Reprisals and Intimidation
Addressing acts of intimidation and reprisal against those who seek to cooperate, cooperate or who have cooperated with the UN in the field of human rights is a priority for special procedures. They have consistently raised their concerns about this unacceptable practice individually and as a system. Special procedures not only address allegations of acts of intimidation and reprisal in relation to cooperation with them but with the wider UN system, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights. As a result of the growing attention given to this and the increasing instances of intimidation and reprisals observed by mandate holders, they agreed during the 22nd Annual Meeting of Special Procedures, held in June 2015, to consolidate and enhance special procedures' response to this unacceptable practice by establishing a coherent framework for action. It is important to note here that reprisals may concern not only human rights defenders and civil society but affect any individual cooperating with the special procedures. This includes individuals or groups who met with mandate holders, including during their country visits and/or those who submitted information to special procedures, as well as those who provided legal or other assistance, relatives of victims of human rights violations and staff of national human rights institutions or national prevention mechanisms.
Follow this link for more information about the UN framework, for action and definition of acts of intimidation and reprisals: https://bit.ly/3acsDmB
The ninth annual report of UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, https://bit.ly/39dxhPK details the level of retaliation against human rights defenders on a country-by-country basis, including allegations of killing, torture, arbitrary arrests, and public stigmatisation campaigns, which also target victims of rights abuse. The report documents allegations of reprisals and intimidation in 38 countries, some of which are members of the Human Rights Council.22
The world owes it to those brave people standing up for human rights, who have responded to requests to provide information to and engage with the United Nations, to ensure their right to participate is respected. Punishing individuals for cooperating with the United Nations is a shameful practice that everyone must do more to stamp out.
Report of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, to the UN General Assembly, Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights.23 22 UN News, Alarming level of reprisals against activists, human rights defenders, and victims – new UN report, 2018 https://bit.ly/39dxhPK 23 A/HRC/39/41 https://bit.ly/2UzKaP8
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