![](https://ishr.ch/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024_ISHR40Y-keyvisual_bg.png)
40 actions to celebrate ISHR’s 40th anniversary
We are celebrating longstanding and collective efforts in supporting human rights defenders. Join us and find out more!
States should take action at the forthcoming September session of the UN Human Rights Council to address intensifying human rights violations in Bahrain, where arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture and ill treatment against human rights defenders, civil society members and political activists have become widespread.
The open letter, signed by a group of 11 leading Bahraini, regional and international NGOs, is addressed to States which have pledged to apply objective criteria to determine when and how to address grave human rights situations at the Council. It set out how the the situation in Bahrain manifestly fulfils those objective criteria and should trigger principled action by States, both individually and jointly, to prevent further violations.
ISHR Director Phil Lynch made the following statement on the release of the letter:
‘Human rights abuses – including arbitrary detention, torture and unfair trials of human rights defenders – have intensified significantly in Bahrain over the last year. These abuses have been documented and condemned by international human rights experts, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a range of Special Rapporteurs. They show no signs of abating. States with a genuine commitment to preventative and effective responses to human rights violations should heed the experts and their warnings. They should honour their pledges to take principled action based on objective criteria. And they should take such action to protect rights holders and victims and to protect freedom and democracy in Bahrain. Without action, and without accountability, impunity will prevail, violations will worsen and the situation in Bahrain will rapidly spiral out of control.’
We are celebrating longstanding and collective efforts in supporting human rights defenders. Join us and find out more!
During an Enhanced Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan on 19 June, in which he presented his most recent report to the UN Human Rights Council, ISHR made a statement noting that the pursuit of justice for women and girls in Afghanistan demands a multifaceted approach including various accountability mechanisms.
Human rights defenders and journalists face increasing threats and attacks due to acts of transnational repression, according to a new report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. Host States must increase protection and support for victims of transnational repression, as well as investigate and pursue accountability where such acts occur.