HRC28: Side Event on Human Rights Defenders

In March 2013 the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 22/6 calling on States to create and to maintain a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders in which they can work free from restrictions and attacks.

However since the adoption of the resolution, the space for human rights defenders in number of states including Azerbaijan, Belarus and the Russian Federation, continues to shrink and remains patently unsafe.

In the Russian Federation, the widely criticized legislation on “foreign agents” has compromised the existence of hundreds of non-governmental organisations, which are regularly subjected to unwarranted inspections, harassment, and in the worst cases closure. Since the presidential election of October 2013, the government of Azerbaijan has undertaken a systematic campaign to silence independent and dissident voices in the country. As a result of this crackdown, several dozen human rights defenders, including bloggers, journalists, activists and lawyers are behind bars, and many human rights defenders fled the country. In Belarus, ahead of upcoming presidential elections, restrictions on the rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression continue to prevent civil society groups and human rights defenders from undertaking their legitimate activities.

The panellists will share their insights into the situation in their respective countries and on regional trends. The session will further explore how the international community can address recent measures taken to criminalize the work of human rights defenders, which violate international standards and obligations.