The presentation of the reports of the Special Rapporteurs on the right of peaceful assembly and association, and on human rights and counter-terrorism, proved to be a truly interactive dialogue with many States concretely engaging in the topics. The reports were presented to the Human Rights Council on 20 June.

The presentation of the reports of the Special Rapporteurs on the right of peaceful assembly and association, and on human rights and counter-terrorism, proved to be a truly interactive dialogue with many States concretely engaging in the topics. The reports were presented to the Human Rights Council on 20 June.

Mr Maina Kiai, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, opened the session by emphasising that these rights were key components of democracy, too long neglected in human rights law. While conceding that these rights were not absolute, he emphasised that they should be the norm, and restrictions by national law the exception. He introduced the best practices included in his report as going beyond legally binding issues and as designed to help States towards better compliance with their obligations.

Reporting on his country visit to Georgia, he acknowledged that his concerns regarding the manner in which amendments to the Law on Political Union of Citizens had been recognised in the adoption of a new version of the law in May 2012 and ongoing consultations with civil society. However he expressed concerns regarding the Chamber of Control’s powers to inspect financial accounts if there is a suspicion of illegal party financing, stating that these powers could be used to target human rights defenders and others for political reasons. He notably highlighted the crucial stage at which the country is today in the run up to upcoming elections, and added that upholding the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association would be fundamental to upholding the positive steps taken since the Rose revolution.  In response, Georgia underlined that the report did not accurately reflect the developments undergone since the writing of the report, as legal frameworks had since been further adapted to align themselves with international standards.

The best practices were widely welcomed by States, notably Morocco, Germany, and Cuba who were mentioned in the Special Rapporteur’s report as exemplary implementing actors. Senegal, on behalf of the African group, commended the report as it helped to fill the previous void in legal provisions. However, States including China and Malaysia,  who had been listed as of utmost concern in the Special Rapporteur’s report, refuted some of information contained in the report as distorted.

Echoed by Belarus, Cuba, while pleased with its own inclusion as an example of best practice, accused the report of being rather selective in its choice of negative cases and wished to know what the Special Rapporteur thought of cases such as oppressive measures taken by western States against the Occupy Wall Street movement and in the Canadian student protests for instance.

The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) as well as Sweden and Ecuador, made strong statements about the importance of protecting the rights to freedom of assembly and association for all people, including vulnerable groups, women human rights defenders, and members of the LGBTI communities, as well as highlighting a number of recent laws, proposals, and State actions which violate these rights. This countered the statement from Egypt, which denied that the notion of sexual orientation is part of universally recognised human rights, while calling on Mr Kiai not to undermine the legitimacy and credibility of his work in ‘the eyes of real people who actually need it’.

While acknowledging the positive developments since the liberalisation of its assembly laws, the Maldives highlighted the complicated balance of responsibility between the State and the organisers of demonstration with regards to safety and protection of all parties involved.

Ireland wished to commend the Special Rapporteur’s stance that the Internet should be considered as a tool for the organisation of peaceful assemblies.

Numerous states including Germany, Lithuania, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including the World Organisation against Torture, Amnesty International, and Malaysia’s national human rights institution (NHRI) SUHAKAM, raised concerns about the situations in Egypt, Russia, Belarus, Syria, and Ethiopia, where restrictive laws were shrinking the space of civil society to assemble and associate freely.

Mr Kiai closed the session by emphasising that his role was to review States in all regions of the world under his mandate and to this end he was scrutinising cases including Switzerland and Canada, but he emphasised that cases such as Belarus were mentioned as they were deemed more pressing than others. He also pointed to a ‘disturbing trend’ whereby it seemed that States were learning from each other, for example, the Russian Federation’s law on protests seemed to have taken inspiration from a law in the canton of Geneva.

Mr Ben Emmerson, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, presented his first report to the Council with a poignant reminder of the numerous terrorist attacks and their victims that occur on a daily basis across the world.

His victim centered approach was commended by the European Union, Chile and the African Group amongst others. However, the Council of Europe and Mexico notably stressed that this should not become an excuse to subsequently infringe others rights in the fight for justice. This issue related notably to the sensitive issue of drone attacks where Cuba, China, Brazil, Egypt and more importantly Pakistan remained concerned that civilians are being killed to protect the human rights of others, contrary to the right to life of non-combatants and the UN Charter. In the context of supporting the UN global counter-terrorism strategy, Jordan stressed the need for collective work on this issue as well as to avoid equating terrorism to religious movements.

Norway, the United Kingdom (UK), and Botswana were concerned about the Special Rapporteur’s reference to non-State actors who commit acts of terrorism as also violating the human rights of the victims. The Special Rapporteur emphasised very strongly that his position in no way implied any lessening of or change in the obligations of States, as some States have taken this stance to justify crackdowns as a means of protecting human rights. Mr Emmerson referred in particular to Syria’s justifications of violence, strongly criticising it for referring to sections of his report out of context to attempt to avoid its own obligations to respect international human rights law. He reminded all States, ‘including Syria’, that reducing the plight of victims of terrorism to a justification for violation of human rights law is a secondly violation of the victims themselves.

Norway, the UK, and Belgium remained skeptical about the added value of an international normative framework, while Morocco and Austria voiced interest in the format this would take, either as a soft law mechanism or a binding document.

Russia controversially mentioned the responsibility of States that indirectly support terrorism though arms supply and strategic facilitation.

Mr Emmerson wished to thank those States open to the development of an international instrument, including the OIC and the EU. He stated that further work would include a letter to all States from the mandate asking for an internal audit of law, procedure, and practice in order to identify protection gaps. He called on States to ensure that the issue is raised within the context of the global review of the UN Counter-terrorism strategy, which will take place in New York next month. He also reminded States that the victim-centred approach is not only about compensation. The protection of victims requires a holistic approach including prevention, investigation, protection of privacy, protection of security, rights to freedom of expression and association, all of which are linked to the protection of the rights of victims of terrorism.