The 50th Session of the Human Rights Council

13 June – 8 July 2022

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the freedom of peaceful assembly and association

 17 and 20 June 2022

By Isabelle Despicht / GICJ

Executive Summary 

On 10 May 2022, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, submitted his report following resolution 41/12. During an Interactive Dialogue at the 50th Human Rights Council session, he presented his findings, engaging with various member states who expressed their views on the matter. 

Amongst other things, the Special Rapporteur addressed problems regarding access to funding for civil society organisations and noted that the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of a "well-resourced civil society". He further explained that the pandemic had a negative impact on the availability of resources for organisations and the community they support. 

During the interactive dialogue, various delegations took to the floor, many welcoming the work of the Special Rapporteur and his country visits. Other countries, however, denounced a double standard and pointed to ongoing violations in Western countries, which Mr Voule supposedly did not address enough in his report. 

After receiving the statements of multiple delegations, the Special Rapporteur took the floor to respond to various inquiries made by the different states. He welcomed the issues raised by participants and the concerns presented about the limitations of peaceful protests and the limits to financing. He thanked delegations for their positive response to his report, as well as their criticisms, invited them to get in touch with his office, and emphasised his availability to discuss these matters at any time. 

Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur and commends his efforts and availability to assist the countries throughout his mandate. GICJ strongly condemns unjustified restrictions, contrary to the derogations provided for under the ICCPR, which many people were subject to as a direct result of the pandemic. As noted by the Special Rapporteur, GICJ believes that freedom of peaceful assembly and association forms the backbone of democratic societies: Their exercise is vital, as they provide a platform for dialogue with civil society to address various needs.

Background

Freedom of peaceful assembly and association form the backbone of democracies and have been recognised as essential for the functioning of various democratic societies. The right to peaceful assembly extends to offline and online gatherings, strikes, protests, rallies, and sit-ins. It allows people to engage and organise among themselves to jointly express, promote, pursue, and defend shared interests. Additionally, the freedom of association covers the ability to establish unions. Both the freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of association are essential as they are closely interlinked to other rights and permit, inter-alia, to practice these rights (such as the freedom of expression). 

Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights safeguards the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. As a direct consequence of the health crisis generated by the spread of Covid-19, both the freedom of peaceful assembly and association were restricted, often under the guise of the ongoing health emergency and the spread of the deadly virus. However, although restrictions were in some cases justified, the health emergency was also used as a pretext for various governments to unduly restrict human rights.

Report 

On 10 May 2022, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association submitted his report under resolution 41/12. In his report, the Special Rapporteur examined trends, developments and difficulties impacting civil society's access to financial resources and other factors that could obstruct the freedom of peaceful assembly and association. He also described the various visits he made, most notably to Niger and Brazil. At the end of the report, the Special Rapporteur listed recommendations which would promote respect for the two rights and encourage the receipt of further and more significant financial resources.

Amongst other things, the Special Rapporteur addressed the problems related to access to funding by presenting numerous articles from International Conventions that directly imply the need for states' funding for civil society organisations to flourish. For example, he underlined that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women indicated that in ensuring the full implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 18 States must "ensure an environment in which women's associations and non-governmental organisations working on gender equality and women's empowerment may freely operate and raise funds".

State Obligations

In his report, the Special Rapporteur also references positive and negative state obligations regarding the two rights. On the one hand, he underlines that states need to provide an enabling environment for assemblies to operate effectively (positive obligations). On the other hand, states should refrain from interfering with the exercise of those rights by providing unnecessary funding restrictions. As noted in his report, restrictions should be allowed only where they comply with International legal rules, such as the derogations set out in Article 22 (2) of the ICCPR. 

Importance to Sustainable Development and Importance to Sustainable Development and Covid-19 response and recovery

The Special Rapporteur also noted that the freedom of peaceful assembly and association, including contributions to civil society, is key to achieving the principles and purposes of the UN and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Overall, the Special Rapporteur stressed that for associations to fulfil their primary objectives, civil society needs resources to to promote the realisation of their rights.

Trends, Developments and Challenges affecting Civil Society Organisations' access to funding

In 2013, the former Special Rapporteur indicated that actors were facing "increased control and undue restrictions in relation to the funding they received or allegedly received". However, as noted by the present Special Rapporteur, this trend has increased. In his report, the Special Rapporteur notes multiple hurdles facing access to funding, including the impediment of access to foreign funding, the risk of financing terrorism and respective countering measures, and other states' restrictions directly impacting the freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Promising practices

Promising practices underlined by Mr Voule include those implemented by Denmark, a country which provided extraordinary funding to civil society. He also praised countries that adjusted their legislation to include new forms of giving, such as Finland, which with its Fundraising Act of 2019 allowed small-scale funding to be exempt from licences, allowing funds to flow easily. 

