UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA LEGEND: Europe Montenegro Serbia Kosovo* Belarus Russian (Brussels) (UNMIK) Federation Spotlights: Disa bili ties Youth Ukraine Women Central Asia (Bishkek) Shifts: Global constituency Republic of South Caucasus Moldova (Tbilisi) Prevention Civic space Republic of North Climate change Geneva Macedonia Corruption Inequalities TYPE OF PRESENCE LOCATION New technologies Headquarters Geneva People on the move Country/Stand-alone Offices/ SDGs: Ukraine (HRMMU) Human Rights Missions Central Asia (Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic) Regional Offices/Centres Europe (Brussels, Belgium) Human rights components Kosovo* (UNMIK) of UN Peace/Political Missions Belarus, Montenegro, Republic of North Human Rights Advisers Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, South deployed under the Caucasus (based in Tbilisi, covering Armenia, framework of the UNSDG Azerbaijan and Georgia) Other types of field presences Russian Federation * Hereinafter, all references to Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo. UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2019 333 UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD In 2019, the work of OHCHR in Europe vulnerable and marginalized groups, and Central Asia comprised 54 coun- such as Roma, people of African descent, tries and nine disputed territories. persons with disa bili ties, migrants and OHCHR expanded its presence in the sexual minorities; the arbitrary depriva- region by deploying two new human tion of liberty and the use of torture and rights advisers to UN Country Teams other cruel, inhuman or degrading treat- (UNCTs) in Montenegro and Moldova. ment or punishment against persons in The Office strengthened its engage- detention; and insufficient accountability ment with regional organizations and for human rights vio lations committed national authorities through its Regional by State agents creating a sense of Offices for Europe and for Central impunity. The Office further noted the Asia; Human Rights Advisers (HRAs) continued expression and exploitation in North Macedonia, Serbia and the of racism and xenophobia by some polit- South Caucasus; the project team in the ical leaders; limitations to the enjoyment Russian Federation; the Human Rights of socio-economic rights, includ ing Office in the UN Mission in Kosovo*; and non-discriminatory access to services; the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission gender inequality and domestic vio lence; in Ukraine (HRMMU). OHCHR maintained and important development disparities. a non-resident agency status in Turkey, contributing to the Common Country To address these challenges, OHCHR Analy sis, the forthcoming United Nations carried out monitoring and assessment Sustainable Development Cooperation missions to Italy (racism and incitement Framework (UNSDCF) process and a joint to racial hatred and discrimination) and OHCHR-United Nations Development Bosnia and Herzegovina, accompa- Coordination Office (UNDCO) strategy nying the Special Rapporteur on the to address human rights issues across human rights of migrants. The Office the UN system in support of the 2030 also promoted principles for human Agenda for Sustainable Development. rights engagement with non-State armed groups and de facto authorities through During the reporting period, the Europe mandated reports on the question of and Central Asia region faced multifac- human rights in Cyprus, on coopera- eted challenges to human rights. These tion with Georgia and through quarterly included actions to restrict civic space, thematic reports to the Human Rights includ ing criticism of State policies and Council (HRC) on the human rights sit- the activities of human rights defenders uation in Ukraine. Inputs were provided (HRDs); attempts to limit or discourage to the annual reports of the Secretary- the holding of peaceful assemblies; General to the General Assembly on challenges to the rule of law and the internally displaced persons in Georgia/ independence of the judiciary; persist- Abkhazia/South Ossetia and to the ing tensions stemming from unresolved report to the General Assembly on the frozen conflicts and disputed territories, human rights situation in Crimea. includ ing challenges related to the pro- tection of human rights of populations OHCHR continued providing advisory living in territories controlled by de services, technical cooperation and facto authorities. training for govern ments, regional organizations, national human rights Other reported challenges included institutions (NHRIs), equality bodies, discrimination and attacks affecting civil society, human rights defenders, 334 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2019 UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD UN peacekeeping operations and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan