During the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council, ISHR supported defender Ricardo Lamour from Bout du Monde to engage with the adoption of the Universal Periodic Review report on Canada. Canada must recognise people of African descent as a distinct group! Read the joint statement below.
Over 170 organisations demand that States that have provided and continue to provide arms and other forms of military assistance to Israel, adhere to their legal obligations and act resolutely and urgently to prevent Israel from perpetuating further international crimes and other serious violations of international law. This includes their obligations to prevent the commission of genocide.
Today, UN member States elected members to the UN's top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, for the 2022-2024 term. 18 candidates ran for 18 seats, and all were elected, leaving civil society disappointed in a process that can hardly be called an election.
10 years after the first SOGI resolution was passed at the Council, 27 States launch the Group of Friends of the mandate of the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Tess McEvoy from ISHR and Gabriel Galil from ILGA World tell the story.
Thank you David for being that independent mind and voice, and for helping countless human rights academics, activists and practitioners, including myself, to pause, reflect and think critically about what we do.
The UN Working Group on business and human rights, together with States, must consider the particular threats and attacks on defenders working on rights related to land and environment, ISHR and a group of environmental defenders told the Human Rights Council. ISHR also emphasised that States providing diplomatic support to business should also require a clear commitment to respect, consult and protect defenders.
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On 24 April 2018, ISHR organised a workshop in Nouakchott, Mauritania, to raise awareness on the existence of various diplomatic initiatives targeted at supporting human rights defenders, to assess their implementation in Africa, and to formulate recommendations to strengthen their scope and application.
The widespread and systematic crackdown on human rights defenders in many parts of the world threatens democracy and development, says UN expert in face of 'unprecedented attacks'. In this context, ISHR calls on States with a genuine commitment to human rights and sustainable development to welcome the report and strongly support the renewal of the expert's mandate.
ISHR Director Phil Lynch explores the role, responsibility and interest of business when it comes to supporting human rights defenders and protecting civil society space.
‘If we do not defend human rights defenders, we do not defend human rights’, Germany pronounced during the high-level segment with which the Human Rights Council’s 25th session opened. The statement set the tone for a session in which the role of human rights defenders, the risks they face and the need to protect them, has been forefront.
