The events of 2015 unfolded as another epic, global tug-of-war over the role that assembly and association rights play in our world today. At certain times and in some places, they appeared inexorable – the lifeblood of citizen movements and a vehicle for the voices of ordinary people. At others, they were under siege, on the verge of going extinct. On the one hand, the year saw an emphatic continuation of the global trend of massive protest movements. Activists in dozens of countries successfully harnessed public discontent, drew unprecedented numbers to rallies and commanded attention, both at home and abroad. The common thread was, as with 2014, people’s anger over government abuse of power. Burundi exploded with anti-government protests after Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would be running for a third term that most said was illegal; conflict continued after he won that third term. People in Brazil, Malaysia, Moldova and elsewhere took to the streets in extraordinary numbers to protest against government corruption. And in Guatemala, a similar movement succeeded in ousting the President. The Republic of Korea, Japan, the United States of America and South Africa saw huge gatherings over social issues ranging from labor policies to militarization to police brutality to education. And Spanish activists got... Continue reading →
• Civil society forms “watch committee” in Rakhine State, Myanmar, to “see whether their aid goes to the right places.” (In March, mobs attacked UN and aid group offices in Rakhine, forcing many INGOs to flee; they were accused of favoring the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group). (Myanmar Times) • The EU is pumping €674K into civil society into Armenian civil society focused on healthcare, agriculture and social security. (ARKA News Agency) • In Cambodia, civil society condemns the (currently one-party) National Assembly’s passage of three “flawed judicial reform bills” (the opposition party continues its 10-month boycott of parliament due to allegedly flawed elections last summer). (Asian Human Rights Commission) Special Rapporteur Surya Subedi has chimed in as well. • The .ngo website suffix comes online in October 2014. (Nonprofit Quarterly) More here. • Is Israel jumping on the “foreign agent” NGO law bandwagon? Proposed bill “directed at left-leaning groups.” (Haaretz) • In Brazil, Rival World Cup protest songs jostle for football fans’ attention. “Rival tunes, anti-FIFA raps and instrumental lamentations challenging the poorly received official theme,” writes Jonathan Watts. (The Guardian) • Violinists’ protest video goes viral after they were kicked off US... Continue reading →
The Journal of Global Ethics has published an essay by Maina Kiai, in which he reflects on the first three years of his mandate, and the global state of assembly and association rights three years after protests exploded in Tunisia, sparking the Arab Spring. The essay, “Three years after Tunisia: thoughts and perspectives on the rights to freedom of assembly and association from United Nations Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai,” is available for free download to the first 50 people; subsequent access is by purchase only. Although Kiai’s mandate was created in late 2010 against the backdrop of shrinking space for civil society, a massive and growing global protest movement has grabbed most of the headlines since 2011. Kiai argues that the mandate has made a measurable impact – having helped raise awareness of repressive NGO laws, provided technical assistance to governments to strengthen assembly and association rights and developed soft law. But perhaps the most important work of the mandate, he argues, has been its contribution to a better understanding of just how important the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association are. “These rights satisfy people’s fundamental desire to take control of their own destinies,” Kiai writes. “They need to speak out, to work together for the common good,... Continue reading →
STOCKHOLM – The Community of Democracies has launched a new two-year project in conjunction with the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful association and of assembly aimed at enhancing space for civil society, focusing on the right to access financial resources. The project, “Protecting Civic Space and the Right to Access Resources”, was officially launched in Stockholm, Sweden, on Feb. 24, 2014. The project is funded by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The centerpiece of the project is a series of regional dialogues led by UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai and members of his team, to be conducted with the participation of local and regional civil society groups. Separate consultations will also take place with the governments of or more countries in each region. Regional dialogues will take place in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the MENA region and Latin America throughout 2014-15. The first dialogue is tentatively scheduled for later this year. “Across the world, governments are moving rapidly to squeeze civil society out of its rightful place in the public sphere,” Kiai said. “Many of them see civil society as a competitor, challenging their authority. And they are attacking from all angles, including trying to cut off their ability to seek, receive and utilize resources.” In... Continue reading →
UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai completed a three-day unofficial visit to Cambodia last week, where he met with a range of civil society leaders, activists and government officials. Following months of massive post-election protests, Cambodia recently instituted a broad crackdown on public demonstrations, which has left at least four people dead, dozens injured, and a number of activists imprisoned in the past month. All public gatherings have now been banned. Kiai raised the issue of the blanket protest ban with Secretary of State for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ouch Borith, and called upon the government to lift the ban as soon as possible. The two also discussed the use of force by authorities during demonstrations, the fate of a youth who was allegedly shot during a protest in January and has not been heard from since, and the cases of 23 activists and civil society leaders who were arrested during a demonstration (two of the 23 were released on bail during Kiai’s visit). “The government has absolutely no right … to kill people when they march peacefully,” Kiai told local media on February 7, during a visit with land activists in the Boeung Kak Lake community. “That is not acceptable under international law. The use of force needs to be proportional and it needs to be measured as... Continue reading →
