The Human Rights Council will hold a dedicated dialogue to address acts of intimidation and reprisals following the adoption of a significant resolution at its 36th session. The Council has also affirmed the particular responsibilities of its Members, President and Vice-Presidents to investigate and promote accountability for such acts.
Members of the UN's top human rights body should support the positive contribution of civil society to the protection of human rights, and resist attempts to undermine a resolution intended to respond to the global crackdown on civil society, a group of more than 240 civil society groups said today.
The recent strong stand taken by UN agencies for LGBTI people should be matched with renewed efforts by States to tackle the violence they suffer, writes Anna Brown.
The Gender Recognition Bill sitting before Ireland's lower house requires significant amendments to bring it in line with international human rights standards.
States should adopt laws and policies to support civil society actors and organisations and end impunity for abuses and attacks against them, the Human Rights Council has said in an important and timely resolution.
The UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution on the ‘Protection of the Family’ which ignores the reality that various forms of family exist, and does not comply with international human rights standards, the International Service for Human Rights said today.
‘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.
The legal recognition and protection of human rights defenders at the national level is crucial to ensuring that they can work in a safe, supportive environment and be free from attacks, reprisals and unreasonable legal restrictions. Recognising this, ISHR has started work on an ambitious project to develop a model national law on the protection of human rights defenders.
