United Nations A/HRC/42/30 General Assembly Distr.: General 2 August 2019 Original: English Human Rights Council Forty-second session 9–27 September 2019 Agenda items 2 and 5 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Human rights bodies and mechanisms Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights*, ** Report of the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Summary The present report is submitted pursuant to resolution 12/2 of the Human Rights Council. The Secretary-General highlights activities, policy developments and good practices within the United Nations system and beyond to address intimidation and reprisals against those seeking to cooperate or having cooperated with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights. It presents the activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Assistant Secretary- General for Human Rights, the senior official leading the efforts of the United Nations in this area. The report contains information on alleged acts of intimidation and reprisals, including in follow-up to cases included in the previous report (A/HRC/39/41) and prior to that. Owing to the word limit, more information on selected cases is set out in annex I. Information on follow-up to cases included in previous reports is provided in annex II. The report ends with a summary of trends and recommendations to address and prevent acts of intimidation and reprisals. * The present report was submitted after the deadline in order to reflect the most recent developments. ** The annexes to the present report are circulated as received, in the language of submission only. A/HRC/42/30 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council, in resolution 12/2, expressed concern over continued reports of intimidation and reprisals against individuals and groups seeking to cooperate or having cooperated with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights. The Council further condemned all acts of intimidation and reprisal committed by Governments and non-State actors and invited me to submit a report to the Council at its fourteenth session and annually thereafter, containing a compilation and analysis of any available information, from all appropriate sources, on alleged reprisals and recommendations on how to address the issue. The present report is the tenth report based on resolution 12/2.1 II. Activities in response to acts of intimidation and reprisal 2. Forms of reprisals, retaliation for ongoing or past cooperation, and intimidation, designed to discourage future participation or cooperation, have continued in relation to cooperation with a wide range of United Nations organizations at headquarters and in the field, perpetrated by both State and non-State actors. During the reporting period incidents or trends were addressed within the United Nations system in the Secretariat and its field offices and peace missions, at the General Assembly, Security Council, Human Rights Council and its mechanisms, by the human rights treaty bodies, at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), in the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, and by the World Bank Group. 3. The General Assembly requested2 the Secretary-General to prepare a report to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders,3 held a High-Level plenary in December 2018,4 and urged States “to prevent and put an end to the arbitrary arrest and detention of peaceful protestors and human rights defenders … including in relation to cooperation with the United Nations” (A/RES/73/173, para. 2). 4. Responses and recommendations were raised at the Human Rights Council, including in country resolutions, and during the universal periodic review’s (UPR) third cycle (2017- 2021). Out of 98 States reviewed, five received explicit recommendations, including two during the reporting period.5 The High Commissioner for Human Rights (hereafter “High Commissioner”) expressed concern about “reprisals against victims, human rights defenders and non-governmental organizations who cooperate with the United Nations.”6 5. The Human Rights Council recognized the importance of the rights of environmental human rights defenders to have access to and communication with the United Nations (A/HRC/RES/40/11, para. 12) and invited the Secretary-General to continue to include alleged acts of intimidation and reprisal against them in this annual report (para. 27). 6. Successive Human Rights Council Presidents, through their good offices, sought to address alleged reprisals during Council sessions and side events by State representatives, as well as travel restrictions to the Council. In March 2019, the President stressed the “vital contribution” of civil society and noted “it is up to us to provide them with enough safe space to make these contributions.”7 7. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) organized activities to consult directly with partners and victims under the leadership of the 1 A/HRC/14/19, A/HRC/18/19, A/HRC/21/18, A/HRC/24/29 and Corr. 1, A/HRC/27/38, A/HRC/30/29, A/HRC/33/19, A/HRC/36/31, and A/HRC/39/41. 2 A/RES/72/247. 3 A/73/230 (see paras. 21-26 and 64-66 on reprisals). 4 https://www.un.org/pga/73/event/human-rights-defenders/ 5 See reviews of China (A/HRC/40/6, para. 28.339) and Cuba (A/HRC/39/16, para. 24.158). 6 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24265&LangID=E 7 http://webtv.un.org/search/decisions-and-conclusions-closing-55th-meeting-40th-regular-session- human-rights-council-/6016988741001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Regular%2040th% 20session&sort=date&page=1 2 A/HRC/42/30 Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights (hereafter “Assistant Secretary-General”), the senior official designated to lead efforts to address intimidation and reprisals. OHCHR convened, in December 2018, a consultation in New York with legal and academic experts to examine legislative and policy measures used to restrict engagement with the United Nations. Following regional consultations with civil society in South East Asia and Central Asia in 2018, OHCHR engaged East African civil society from 10 countries in Nairobi in May 2019. 8. OHCHR made efforts to implement the UNDP, OHCHR and Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) guidelines on reprisals and intimidation (see A/74/226, para. 80-86). Specific cases related to national human rights institutions (NHRI) are noted in this report and the issue mentioned in the October 2018 Marrakesh Declaration.8 In September 2019, the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/RES/39/17) recognized the role that NHRI can play in “preventing and addressing cases of reprisal as part of supporting the cooperation between States and the United Nations” and stressed that NHRI “should not face any form of intimidation and reprisal” (para. 4).9 9. In April 2019, OHCHR began structured consultations within the United Nations Secretariat, funds and programmes to improve the gathering of information on existing guidance, resources, and policies and to discuss recommendations. It also made efforts to improve cross-regional information sharing and analysis with regional inter-governmental organizations and multilateral development banks, including the Council of Europe. 10. On 24 April 2019, the Assistant Secretary-General addressed the widespread intimidation of and reprisals against indigenous peoples at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. 10 He encouraged more regular reporting, documentation of incidents online and analysis on how national laws and policies affect indigenous peoples’ engagement with the United Nations.11 The Permanent Forum urged reporting to: [email protected] 11. In October 2018, the World Bank and OHCHR co-organized a roundtable on reprisals for multilateral development banks and their independent accountability mechanisms, the first of its kind. In April 2019, OHCHR co-organized, with the Inter-American Development Bank Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism, a roundtable on the risk of reprisals in development finance. At the meeting the High Commissioner noted the potentially powerful impact of prevention through “a “zero tolerance” policy on reprisals, backed up by action.” She stressed that “repression is increasingly being undertaken through the deliberate application, or better said mis-application, of national laws, including with respect to NGO registration and regulation, financing restrictions, abridgements of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and abuse of anti-terrorist laws.”13 12. In response to the request by the Chairs of the treaty bodies to identify good practices and enhance the role of focal points and rapporteurs,14 OHCHR and the International Service for Human Rights, with Amnesty International and the NGO Network on United Nations Treaty Bodies, organized a workshop in December 2018 in Geneva. In April 2019, the treaty bodies launched a common web page on reprisals15 and, in June 2019, the Chairs took stock of good practices in dialogue with the Assistant Secretary-General.16 13. The special procedures of the Human Rights Council compiled a range of communications, public statements, press releases, reports and meetings addressing 8 https://nhri.ohchr.org/EN/ICC/InternationalConference/13IC/Background%20Information/ Marrakech%20Declaration_EN_%2012102018%20-%20FINAL.pdf 9 See also A/RES/72/181, para. 6, 11. 10 E/2018/43-E/C.19/2018/11, para. 14. 11 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24513&LangID=E. 12 E/2019/43-E/C.19/2019/10, para. 71 13 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24486&LangID=E. 14 A/73/140, para.