actors

In July 2020, the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, together with other mandates sent a joint communication to Chile expressing concerns about two criminal complaints filed by the police against the feminist art collective "Las Tesis" (the organisation which created the performance “un violador en tu camino”), following performances and videos by the Collective denouncing, among other things, gender-based discrimination and violence against women. The members of the organisation were acquitted in January 2021.

Other impact: Mechanisms of redress – victim support

Opposition activist in Algeria acquitted following intervention by Special Procedures mandate holders

Communication from three special procedures mandates, namely the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Special Rapporteur on peaceful assembly and association and the Special Rapporteur on human right defenders leads to a positive outcome in Algeria. On 7 December 2020, the Court of Koléa (misdemeanours section) ruled that opposition activist, Mr. Karim Tabbou, a key figure of the Hirak movement, should be acquitted of the offence of “inciting, facilitating and organizing concerted acts aimed at causing disturbances, in peacetime, for the purpose of harming national security”. He was released after receiving a one-year suspended sentence for "undermining national security". His release comes after the sending of a communication from Special Procedures’ mandate holders sent on 14 April 2020, in which the Special Rapporteurs raised concerns that Mr. Tabbou’s arrest and conviction might be directly related to his Hirak activities.

Other impact: Mechanisms of redress – victim support

Pakistan Supreme Court bans the death penalty for individuals with mental health conditions

Special procedures mandate holders have repeatedly written to the Government of Pakistan expressing concern about death sentences against individuals with mental health conditions. On 10 February 2020, the Supreme Court of Pakistan held that where a medical board certifies that the defendant is no longer able to appreciate the rationale behind their death sentence, they cannot be executed. The Court also commuted the death sentences to life in prison for Ms. Kanizan Bibi (whose case was previously raised by Special Procedures in June 2020) and Mr. Imdad Ali  (previously raised by Special Procedures in 2016), and ordered a fresh mercy petition be prepared for Mr. Ghulam Abbas (previously raised by the Special Procedures in 2019). Relevant mandate holders issued a press release welcoming the decision.

Other impact: Contribution to government and or judicial process

Global tech companies enhance app use monitoring to prevent human rights violations

In October 2019, the Special Rapporteur on slavery was interviewed by the BBC with regard to tech companies such as Google, Apple and Facebook-owned Instagram, which have allegedly enabled an illegal online slave market by providing apps used for the buying and selling of domestic workers online. An undercover investigation exposed app users in Kuwait engaging in modern slavery, including by offering a child for sale. The documentary had a strong public impact and as a result, Facebook responded by reportedly banning one of the hashtags involved and by taking down 703 accounts from Instagram. Due to the strong interest in the issue of online slave markets, the Special Rapporteur, jointly with the BBC, organized a public film screening of the documentary during the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2019. Some 200 people attended the screening and the subsequent panel discussion. The need for tech companies to include human rights considerations in their business was stressed at the event, as the lack thereof leads to the dehumanization of thousands if not millions of lives of vulnerable women and girls who are sold online as housemaids. The BBC documentary in which the Special Rapporteur participated also left a mark in the classroom of a secondary school in New York: A teacher wrote to the Special Rapporteur that her students were reading a book about white, female slaveholders in the U.S. South. She said that "the BBC documentary on slavery in Kuwait helped my students reconsider gender in the context of labour relations. When they saw the clip with the girl who was sold and her mistress, so many of the themes of our studies became more than "dusty history." According to the school teacher, the students wrote a reflection comparing the work of the Special Rapporteur on slavery to the 19th century abolitionists and they were inspired by the "concept of using the law to liberate people", as the Special Rapporteur suggested in the documentary.

Other impact: Mechanisms of redress /Accountability

Release of indigenous human rights defender

During her country visit to Guatemala in May 2018, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples visited several indigenous human rights defenders in jail for defending the land rights of their communities. In one of the emblematic cases, an indigenous human rights defender named Abelino Chub was acquitted in April 2019, 11 months after the Special Rapporteur‘s visit. According to the stakeholders, the attention that the Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples drew to his case (end of mission statement, report, reiterated on social media) was key to secure his acquittal. Civil society organisations commented on the significance of the international attention drawn to the case by the Special Rapporteur and that it constituted a watershed moment for indigenous land rights in Guatemala.

