ISHR EndReprisals Campaign 2024
Imagine determined individuals speaking up for what’s right for their communities, and then facing intimidation, threats and even imprisonment when they engage with the United Nations. This is not acceptable. Help us safeguard their voices and freedom. Join our campaign to #EndReprisals!
Human rights defenders and civil society are the voices of our communities. These voices must be at the heart of decision and policy making at all levels.
Yet, some States and non-states actors feel those voices are too loud. This was the case of Cao Shunli, a prominent Chinese human rights defender, who sought to share information on the human rights situation in China with the United Nations in Geneva. Cao was arbitrarily detained and died in prison 10 years ago.
Cao Shunli, Chinese human rights defender, victim of reprisals who died in detention 10 years ago.
When human rights defenders are arbitrarily detained because they shared or sought to share information with the United Nations, this is a form of reprisals.
Cao had the ambition to make the world better. And she encouraged others to do so. Her death was not in vain: her story shed light on the dangers faced by activists engaging with the UN and how we can prevent such violations from happening again.
Around the world, inspiring voices echo Cao’s ambition, on different issues and in different contexts, but with the same aspiration: promoting and protecting human rights. In so doing, many have engaged with the United Nations to share evidence of abuses with experts and States. Regrettably, some are facing the same form of reprisals as Cao, and are now arbitrarily detained.
It’s time to take a stand. Join us in our campaign to #EndReprisals and call for the release of Trang, Abdulhadi, Khurram and Irfan. Let’s ensure that no one else faces Cao’s fate. Their voices deserve to be heard, and their freedom and lives must be protected.
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Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is a Bahraini-Danish advocate known for his unwavering commitment to freedom and democracy. An outspoken human rights defender he serves as a source of inspiration for activists in Bahrain and globally.
Abdulhadi has protested Bahrain’s unlawful detention and torture of several civilians since he was a student. He received political asylum in Denmark with his family where he continued his advocacy work, documenting human rights violations in Bahrain.
He became the first civil society representative to speak at the first Universal Periodic Review of Bahrain in 2008.
He is the co-founder of both the Gulf Centre for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, as well as the laureate of the 2022 Martin Ennals Award.
In April 2011 during the Bahrain chapter of what is known as the “Arab Spring” uprisings, while he was leading peaceful demonstrations, Abdulhadi was violently arrested. He went missing for two months and, in June 2011, after a military trial, he was condemned to life-imprisonment on terrorism-related charges, despite grave concerns from the international community about unfair trials
The Secretary-General expressed serious concern that his situation may be linked to his legitimate work in the defense of human rights, in particular his work with international human rights organisations, including the United Nations.
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja was included for five times in the Secretary-General report on reprisals, noting “allegations of arbitrary arrest, torture and lengthy sentence following his engagement with United Nations human rights mechanisms.”
In 2012, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found the detention of Abdulhadi arbitrary.
In May 2021, special procedures mandate holders addressed concerns about arbitrary detention and sentencing of Abdulhadi in connection to his human rights work, as well as allegations of torture, ill treatment and poor conditions of detention.
Also, in June 2021, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders publicly called on Bahrain to release three human rights defenders held in long term detention and with a deteriorated health condition, including Abdulhadi.
More recently, in 2023, special procedures mandate holders addressed allegations of ill-treatment, additional criminal charges, and deteriorating health conditions of Abdulhadi.
Also in 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders stated that the deteriorating health conditions of three human rights defenders, including Abdulhadi, was alarming.
Abulhadi’s continued detention is a reminder of how human rights defenders in Bahrain still pay a dire price for their advocacy work.
“The ongoing imprisonment of Al-Khawaja sends a clear message to activists, human rights defenders, and critics that the Bahraini government will not tolerate any forms of dissent, and that human rights activity will be repressed and punished with a heavy-hand.
The Bahraini government has made an example out of Al-Khawaja to discourage anyone from exposing human rights abuses in the country. It also shows how stubborn the government is, to continue to defy unified calls of the international community, which is further testament to how intolerant the state is and how farcical its claims of reforms are.
At the same time, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja’s resilience in the face of oppression continues to inspire and lead other Bahrainis who fight for their rights.” Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Advocacy Director at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)
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Pham Doan Trang is an author, blogger, journalist and pro-democracy activist from Viet Nam. She is a well-known advocate for human rights and has written on a wide range of human rights topics, including LGBTQI+ rights, women’s rights, environmental issues and on the suppression of activists.
She is considered among the most influential and respected human rights defenders in Viet Nam today. She has always been a major source of inspiration and mentorship for Vietnamese civil society and the next generation of human rights defenders.
Trang received the Reporters Without Borders 2019 Press Freedom Prize for Impact and was the Laureate of a Martin Ennals Award in 2022.
Trang was prosecuted for her articles and reports on the human rights situation in Viet Nam, including an analysis of a 2016 report on the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Plant environmental disaster that was shared with the United Nations.
From 7 October 2020 until 21 October 2021, Trang was held in incommunicado detention. About two months later, she was sentenced to nine years in prison for “conducting propaganda against the State”. There are growing concerns about her health as she is not receiving adequate care in detention.
