On 27 September, the Council debated the annual report of the UN Secretary-General on reprisals against persons or individuals working or seeking to work with the United Nations – which this year flagged incidents involving 32 States.
During the debate on the annual report of the UN Secretary-General on reprisals, ISHR addressed cases of reprisals, calling on States to demonstrate solidarity with victims, raise political costs and contribute to accountability for perpetrators.
Heeding the message of ISHR’s campaign to #EndReprisals, various States stepped up and spoke out for accountability, calling out individual States cited as perpetrators and raising specific cases. 11 States raised individual cases of intimidation and reprisal in 10 different countries and territories. The cases of Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Vietnamese defender Pham Doan Trang were cited by States, together with the case of the late Chinese human rights defender Cao Shunli. States also cited cases from ISHR’s 2022 and 2023 campaigns to #EndReprisals.
Mr President,
Once again we are faced with an appalling report. Year after year, both State and non-State actors continue to intimidate, threaten, detain and attack defenders with relative impunity.
We are disturbed by the high number of countries cited (32). More disturbing is the number of current Council members who appear in the report.
The documented cases only give a glimpse of the issue’s scope. Repressive laws, such as the National Security Law in Hong Kong and the recent NGO law in Venezuela, deter individuals and groups from engaging with the UN or reporting incidents.
By speaking out on individual cases of reprisals, States can demonstrate solidarity with victims, raise political costs and contribute to accountability for perpetrators. Through our campaign to #EndReprisals, we urge States to raise specific cases and call for the immediate release of those who are arbitrarily detained for exercising their right to defend rights, including:
We are appalled that Doan Trang was left out of the report. Arbitrarily detaining a human rights defender for engaging with the UN is an ongoing violation, and this mandate should be doing everything possible to end it. Including Doan Trang’s case in the report is the bare minimum. The Secretary-General must include cases in the follow-up section as long as they remain unresolved. Requiring victims – especially those in detention – to report repeatedly on the same violation is not the most effective use of the mandate given by this Council to the Secretary-General.
Thank you.
The UN Secretary-General’s annual report on reprisals showed that a dozen sitting members of the Human Rights Council and three States aspiring to join it have retaliated against individuals or groups who sought to engage with the United Nations.
The UN’s Fact-Finding Mission left the Human Rights Council in no doubt: The repression following the presidential elections in July was planned and an extension of an existing policy to induce fear in and silence the opposition.
German activist and researcher Johannes Rohr filed an individual complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee after being unlawfully expelled from Russia only weeks after he publicly criticised Russian authorities’ treatment of their Indigenous communities.
