Human Rights House Foundation statement
HRC59 – Item 3 – Interactive Dialogue – SR freedom of expression
18 June 2025
Check against delivery.
We welcome the Special Rapporteur’s report focused on elections. In the wider European region, the report’s warnings are only too evident.
State-sponsored manipulation is now a standard campaign tool. In Belarus and Russia we have witnessed pro-government broadcasters label political opponents “extremists” to delegitimise them during an election period, mirroring the report’s finding that officials in many states run disinformation campaigns to further entrench power.
Across Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Serbia, independent election monitors and journalists covering elections have faced physical attacks and SLAPPs-style lawsuits. For instance, in Azerbaijan, the continued imprisonment of Anar Mammadli, in-part due to his election monitoring and reporting, clearly illustrates the personal cost of defending voters’ rights, and we continue to call for his immediate release.
In addition, some states use broad “national security”-related legislation to remove online accounts or news portals, giving them “foreign influence” or “extremism” labels, tactics the Special Rapporteur says too often target voices critical of the incumbent and lack any independent oversight.
Vice President.
The Special Rapporteur notes that online disinformation and smear campaigns against journalists and human rights defenders, especially women, skyrockets during elections, yet impunity persists. We ask her what concrete benchmarks states should meet to demonstrate real progress during election cycles?”