Recommendations

In the last section of his report, the Special Rapporteur noted that the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of a "well-resourced civil society" and the negative impact of the lack of resources on organisations and the community they support. 

He made multiple recommendations, including for states to ensure that associations can "fully enjoy their right to seek, receive and use funding and other resources", to "create and maintain an enabling environment for the enjoyment of civil society organisations, ensure that the access to funding complies with international legal rules, to cease undue restrictions, which do not conform with international law''.

Amongst other things, the Special Rapporteur also recommends the Human Rights Committee develop a general Comment on Article 22 of the ICCPR, which would recognise access to resources as an integral part of the freedom of association. He emphasised that multilateral entities have positive responsibilities, enabling an environment for civil society. 

Interactive Dialogue

Geneva 17 June 2022. During the 11th Meeting of the 50th Human Rights Council Session, the Special Rapporteur and other relevant stakeholders held an Interactive Dialogue on the topic of freedom of peaceful assembly and association. 

The Vice-President, Muhammadou Kah, opened the meeting by giving the floor to the Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule. Mr Voule then presented his report. The Special Rapporteur noted that protests could create opportunities for inclusive, participatory and peaceful resolutions to crises. He emphasised that protests create valuable space for marginalised groups and allow them to engage in dialogues and solutions to the crisis. He called on states to address grievances, presenting his most important findings.

The Special Rapporteur expressed deep concern over the stigmatisation of peaceful protests, which are seen as triggers for various crises. He also noted the use of emergency measures of the Covid-19 pandemic to derogate from the fundamental right to peaceful assembly went beyond the derogations permitted under International Law. In his report, he further mentioned ongoing instances of serious human rights violations, the escalation of violence, and the use of unlawful and lethal force. In that regard, he noted that the order to shoot protestors was too often used. 

In presenting his report, the Special Rapporteur emphasised that accountability would be crucial to ending the cycle of impunity. He also called for countries to consider arms embargoes on countries that did not conform to international human rights standards. 

He noted the visits he made to Armenia, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe and called on these states to collaborate further, stating that he would make himself available to accompany these countries through positive change.

After the presentation of his report, Mr Voule thanked various states for their excellent cooperation during his visits and discussions, and various speakers took the floor.

The delegate of Belarus thanked the Special Rapporteur and addressed the strong public reaction to the numerous acts of violent dispersals at demonstrations and arrests of their participants, which have taken place in the EU and other Western countries. He noted that the special Rapporteur remained silent in view of the violence against protestors used in Munich, Amsterdam and Brussels. He enumerated other instances which he believed the Special Rapporteur should address. He called on the Special Rapporteur to react and bring attention to violations made by "Western states".

The representative of Afghanistan noted that since the takeover from the Taliban, the right to peaceful assembly has been seriously jeopardised in Afghanistan. The delegate expressed concern over the systematic targeting of female activists and human rights defenders, which creates an environment of fear and effectively removes the civic sphere. He underlined that the right to peaceful assembly is key to a healthy democracy. Because of this, he asked the Special Rapporteur: "How can the international community meaningfully support CSOs initiatives in a climate of violence and repression, to be able to enjoy the rights of peaceful assembly?".

The delegate of Sudan thanked the Special Rapporteur for his report and remarked that this topic was pertinent to his country, which he emphasised, is devoted to protecting these rights in its constitution.

The delegate of the European Union thanked the Special Rapporteur for his report. The representative emphasised that the EU shared the view that access to funding is essential for CSOs, and that it is vital to support civil society through different programs. The EU also stressed its concern over excessive restrictions concerning access to funding and the expansion of Human Rights Violations in the context of peaceful protests. The representative stated, "Everyone's voice should be heard, " whether offline or online. In that regard, the delegate also called for an investigation into the disproportionate use of force. Lastly, the EU underlined the need to harmonise national rules with international human rights norms and asked the Special Rapporteur how his mandate could assist in this regard.

