In March 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Council requested the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, to prepare a compilation of practical recommendations for the proper management of assemblies based on best practices and lessons learned (read the full document, resolution 25/38).
In early 2015, Kiai and Heyns officially launched a special project to fulfill the Council’s request. Throughout the better part of 2015, the Special Rapporteurs and their teams travelled to various regions of the world to solicit input from UN Member States and various stakeholders (including the general public) on best practices for the proper management of assemblies. See the sidebar at right for more on the consultations.
The Special Rapporteurs also created a questionnaire to solicit input from States, relevant United Nations agencies, intergovernmental organizations, other relevant special procedures mandate holders, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders – such as practitioners and the general public – to help produce the practical recommendations. The response period is now closed, but the questionnaire (available in the sidebar on the right) aimed to elicit the views from these stakeholders on the proper management of assemblies, and specifically to identify national, regional and international practices and lessons learned (both positive and negative).
The report was released on March 2, 2016 – incorporating the input of over 100 experts, 50 UN Member States, and numerous others who responded to the questionnaire – and presented to the Human Rights Council at its 31st session, on March 9, 2016.
In fall 2016, Special Rapporteur Kiai published a companion publication – the 10 Principles Implementation Checklist – designed to allow civil society organizations to monitor the implementation of the report’s recommendations in their countries.
This page is the online hub for the project – hosting information on the project, the report, news about consultations, and more.
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