Read on to remain up to date with the latest international human rights news, views and developments!
In a statement at an interactive dialogue on the annual report of the High Commissioner, ISHR Executive Director Phil Lynch called on States to support the work of defenders and to pay their UN dues.
ISHR joins organisations from across Latin America and beyond in condemning the adoption of a 'Foreign Agents' law in El Salvador that seriously threatens independent civil society in the country.
On the occasion of the 37th annual meeting of the chairpersons of the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies, civil society organisations made a joint call to preserve this ‘essential part of the UN’s human rights ecosystem’.
In a shrinking funding space, the Declaration +25 serves as a key advocacy tool to reaffirm States’ obligation to ensure an enabling environment for civil society - including access to the resources.
At the June 2025 consultations on the Binding Treaty, civil society criticised the lack of hybrid participation, debated due diligence and strong defender protections, and urged inclusion of gender, environmental, and Indigenous rights.
The ECOSOC Committee on NGOs concluded its 2025 resumed session amidst serious threats to effective civil society engagement at the UN. The call for concrete progress continues to grow.
The 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council (16 June to 9 July 2025) will consider issues including civil society space, climate change, sexual orientation and gender identity, violence and discrimination against women and girls, poverty, peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of expression, among others. It will also present an opportunity to address grave human rights situations including in Afghanistan, Belarus, China, Eritrea, Israel and oPt, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela, among many others. Here’s an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
Over 20 NGOs demand the immediate and unconditional release of Ibrahim Metwally, detained solely for peacefully exercising his human rights.
ISHR and ten other civil society organisations denounce the arbitrary arrests of Eduardo Torres and other human rights defenders, as well as the increase in attacks on civic space and Venezuelan NGOs.
On 22 May, the African Commission concluded its 83rd ordinary session, which saw the State periodic reviews of Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, panels on the repression of human rights defenders, the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and reparations for Africans and people of African descent, as well as the launch of ISHR’s report on the situation of defenders in African island States and a new e-learning module on the Commission.
During the 83rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), a high-level panel discussion was held on advancing justice for Africans and people of African descent through reparations.
At the 83rd ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission, or ACHPR), the African Commission reviewed Ethiopia under the State reporting procedure, as per article 62 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. We call on Ethiopia to do more to protect human rights defenders in the country.
