Reprisals by States against people who assist UN human rights work are deeply concerning

Mr. President,

Excellencies,

Dear friends,

It is my honour to present to you this year’s report of the Secretary-General on intimidation and reprisals for cooperation with the United Nations, and to once again engage in our important dialogue here.

I thank Member States for their support to the role the Secretary-General has designated me to discharge in leading the efforts of the UN system to prevent and address such reprisals.

In that, I especially thank this Council and you, Mr. President, for the continued attention to this serious issue, including by raising allegations with the representatives of the States concerned.

This also shows your commitment to ensuring a safe and open engagement of victims and civil society actors with this body.

Excellencies,

This year’s report includes 32 countries in all regions.^[1] Ten of those countries are current members of this Council. And, as in the past, many of the countries listed this year have been identified in previous annual reports on this subject. These recurrent allegations of repeated incidents of reprisals over time may signal patterns.

While the report lists a smaller number of countries than in previous years reports, this does not of itself necessarily indicate positive development. While this year’s report includes cases affecting a large number of individuals and groups, even this provides an incomplete picture. More than ever before, this year's report bears witness to cases that we could not include, and countries that we could not list, due to serious protection concerns for those affected.

At least 32 individuals, including 22 women and young people – concerning six Member States – could not be included in this report, at the request of victims who feared that they could still be identifiable, even if their allegations were reported anonymously; and due also to the severity of the reprisals they feared.

Four Member States in respect of which allegations have been verified could not be included in the report for this reason.

Excellencies,

The serious reprisals and related human rights violations and abuses documented in this report include kidnapping or enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment, and even killings.

Human rights defenders, activists, journalists, lawyers and trade unionists, as well as victims of human rights violations, witnesses and their relatives, continue to represent the great majority of those targeted for their actual – or, in some instances simply perceived – cooperation with the UN.

Women, Indigenous Peoples and young people face specific and often higher risks of reprisals when they engage with the Organization.

In addition, women peacebuilders and human rights defenders continued to be the target of gender-specific forms of severe reprisals, in particular for cooperation with the Security Council and peace operations mandated by it.

Of particular concern, allegations of reprisals against young people – leaders and policy makers of the future - were documented for the first time in this report, affecting at least 20 young men and women.

Once again, incidents of intimidation and reprisals were reported in connection to Indigenous Peoples' participation in United Nations spaces devoted to furthering Indigenous Peoples’ issues and rights, notably the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We continue to support and closely monitor the safe and meaningful participation of these groups in United Nations forums.

In this regard, we are expanding our work with Member States, other UN entities and civil society actors to enhance prevention, institutional readiness and support to those at risk of facing reprisals for their engagement with the UN, with a special focus on women, Indigenous Peoples and youth.

Excellencies,

Complex global challenges to peace and security, development and human rights are impacting how individuals and groups cooperate with the United Nations – and even the extent to which, and whether, they do.

As the report spells out, the restrictions on fundamental rights and freedoms globally, combined with the implementation of increasingly restrictive legal frameworks and widening surveillance, both online and offline, continue to shrink civic space and leads to increased fear of reprisals, narrowing how individuals are willing to engage, and deterring the reporting of incidents of reprisals. Requests for confidential and non-visible engagement are on the rise.

While United Nations entities continued to document global trends that are similar to those identified in previous years, some new features and concerns emerged during this reporting period.

Self-censorship remains prevalent, with a higher number of anonymized new cases than in previous reports. This year, 75 per cent of the cases in Annex I had to be anonymized due to protection concerns for those concerned, including women and young people.

Self-censorship includes instances where individuals and groups who avoid interaction or who were previously cooperating with the United Nations and decide to either stop or temporarily interrupt their cooperation based on it having become too dangerous for them or their relatives.

Self-censorship also refers toinstances where those cooperating with the UN opt for no public or visible engagement with the Organization to reduce their exposure. This can include requests for changes in the way that United Nations entities and human rights bodies interact with them, as well as different degrees of anonymity when publicly reporting on their situations, including for this very report itself.

Indeed, the complexity of different forms of self-censorship requires, alongside awareness and nuanced understanding, increasingly sophisticated methodological approaches and tools to monitor and report on it.

OHCHR is strengthening its work in this area to be able to better support Member States, UN interlocutors and the wider UN system.