UN country or regional teams in their and Turkmenistan, among others engagement with the international During the year, the Europe and Central human rights mechanisms, includ ing Asia Section strengthened cooper- through a training for 16 UNCT mem- ation with regional organizations, bers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, notably through close cooperation with Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia the European Union (EU) institutions and Serbia. Furthermore, the Office and Council of Europe, parti ci pation advanced the application of a human in the Organization for Security and rights-based approach (HRBA) to data Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Human by training stakeholders from Albania Dimension Implementation Meeting and and Kosovo. In October, OHCHR and in meetings with other regional groups the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus and organizations. This included a (UNFICYP) delivered a human rights workshop on the role of NHRIs in peace- training course for the police component building in Europe; the Global Alliance of UNFICYP. for National Human Rights Institutions Through direct engagement and com- (GANHRI) accreditation procedure involv- munication with Member States, remote ing NHRIs from Finland, Hungary, Russia monitoring and public advo cacy, the and Ukraine; the High Commissioner’s Office identified early warning signs of meeting with the European Union potential human rights vio lations and Fundamental Rights Agency and a impending crises and encouraged the retreat on UN reforms in Central Asia, development and implementation of organized by the UN Regional Centre for recommendations to address such situa- Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia tions. In line with the Secretary-General’s (UNRCCA) and Resident Coordinators prevention agenda, OHCHR analysed in Bishkek. situations carrying risks of human Throughout 2019, OHCHR ensured rights vio lations and ensured real-time that targeted support was provided to reporting through regular updates and missions of the High Commissioner, submissions to the United Nations includ ing to Amsterdam/the Hague, Operations and Crisis Centre. The Office Berlin, Dublin, Ljubljana, Luxembourg, also actively supported the implementa- Porto/Lisbon, St. Petersburg and tion of the Secretary-General’s Western Stockholm. Support was also provided Balkans Action Plan, adopted in June, to other high-level missions, includ ing by expanding human rights presences in those of the Deputy High Commissioner the region (Montenegro) and organizing to Belfast, Copenhagen, Scotland and a workshop for Western Balkans country the Hague. presences in order to streamline efforts and prepare for a scoping mission on transitional justice in 2020. OHCHR supported the roll out of 12 UNSDCFs in the region by providing sup- port to the UNCTs to deliver on the 2030 Agenda. This included parti ci pation in the Istanbul Regional Workshop on the new UNSDCF and input into the Common Country Analyses of Azerbaijan, Belarus, UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2019 335 UN HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE FIELD BELARUS Population size1 Surface area1 Human Development Index2 NHRI (if applicable)3 9.45 million 208,000 km² 0.817 (rank: 50/188 in 2018) NA Type of engagement Human Rights Adviser Year established 2018 Field office(s) Minsk United Nations Development Assistance UN partnership framework Framework 2016-2020 Staff as of 31 December 2019 1 XB requirements 2019 US$275,000 Key OMP pillars in 2019 1 2 3 Please refer to Data sources and notes on p.208. PILLAR RESULTS: Accountability (A) A1 – Strengthened provision of legal aid Resident Coordinator (RC) and UNCT Portugal was to introduce participants to to groups in vulnerable situations, includ- used systematically during the report- progressive Portuguese practices in the ing women victims of vio lence, Roma, ing period. The Resident Coordinator field of anti-drug legislation, in particular persons with disa bili ties. Strengthened significantly increased advo cacy in this relating to alternatives to detention and use of oversight mechanisms for places area, includ ing by sending two letters to the use of a people-centred approach of detention and increased use of alter- the Parliament, meeting with civil society in medical services and rehabilitation. natives to detention. representatives and convening a joint UN Sixteen participants representing a briefing for the diplomatic community. broad range of authorities involved in Following advo cacy that was undertaken decision-making on drug-related issues by the UN and civil society on the inclu- visited the General-Directorate for The Office contributed to improving the sion of drug offenders in the Amnesty Intervention on Addictive Behaviours compliance of drug policy and legislation, Law,