Human Rights House Foundation statement
HRC62 – Item 3 – Interactive Dialogue – SR peaceful assembly and association
23 June 2026
Thematic report (Digital and AI-assisted surveillance)
Check against delivery.
Thank you, Vice-President.
Across our network we see how surveillance, spyware, and the threat of AI-assisted surveillance, alter the way civil society participates in public life.
In Azerbaijan, digital surveillance has been used ruthlessly against civil society partners, and especially targeting women human rights defenders.
In Georgia, both those participating in demonstrations and those monitoring them are treated as a security threat rather than actors exercising their rights.
We are particularly concerned by the situation in Serbia ahead of possible elections. Civil society partners have documented the use of spyware, police filming and public disclosure of information to intimidate students, activists, journalists and domestic election observers.
Vice-President.
In the Russian Federation, the recent designation of Memorial, OVD-Info, and more than 30 other organisations as “extremist” represents a further escalation in the criminalisation of human rights work. It is absurd to label the documentation and legal assistance provided by those organisations as akin to acts of terrorism when they are essential public-interest activities.
Special Rapporteur,
How can States better protect civil society organisations, peaceful protesters and legal aid providers when surveillance and restrictive legislation are used together to dismantle the very foundation of peaceful assembly and association?
Thank you.