Excellencies,

Another global trend and matter of continued concern is the online and offline surveillance of those who cooperate or seek to cooperate with the United Nations, which was reported in one-third of the Member States included in the present report.

The issue contributes to a prevailing environment of generalised fear that goes beyond specific incidents and contributes to self-censorship and disengagement. This is directly impacting participation in United Nations premises and spaces.

We also continue to document physical surveillance of individuals by law enforcement or unknown individuals – in some cases appearing to act by proxy; and widespread monitoring of public spaces, both offline and online. By its very nature, surveillance sends an inhibiting message, implying, in this context, cooperation with the United Nations as wrongdoing, even criminal. It is dissuading current and future cooperation.

According to the information we are gathering, those cooperating with the United Nations from abroad are increasingly exposed, and in some instances their relatives remaining in countries of origin face serious risks.

We are also observing incidents that, while not included in the present report as they do not meet the threshold of acts of intimidation and reprisals on their own, have a clear intimidatory intent. These include unauthorized picture-taking, as well as close following of individuals and groups inside UN premises and outside.

Excellencies,

Around 45% of the Member States included in the report continued to apply laws and regulations concerning civil society, counterterrorism and national security in ways that had the effect of deterring or hindering cooperation with the United Nations.

Some States amended existing laws or enacted new ones that further increased restrictions.

Over recent years, we have documented arbitrary detention of victims of reprisals, lengthy sentences of incarceration often on “terrorism” charges, terrorist designations or listings, travel bans, deprivation of nationality, and administrative detention or house arrest, that had the effect of preventing cooperation with the United Nations.

UN entities continued to document dissolutions and deregistration of civil society organizations during the reporting period, imposing additional obstacles to civil society’s engagement with the United Nations.

We are also documenting the application of laws and regulations as well as threats by certain Member States affecting organizations and individuals beyond their borders, either diaspora nationals or foreigners and foreign organizations.

While these laws and related judicial decisions purport to protect national security or other vital interests, we have documented that they are at times applied to individuals’ engagement with the United Nations and advocacy for accountability.

The cumulative effects of these measures of control and repression are extremely concerning.

Excellencies,

These worrying trends of self-censorship, surveillance and misuse of legislation make the act of cooperating with the UN an increasingly risky proposition in the eyes of concerned individuals. It also means that documenting incidents of reprisals is ever more challenging and requires an evolving methodology of continued robustness.

Conflicts, crises and repression are testing our systems as never before. To deliver its mandate of maintaining international peace and security, the UN needs and relies on the voices and the cooperation of the peoples it serves. Local populations and civil society actors offer vital responses; listening and engaging with them is critical for the United Nations to deliver effectively. And Member States have the primary responsibility to ensure that such engagements can take place safely and freely.

Zero tolerance, awareness and prevention continue to be the best response to intimidation and reprisals. The United Nations system is determined to continue addressing the issue firmly and swiftly.

The Agenda for Protection was co-launched by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner with a pledge from the United Nations system to do everything we can to ensure that people are protected by engaging with those responsible to prevent, respond to and mitigate harm from human rights violations.

The Agenda for Protection calls on United Nations entities to examine how protection relates to their mandate and what they need to put in place to respond to protection challenges in the context of their work. These challenges include, among other things, the protection and support of human rights defenders and civil society at risk, in particular when they are threatened or face reprisals for their cooperation with the United Nations.

I welcome the new initiatives and concrete efforts by United Nations entities and human rights bodies supporting the safe and meaningful engagement with civil society. Awareness-raising with Member States and the establishment of clear processes and protocols to help identify, document, report and respond to allegations are important steps in the right direction.

It is also reassuring to see good practices by many Member States to support civil society actors at risk, including through temporary visa and relocation programmes, as well as specific measures to ensure safe participation of their interlocutors in UN events that they host.

I thank you for this collaboration, especially as preventing and addressing intimidation and reprisals against those who cooperate with the UN is the duty of us all.

The UN Human Rights Office and I, in particular, in my role leading the UN system on this serious issue, are determined to fulfill this responsibility.

Those who put their trust in us must be supported and protected.

I look forward to continuing working with this Council and all UN Member States in this regard.

[1] Listed countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, France, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Israel, Libya, Nicaragua, Philippines, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Viet Nam, Yemen, State of Palestine.