It is only in September 2022 that Trang was allowed to meet her mother since her arrest in October 2020. On 1 October 2022, without any prior notification to her family, Trang was transferred to An Phuoc prison in Binh Duong province, 900 miles from her home, making it very difficult for her family to visit her.
Trang’s case was included in the 2022 and 2023 reports of the Secretary-General on reprisals, on allegations of long-term arbitrary detention and lengthy sentencing for sharing reports on the human rights situation in Viet Nam with the United Nations and other international actors.
On 29 October and 23 December 2021 UN experts addressed Trang’s detention and charges and the fact that reports shared with the UN were used as evidence against her. They noted that the sharing of testimonies and reports is a common way of communicating with the UN, and its criminalisation ultimately undermines the UN human rights system as a whole.
Trang was the subject of several communications by special procedures mandate holders and an Opinion by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2021, which found her deprivation of liberty arbitrary. On 2 November 2022, experts addressed Trang’s detention, including restriction of her right to family visits and her deteriorating health status.
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Khurram Parvez and Irfan Mehraj are two Kashmiri human rights defenders. They have conducted ground-breaking and extensive human rights documentation in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, including through their work within the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) – Khurram as founder and programme coordinator, and Irfan as a researcher.
Both activists have been internationally recognised for their work. Khurram is the Chairperson of the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Deputy General Secretary of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and a laureate of the 2023 Martin Ennals Award.
Irfan is a well-regarded independent journalist with frequent contributions to Kashmiri, Indian and international news outlets. He is the founder of Wande Magazine and is an editor at TwoCircles.net.
Khurram documented human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and pursued accountability for those violations in Jammu and Kashmir, India and internationally. His international work included extensive engagement with the United Nations, including through submissions to the special procedures, submissions to international bodies, including for the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review of India, and engagement with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In 2016, Indian authorities arrested him a day after he was barred from traveling to Geneva to attend the 33rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. They charged him under the Public Safety Act (PSA), a preventive detention law that legalises the violation of fundamental rights, and detained him for 76 days.
After his release, he continued to engage with UN mechanisms, including OHCHR, the Human Rights Council and the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances.
On 22 November 2021, Khurram was arrested again by the Indian Government, this time by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other laws, reportedly on allegations of “terrorism funding, being a member of a terrorist organisation, criminal conspiracy, and waging war against the state.” He remains in arbitrary detention to this day.
Meanwhile, on 20 March 2023, Irfan was summoned for questioning and arbitrarily detained by the NIA in Srinagar also under provisions of the UAPA and other laws.
The NIA targeted Irfan for being ‘a close associate of Khurram Parvez.’
Both Khurram and Irfan are presently in pre-trial detention in the maximum-security Rohini prison in New Delhi, India.
Khurram’s situation has been included in the Secretary-General’s report on reprisals since 2017 and Irfan’s case was included in the 2023 report.
In June 2023, United Nations experts expressed serious concerns regarding the charges against and arrest of Irfan and Khurram, stating that their continued detention is ‘designed to delegitimise their human rights work and obstruct monitoring of the human rights situation in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.’ The United Nation Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) published an opinion in the same year, finding Khurram’s detention arbitrary.
On 7 March 2024, UN experts sounded the alarm on the “harassment and prolonged detention of human rights defenders and journalists” in the country.
Khurram Parvez and Irfan Mehraj’s detentions are part of a successful campaign of reprisals against any United Nations engagement by Kashmiri human rights defenders or victims of human rights violations, under the guise of countering ‘terrorism’ and ‘support for terrorism’. Their cases are particularly symbolically significant in demonstrating to Kashmiris that attempts to defend their human rights, including through United Nations mechanisms, are futile and will only lead to reprisals which are inflicted with impunity.
Their current situation is an instance of how the Indian government uses counter-terror laws, including the UAPA, as well as foreign contribution laws and criminal laws, to punish human rights defenders for their advocacy work, including their engagement with international organisations such as the UN. This has practically ended United Nations engagement with victims and defenders in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir and created a chilling effect in India that deters defenders from engaging.
The UAPA is a counter-terrorism law often used against human rights defenders by the Indian authorities to target, harass, intimidate, and detain them on bogus and politically motivated charges. In May 2020, UN experts expressed concerns over the non-conformity of various UAPA provisions with international human rights standards.
In October 2023, they reiterated their concerns, stating that the pre-trial detention period of 180 days – which can subsequently be increased – is beyond reasonable. They called for a review of the UAPA in line with international human rights standards and with recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force.
It’s simple. We want Irfan, Khurram, Trang and Abduhadi to be freed so they can continue their work without fear of further reprisals, and we want accountability for Cao.
For this to happen, States must hold their peers accountable.
When intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders occur, we want the UN to effectively address these cases, support the victims and push for accountability and redress.
We call on States to publicly condemn reprisals and intimidation against those who engage with the UN, and raise specific cases of victims at the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the General Assembly in New York.
We mobilise diplomatic missions, encouraging them to speak out and raise individual cases of reprisals against defenders at the UN and in other spaces and hold their peers to account.
