ISHR’s report Ending Reprisals: The role of national laws and policies in protecting those who cooperate with the United Nations puts forward arguments for a legislative response by individual States by which the right of unhindered access to and communication with international bodies is clearly protected in national law.
A 2012 panel discussion of the Human Rights Council recommended, amongst other things, that a study be carried out on good practices in addressing reprisals, including through national legislation. The examination in this report of the extent to which States have tried to address this issue in emerging national laws and policies on human rights defenders, and the conclusions and recommendations drawn from their consideration, (Section VI) are presented as a contribution to that aim.
ISHR joins 22 human rights organisations in strongly condemning the Hong Kong government’s escalating repression of activists in exile and the targeting of relatives of prominent activist Anna Kwok.
At the 83rd ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, held in Banjul (The Gambia) from 2 May to 22 May, ISHR delivered an oral statement calling for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the continuation of the process toward a human rights defenders protection law in Zambia, reparations for Africans and people of African descent, and a binding treaty on environmental rights in Africa.
On 3 May 2025, on the sidelines of the 83rd ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ISHR co-sponsored a side event on the situation of human rights defenders in the Sahel, organised by the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation against Torture.