Nairobi – United Nations Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai will visit Singapore and Cambodia in early February as part of a brief non-official academic visit to Southeast Asia. Kiai, who is the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, will begin his tour in Singapore on Feb. 3-4, where he will take part in a regional consultation to help inform his next thematic report to the Human Rights Council. The report, which will be presented in June 2014, will focus on groups most at risk of retribution when exercising or seeking to exercise their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Members of civil society from throughout Asia will also attend the consultation. Kiai will visit Cambodia on Feb. 5-7, where he will meet with civil society members, labor activists and other stakeholders to discuss the state of the rights to peaceful assembly and association in the country. Following months of massive post-election protests, Cambodia recently instituted a broad crackdown on public demonstrations which has left four people dead, dozens injured and a number of activists imprisoned in the past month, according to NGO and media reports. All public gatherings have now been banned. Kiai has closely followed recent freedom of association and assembly related issues in... Continue reading →
The inaugural issue of the Assembly and Association Briefing, the official newsletter of Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. In this issue: • Call for input as Kiai readies report on groups most at risk • UN Special Rapporteur launches new website for mandate • Repressive amendments to NGO law defeated in Kenya • Kiai to visit Rwanda in Jan. 2014 • NGO Bill Threatens to Hinder Civil Society’s Work in South Sudan, UN Rights Experts Warn • Maina Kiai presents first report to UN General Assembly • Authorities in Cambodia ban all public gatherings after demonstrations swell • Kiai pens commentary for openGlobalRights • Plus, UNSR activities in brief For a link to the newsletter, click on the image at right or follow this... Continue reading →
Everyone has a right to an effective remedy for acts violating their human rights. UDHR, art. 8: “Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.” When the right to freedom of association has been infringed, both associations and their members have the right to an effective remedy, which includes access to judicial review and reparations. States have an obligation to investigate fully any allegations of a violation of the right to freedom of association and to hold individuals, including State authorities, responsible for malicious infringement of the right. In addition, States must take measures to prevent future violations of the right, such as the revision of laws, the issuance of prosecutorial guidelines, and any other necessary measures. In its General Comment 31, the UN Human Rights Committee explained that: 15. Article 2, paragraph 3, requires that in addition to effective protection of Covenant rights States Parties must ensure that individuals also have accessible and effective remedies to vindicate those rights. Such remedies should be appropriately adapted so as to take account of the special vulnerability of certain categories of person, including in particular children. The... Continue reading →
Suspension and the involuntary dissolution of an association are among the severest restrictions on freedom of association. Such measure must always comply with the requirements of Article 22(2) of the Covenant. Given the severity of these measures, they may only be used when there is a clear and imminent threat to for example national security of public Note that the legitimate aims which may be protected are exhaustively enumerated in article 22 of the ICCPR: national security, public safety, public order, protection of public health or morals and the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. in accordance with the interpretations of international human rights law. It must be strictly proportional to the legitimate aim pursued and used only when softer measures would be insufficient. UN Human Rights Council, First Thematic Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, UN Doc. A/HRC/20/27, 21 May 2012, para 75. The Human Rights Committee applies a strict proportionality assessment for dissolutions. Belyatsky v. Belarus, Human Rights Committee, UN Doc. CCPR/C/90/D/1296/2004, Views of 24 July 2007, para. 7.5. Article 56 of the Draft African Guidelines mirrors this high standard for assessing the proportionality of the measure, and has... Continue reading →
The right to freedom of association encompasses the right to mobilize resources, including human and financial. The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association has explained that the right to freedom of association includes the ability to seek, receive and use resources – human, material and financial – from domestic, foreign and international sources. UN Human Rights Council, Second Thematic Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, UN Doc. A/HRC/23/39, 24 April 2013, para. 8(e). The term “resources” encompasses a broad concept that includes financial transfers (e.g. donations, grants, contracts, sponsorships, social investments, etc.); loan guarantees and other forms of financial assistance from natural and legal persons; in-kind donations (e.g. contributions of goods, services, software and other forms of intellectual property, real property, etc.); material resources (e.g. office supplies, IT equipment, etc.); human resources (e.g. paid staff, volunteers, etc.); access to international assistance, solidarity; ability to travel and communicate without undue interference and the right to benefit from the protection of the state. UN Human Rights Council, Second Thematic Report of the Special... Continue reading →