We convince the UN Secretary General and his team to acknowledge and document ALL cases of reprisal and intimidation by including them in his annual report on reprisals and intimidation against defenders engaging or seeking to engage with the UN and its human rights mechanisms.
We push the UN system to establish clearer protocols on how to consistently and effectively prevent, respond and follow up on cases of reprisals.
We encourage governments, activists, and concerned individuals to stand in solidarity with human rights defenders and organisations who are subjected to reprisals and intimidations.
To achieve our goals, we are drawing attention to some of the most emblematic cases of reprisals that illustrate how human rights defenders are prevented from or punished for engaging with the UN.
You can find out more about Trang, Abdulhadi, Khurram and Irfan below. Take action for them now and help #EndReprisals!
Here are impactful actions you can take:
Write to State representatives at the UN in Geneva and New York
The #FreeAlKhawaja Campaign is an international campaign advocating for the release of Abdulhadi.
Find out more about the campaignHuman rights defenders are essential agents of change. They promote dignity, fairness, peace and justice in their homes, workplaces, communities and countries. They challenge governments that fail to respect and protect their people, corporations that degrade and destroy the environment, and institutions that perpetuate privilege and patriarchy.
For many the United Nations (UN) is the last arena in which they can confront abuses. And yet, here too they are silenced and harassed by governments. Some States intimidate human rights defenders and victims who try to engage with UN human rights bodies and mechanisms to report violations, or carry out reprisals against those who manage to engage. Those governments see these defenders as enemies and their engagement with the UN as a threat to their image and power.
Over the past years, the reported number and severity of intimidation and reprisals cases has increased.
Acts of intimidation and reprisals aim at creating fear or blocking access to the United Nations of people who defend human rights. Reprisals and intimidation take different forms, from travel bans, threats and harassment, including by officials, smear campaigns, surveillance, introduction of restrictive legislation, to physical attacks, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, denial of access to medical attention and even killings.
The right to safe and unhindered access to international and regional justice mechanisms, and to be free from any form of intimidation or reprisal for seeking justice, is both a fundamental human right and essential to the relevance and effectiveness of these mechanisms.
The participation of human rights defenders in the work of international and regional mechanisms makes for better outcomes. Defenders bring crucial information and perspectives regarding human rights situations on the ground and international and regional mechanisms depend on that knowledge and input to make informed decisions.
The UN has developed a number of mechanisms to deal with intimidation and reprisals over the last 30 years. The main mechanism is currently a report published annually by the UN Secretary-General that collects and publishes incidents of intimidation and reprisals documented by the different UN human rights mechanisms or otherwise submitted by victims.
In addition, since 2016, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights has been designated as the senior official to lead the efforts within the UN system to address intimidation and reprisals. You can find more information on the page of the United Nations.
While this appointment led to an increase in resources and better reporting and follow up, there is still room to strengthen the UN’s response. For instance:
ISHR seeks to ensure that international and regional human rights systems have the mechanisms to prevent reprisals and ensure accountability where they occur. ISHR provides protective publicity to human rights defenders at risk and works to bring cases of alleged intimidation and reprisals to the attention of relevant officials in an effort to press for effective preventative measures and responses.
Every year we submit a list of cases of reprisals and intimidation to the UN Secretary-General for him to include in his annual report.
In 2022, ISHR launched the #EndReprisals database which offers a platform where all cases included in the Secretary-General’s reports since 2010 are readily accessible, with detailed information on each case, including the activities of the affected groups or individual defenders, the kind of reprisals they suffered and how these were triggered. With this database, users can more easily navigate the information contained in the Secretary-General’s reports, and research, analyse, and take action on the cases or situations.
ISHR has also published a Handbook on Reprisals to help human rights defenders who engage with the UN to navigate the system and its procedures in case of reprisals or intimidation.
In order to assist stakeholders with research, analysis and action on cases of reprisals and intimidation, ISHR launched an online database compiling cases or situations of intimidation and reprisals documented by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General between 2010 and 2020.
Cases of intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders engaging with the UN reported by the UN Secretary General between 2010 and 2020.
Countries were cases of reprisals were documented by the UN Secretary-General between 2010 and 2020.
Reports published by the UN Secretary General on intimidation and reprisals.
Check out our selection of reports, news and campaigns on intimidation and reprisals against those who engage with the United Nations.
Ten years ago, Chinese woman human rights defender Cao Shunli was a victim of deadly reprisals for engaging with the United Nations. The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) and partners are paying her tribute and honouring other Chinese, Uyghur, Tibetan and Hong Kong human rights defenders who continue to hold the Chinese government accountable.
Local authorities in Geneva have announced their intention to place a permanent public monument paying tribute to persecuted human rights defenders, including the late Chinese human rights defender Cao Shunli. The move follows a civil society petition to have a bust made in honour of Cao placed in a prominent location in the city.
On April 15 2024, ISHR submitted its annual submission to the UN Secretary General on intimidation and reprisals against defenders engaging or seeking to engage with the UN and its human rights mechanisms.
Human rights defenders are essential voices from our communities. They face intimidation and reprisals when engaging with the United Nations. Join our campaign to #EndReprisals!
