Issue No. 22 of the Assembly and Association Briefing, the newsletter of Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. In this issue: • USA visit: Inequality casts dark shadow over assembly and association rights • UN experts urge Turkey to adhere to its human rights obligations even in time of declared emergency • Bill threatens expressive freedom in Maldives, expert warns • Israel: UN experts caution against NGO law • Rights experts condemn killing of Cambodian… Continue reading →
GENEVA – A group of United Nations human rights experts, including Maina Kiai, urged today the Turkish Government to uphold its obligations under international human rights law, even in the current time of declared emergency following an attempted coup. The experts’ call comes as Turkey’s invocation of Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) enters into effect, following the Government’s proclamation of a state of emergency. The derogation provision in Article 4 allows States to temporarily relax some… Continue reading →
GENEVA – The systematic harassment of the Shia population by the authorities in Bahrain, including stripping many of them of citizenship, is deeply concerning, a group of United Nations human rights independent experts, including Maina Kiai, said today. “The intensified wave of arrests, detentions, summons, interrogations and criminal charges brought against numerous Shia religious clerics and singers, human rights defenders and peaceful dissidents is having a chilling effect on fundamental human rights,” the human rights experts… Continue reading →
GENEVA — The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, David Kaye, deplored the adoption on 9 August of the “Protection of Reputation and Good Name and Freedom of Expression Bill” by Parliament in the Maldives, warning that it limits the right to freedom of expression to such a degree that the right itself is in jeopardy. His call was endorsed by Special Rapporteurs Maina Kiai and Michel Forst. “Criminalising speech on such vague and broad grounds as set out in the Bill is a direct attack on the exercise of the right to freedom of… Continue reading →
GENEVA – A group of United Nations independent experts, including Maina Kiai, today expressed deep concern about the critical health condition of prominent Chinese human rights defender Yang Maodong, known by his pen-name Guo Feixiong. They called on the Government of China to urgently provide Mr. Guo with specialized medical care, based on his full and informed consent, and stop all forms of ill-treatment. “We are concerned about repeated incidents of degrading and humiliating treatment suffered by Mr Guo in detention, both at the hands of other… Continue reading →
