Read on to remain up to date with the latest international human rights news, views and developments!
On 19 September the Secretary-General’s report on reprisals was made public, including three of five cases ISHR has been actively campaigning for, namely the cases of Vanessa Mendoza (Andorra), Kadar Abdi Ibrahim (Djibouti) and the situation of civil society in Hong Kong.
The policy to silence and quash opposition to the Venezuelan government continues, says the UN’s body of experts on Venezuela in its report to the Human Rights Council.
Activists from all regions of the world joined ISHR and a coalition of 17 civil society organisations to mark the 25th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and to call for an update of this landmark document.
A UN report has identified dozens of attacks, threats and acts of intimidation by States against human rights defenders or groups who engaged with UN bodies, with new cases including France’s Assa Traoré.
ISHR delivered a statement at the 54th session of the HRC, urging UN member States not to vote for Burundi, China and Russia as they are not fit to sit at the Human Rights Council.
At the 54th session of the Human Rights Council, during the debate on Sudan, Nahlla Yousif, woman human rights defender from Darfur, delivered a joint statement on behalf of ISHR, Sudanese Women Rights Action, Future for Enlightenment and Development Organization and WHRDMENA Coalition.
States running for the UN Human Rights Council responded to questions from civil society on their human rights records as they outlined their vision for strengthening the global human rights system during ISHR and Amnesty International’s annual pledging event.
As Russian authorities continue to repress human rights defenders and criminalise dissent, States should ensure that the UN Human Rights Council renews a mandate to monitor and report on the human rights crisis in the country.
The 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council (11 Sep - 13 Oct) will consider issues including reprisals, arbitrary detention, systemic racism, enforced disappearances, water and sanitation, and the rights of Indigenous peoples and people of African descent. It will also present an opportunity to address grave situations in over a dozen States. Here’s an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
In October, States at the UN General Assembly are due to vote to elect 15 incoming members (of the total 47 seats) to the UN Human Rights Council, and 17 countries, including Russia, China and Burundi, are running for election.
Civil society organisations sent a joint letter to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, and the EU Special Representative (EUSR) for the Gulf region, urging the European Union to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those sentenced for their political beliefs in Bahrain.
Civil society organisations sent a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs urging the United Kingdom to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all those sentenced for their political beliefs in Bahrain.