Other impact: Mechanisms of redress / Victim support

Release of Mayor of Cochabamba, Bolivia

On 12 March 2020, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention welcomed the decision by a court in Cochabamba to end the detention of Mayor José María Leyes, who was deprived of his liberty following a trial replete with violations of due process guarantees, including judicial independence and the presumption of innocence. The release of Mr. Leyes took place only a few days after the group of experts communicated its Opinion No. 61/2019 to the Government of Bolivia, in which it declared his detention arbitrary and in violation of fundamental human rights. In its opinion, the Working Group concluded that the pre-trial detention was intended to prevent Mr. Leyes from exercising his functions in the municipality of Cochabamba, thus denying his right to participate in public affairs. In this regard, the experts found that “the judicial process was not carried out in an impartial and independent manner and the executive branch had unduly interfered with the judiciary, ensuring that Mr. Leyes was kept in pre-trial detention and therefore could not perform his functions as mayor”. The Working Group's experts stressed that the release of Mr. Leyes is not the end of this matter, but marks a turning point in his case. “The authorities must now conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the violation of Mr. Leyes’ rights, as well as adopt reforms so that cases like this do not recur,” they said, noting that “international law imposes an obligation to provide comprehensive reparation for human rights violations”.

Other impact: Contribution to governmental and/or judicial process

Release of juvenile offender from death row in Lahore, Pakistan

Following communications from special procedures over a five-year period regarding a juvenile offender who has spent 21 years on death row in Pakistan, the Punjab Home Department recognized his eligibility for commutation, and the Lahore High Court issued order commuting the person’s death sentence to life imprisonment. The court subsequently released the victim after clearing him of charges in 2020. Lawyers for the victims thanked the Special Rapporteurs for taking an active interest in this case and raised Iqbal’s case with the Government of Pakistan. The mandates of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, the Special Rapporteur on torture, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, joined in the call. It is believed by the victims’ lawyer that the intervention of the mandate holders was crucial in persuading the Government of Pakistan to grant relief to Iqbal.

Other impact: Contribution to governmental and/or judicial process

Egypt releases LGBTIQ+ human rights defender from prison

On 20 March 2019, eight Special Procedures mandate holders issued a joint urgent appeal (EGY 4/2019) concerning the alleged arbitrary arrest and detention of Ms. Malak Al-Kashif, a transgender woman and LGBTIQ human rights defender who had been detained since 6 March 2019 for calling for peaceful protests to denounce how the Ramses Station Accident was handled by the authorities. Following the coordinated solidarity and focused attention in her case from outside Egypt, including by Special Procedures, Ms. Malak Al-Kashif was released on 16 July 2019.

Other Impact: Mechanisms of Redress – Victim Support

Thailand withdraws extradition order and Australia grants citizenship to a refugee

On 7 December 2018, the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Working Group on arbitrary detention issued a joint communication alleging that Mr. Hakeem Ali Mohamed Alaraibi, a refugee and former member of Bahrain's national football team, faced the imminent risk of being deported from Thailand to Bahrain despite the clear possibility of being persecuted and tortured (THA 5/2018). Following that communication, and in agreement with the Government of Bahrain, the Government of Thailand confirmed that the extradition order had been formally withdrawn and that Mr. Alaraibi had been released (Thailand's 14 March 2019 reply). Subsequently, the Prime Minister of Australia also confirmed that Mr. Alaraibi was granted citizenship.

Other Impact: Mechanisms of Redress – Victim Support

Supreme Court in Korea upholds conscientious objection as a valid reason to refuse military service and releases two conscientious objectors from prison

The Working Group on arbitrary detention adopted Opinion No. 40/2018 on 20 August 2018 concerning two individuals who have each been sentenced to terms of imprisonment because of their contentious objection to undertaking military service in the Republic of Korea (A/HRC/WGAD/2018/40). On 30 August 2018, the Working Group's opinion was submitted the Supreme Court of Korea for its consideration. Subsequently, on 1 November 2018, the Supreme Court, drawing upon the jurisprudence of international bodies, ruled that that conscientious objection was a valid reason to refuse military service under the State's domestic legislation (Military Service Act), and the two conscientious objectors were then released. While there was other public advocacy for change in the Republic of Korea, the Working Group's opinion played a part in changing domestic law through its citation in the Supreme Court proceedings.

Other Impact: Contribution to Governmental and/or Judicial Processes and Legislative Reform

European Union suspends project in Kenya resulting in reduced social tensions and preventing forcible evictions

Following several communications by the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples (OTH 1/2018; KEN 1/2018; KEN 7/2017; KEN 1/2017; KEN 1/2014), an EU funded project to be implemented by the government of Kenya was suspended, which stopped forcible evictions of the Sengwer indigenous people from their forest lands and a reduction of social tension.

Afghanistan pardons and releases young journalist initially sentenced to death and then to 20 years in prison

After being held for nearly two years, Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, a young journalist who was sentenced to death and then to 20 years in prison in Afghanistan for downloading an article about the rights of women in Islam, was pardoned and released. In the meantime, he has left the country for fear of reprisals. The issue had been raised in a joint urgent communication sent by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances on 28 January 2008 (AFG 1/2008).

Other Impact: Mechanisms of Redress – Access to Reparation Mechanisms and Victim Support