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The UN Human Rights Council will hold its 56th regular session at Palais des Nations in Geneva from 18 June and 12 July 2024. Check out the key issues on the agenda.

NGOs call on the Tunisian authorities to refrain from adopting the proposed draft law on associations and, instead, commit to safeguarding the right to freedom of association as enshrined in Decree-law 88 and under international human right law.

The Human Rights Council should urgently address the deterioration of the human rights situation in Tunisia, four human rights organisations said today as the 53rd Council’s session is underway.

As the year draws to a close, I am so proud of the work of my colleagues at ISHR, together with our partners around the globe, towards a world which is more fair, just, compassionate and peaceful.

And I am so thankful for your support in achieving this progress.

In 1998 the world made a commitment to promote and protect the rights of defenders. Twenty years on, what real difference has the UN Declaration - and subsequent UN resolutions and recommendations - made to the lives of human rights defenders in Colombia and Tunisia? A new report by ISHR and partners provides insights and proposals for change.

Since the adoption of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, UN bodies have developed approaches to promoting the work of defenders and ensuring their protection. However, this response has been insufficiently robust or coordinated. Twenty years on, the situation for defenders in many countries around the world remains grave.

In two statements, ISHR and Amnesty International have called on the President of the Human Rights Council to urge 71 States to respond to communications by UN experts regarding alleged human rights violations, and have raised the alarm regarding personal attacks on such experts.

The Human Rights Council has united to adopt a consensus resolution on the protection of human rights defenders. The resolution, extending the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur, comes at a time when the work of defenders has never been more important nor more threatened.

The third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review should be marked by an increased focus on the participation and protection of human rights defenders and other civil society actors, both in the process itself and through the implementation of recommendations at the national level.

The recently appointed high-level UN official mandated to combat acts of intimidation or reprisals should ensure that he is visible and accessible to victims and rights holders and active in pursuing accountability for perpetrators, ISHR told the Human Rights Council today.

Members of the UN's top human rights body should support the positive contribution of civil society to the protection of human rights, and resist attempts to undermine a resolution intended to respond to the global crackdown on civil society, a group of more than 240 civil society groups said today.

States should support a draft resolution on the protection of human rights defenders and reject hostile amendments being pushed by China, Egypt, Russia and others to restrict and de-legitimise their work, says a group of more than 150 non-governmental organisations from all over the world.