On behalf of the Nordic-Baltic countries, Lithuania expressed support for the renewal of the Special Rapporteur's mandate and displayed concern over the fact that peaceful assemblies are still too often met with excessive use of force and violence from security forces. The group of countries also noted the alarming use of enforced disappearances to silence dissident voices of protestors. The representative called on states to promote civil society activities in a way that complies with international law and cannot be misused. Lastly, the delegate called for accountability for all human rights violations. 

The Czech Republic delivered a statement on behalf of the Core Group on the Resolution of peaceful assembly and association, including Indonesia, Lithuania, the Maldives, Mexico, the USA and the Czech Republic. On behalf of the core group, the delegate expressed its full support for the Special Rapporteur's mandate and welcomed his report. The representative noted that the Special Rapporteur's engagement underlined the mandate's relevance and that the right was currently being subjected to direct pressure, online and offline. Finally, the Czech representative, on behalf of the core group, presented a new resolution, hoping that it would be adopted through consensus. Lastly, the delegate, on behalf of the core group, asked how the mandate can assist in implementing the recommendations made in the report. 

UNICEF's delegate underlined the importance of children participating in peaceful protests, given their exclusion from political processes. While the importance of the realisation of this right was underlined, she noted that children's rights continued to be violated and subject to unlawful force and repression from security forces. In particular, she noted that children faced increased risks of being detained and tortured, and were in greater danger of suffering long-term effects due to their ongoing development which could be affected in numerous ways. Finally, the UNICEF representative called on states to ensure that all children could safely exercise this right.

In continuation, the German delegate aligned his country's statement to the European Union’s and supported the call made by other stakeholders to support civil society's access to financial resources to finance crucial activities relating to both rights. Likewise, the German representative pointed to alarming violations of the right to peacefully assemble in various countries, including Belarus and Myanmar.

The delegate of Switzerland shared the view of the Special Rapporteur regarding the lack of resources. The Swiss representative addressed Mr Voule and asked which recommendations made in his report are the most urgent. 

Following this, the delegate of Sierra Leone emphasised the importance of the country's right to peaceful assembly and association. The representative further underlined the importance of providing access to resources for the effective functioning of CSOs. The delegate, in their concluding remarks, expressed concern about the increase of undue restrictions and the limits to funding imposed on civil society organisations.

As with other countries, such as Germany and France, the representative of Luxembourg aligned itself with the European Union's Statement. The representative expressed support for the renewal of the mandate of Mr Voule and noted that it supports the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur. 

In continuation of the dialogue, the representative of Namibia explained that CSOs had been strong partners in delivering on Namibia's human rights obligations over the years. The delegate noted that CSOs in Namibia heavily depend on international funding, but that funding was negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, effectively endangering the situation of CSOs. Addressing the special Rapporteur, the delegate asked: "Could you elaborate on how states can strike an appropriate balance between access to foreign funding for CSOs while preventing external interference or infringement of state sovereignty?".

After receiving the statements of multiple delegations, the Special Rapporteur took the floor to respond to various inquiries of states. He welcomed the issues raised by various participants and the concerns presented about the limitations of peaceful protests and the limits to financing. He thanked all delegations for their responses and invited them to contact his office, emphasising that he remains available to discuss these matters at any time. 

Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur and commends his efforts and availability to assist countries throughout his mandate. GICJ strongly condemns unjustified restrictions, contrary to the derogations provided for under the ICCPR, which many people were subject to as a direct result of the pandemic, as they unnecessarily prevented or restricted the exercise of freedom of peaceful assembly and association. 

As noted by the Special Rapporteur, GICJ believes that freedom of peaceful assembly and association forms the backbone of democratic societies. The right is closely interlinked with other fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression; their exercise is critical, as they provide a platform for dialogue with civil society to address various needs and demands. 

Presently, the lack of funding and resources provided to CSOs seriously undermines the exercise of the right to association and thus the communities they support. GICJ calls on all parties to immediately halt all undue restrictions to freedom of peaceful assembly and association taking place in a variety of countries, including Iraq, where the government has resorted to excessive use of force to silence dissident voices. Freedom of expression, and thus assembly and association should be guaranteed, including the opinions of those who maintain different views from that of state officials. In order for civic society to experience the full enjoyment of their human rights, people must be permitted to exercise these rights freely and without fear of repression.

Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, Freedom of Association, Freedom, Human Rights, Freedom of Expression, Civil Society, Organisations, Covid-19 pandemic, undue restrictions, lack of funding, Geneva4Justice, GICJ, Justice, GenevaInternationalCentreforJustice