ISHR joined Sudan Women Rights Action, Nora Center for Combating Sexual Violence and MENA WHRD Coalition in calling on the Human Rights Council to support Sudanese women human rights defenders in their struggle for democratic transition, gender equality, peace, and protection from violence.
The 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place on 30 June to 21 July 2020. The Council will consider issues including racism, 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 in States including the Philippines, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Belarus, Venezuela, Burundi, Myanmar among many others. Here’s an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
Civil society organisations welcomed significant outcomes of the Human Rights Council's 41st session, including the extension of the SOGI mandate, adopting the first resolution on the Philippines and extending its scrutiny over Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Belarus and Ukraine. This session witnessed heightened scrutiny of Council members by shedding light on the situations in Saudi Arabia and China. It missed an opportunity, however, to ensure that human rights are not sidelined in Sudan.
Over two intense weeks, 18 dedicated human rights defenders participating in ISHR’s 2019 Human Rights Defenders Advocacy Programme (HRDAP) exchanged experiences, strengthened their skills, put them into practice, and built a network of allies in Geneva and across the globe.
In response to the gross and systematic human rights violations occurring in Sudan, ISHR joined a group of civil society organisations urging UN Human Rights Council Member States to urgently hold a Special Session on the human rights situation in Sudan.
ISHR was honoured to interview Abdul Aziz Muhamat, laureate of the 2019 Martin Ennals Award and migrants' rights defender who exposed the violations committed against migrants by Australian authorities on Nauru and Manus islands.
ISHR urges States to use South Sudan’s upcoming Universal Periodic Review to call for an end to the overt and systemic State sanctioned crackdown on human rights defenders, journalists and civil society.
A new report prepared by ISHR for the UN Secretary-General demonstrates the need for the UN and States to prevent and ensure accountability for acts of intimidation and reprisals against those who cooperate with the UN, and lays out a series of recommendations for reform in that regard.
Worlwide we are simultaneously witnessing a democratic recession on the part of governments and an increasing appetite for democracy on the part of ordinary people. We must respond with an increased commitment to the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association and expression, writes UN expert Maina Kiai.
Democratic States that value and respect a vibrant civil society should do more to support non-governmental organisations to have their voices heard at the United Nations, the International Service for Human Rights said today.
