PRETORIA, South Africa – Overcoming the current wave of government efforts to silence peaceful activists across the globe is “the great challenge of our time,” UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai told African civil society leaders this week. Civil society, donors and activists “must do better” in order to address this challenge, Kiai said, including by becoming more creative in how they confront restrictions on their fundamental rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. He focused particularly on donors, whom he said often utilize dated and inappropriate benchmarks to measure civil society’s work. “Donors need to be more flexible in funding human rights work,” Kiai told participants. “Some want results in six months, but you don’t get that with human rights work. That’s not the way human rights works.” Kiai’s remarks came during a two-day conference in Pretoria on protecting civic space, organized by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, CIVICUS, the Community of Democracies and the Special Rapporteur’s office. The event brought together civil society leaders from 14 countries, and served as the African regional dialogue in the joint Special Rapporteur-Community of Democracies project on civic space and the right to access resources, which began earlier... Continue reading →
WARSAW, Poland – UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai spoke out against shrinking space for peaceful assembly and association rights this week in Warsaw, warning that governments who weaken civil society are “playing with fire, because the alternative … is extremism.” The comments came during an Oct. 22 consultation with Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)-region governments on civic space and civil society’s ability to access resources. “We are at a very difficult time in the world, and I think it’s not accidental that we are seeing extremism rising,” said Kiai, who is the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. “A government that weakens civil society is playing with fire, because the alternative to peaceful assembly is extremism – and this, no one wishes to achieve.” The regional consultation with OSCE governments was part of an ongoing project on protecting civic space and civil society’s right to access resources with the Community of Democracies. A similar consultation hosting OSCE-region civil society groups was convened in May 2014. More than 20 representatives from OSCE governments attended the consultation. Most expressed broad support for the initiative and spoke of the need to protect civil society’s... Continue reading →
• “Indigenous protesters in traditional headdress” clash with police in Brazil ahead of the World Cup. One officer was shot in the leg with an arrow and a ceremony to open the cup trophy exhibition was cancelled (abcnews.go.com). Photos (Daily Mail) • Thailand’s coup leader appeals for protesters to stand down: "Everyone must help me," he said, adding: but "do not criticize, do not create new problems. It's no use." (cbsnews.com) • Kenya’s police inspector general bans “political” assemblies saying "Criminals may take advantage of such gatherings” (the ban also comes just in advance of former PM Raila Odinga’s return to the country on Saturday) (nation.co.ke) • In Russia, a court orders a prominent NGO, the Memorial Human Rights Center, to register as a “foreign agent” for its human rights work. “Shameful,” says OMCT, “Is claiming rights contained under the Russian Constitution really a foreign interest?” (OMCT.org) • Maina Kiai and Community of Democracies release a set of “general principles” summarizing key aspects of civil society’s right to funding – a “rights cheat sheet” (freeassembly.net) Send news tips and suggestions, to media@freeassembly.net or check us out on Facebook and Twitter For all FOAA news roundups, click... Continue reading →
In an effort to strengthen global understanding of civil society’s right to access resources, UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai and the Community of Democracies have issued a set of “general principles” summarizing key aspects of the right, along with their legal bases. The document summarizes three general principles under international human rights norms and standards regarding the ability of civil society to seek, receive and use resources. It also provides arguments and legal backing to support specific aspects of each principle, with hyperlinks to source documents where relevant. The principles are extracted from the Special Rapporteur’s 2013 report to the Human Rights Council, which focused on associations’ ability to seek, receive and utilize resources. The report is available here in all six UN languages. General Principle 1 states that the ability to seek, receive and use resources is inherent to the right to freedom of association – not a separate right – because it is essential to the existence and effective operations of any association. General Principle 2 underlines that states must allow associations to seek, receive and use foreign funding as a part of their obligation under international human rights law to mobilize resources available within the society as a whole and from... Continue reading →
(WARSAW, Poland) – Political will is a major obstacle in ensuring civil society’s access to resources in many OSCE countries, according to participants in a May 7 regional dialogue organized in Warsaw by the Community of Democracies and the team of UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai. “It’s not a question of convincing through enough human rights laws or standards,” said one participant. Sometimes “they can’t be convinced.” The dialogue was the first event in a new two-year project focused on enhancing space for civil society and strengthening the right to access financial resources. The project was launched in February, and is being funded by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The May 7 Warsaw event looked at international human rights norms, standards and mechanisms to promote the right to freedom of association – and possible ways to strengthen these tools. More than 20 members of civil society from throughout the OSCE region participated. The focus on political will was central to the discussions, with one participant saying that talking about human rights norms to the government in his country was like “talking to the wall.” As a result, the road to ensuring civil society’s access to resources will require creative schemes and new ways of thinking, participants said –... Continue reading →
The ability to seek, receive and utilize resources is an inherent part of the right to freedom of association. This shouldn’t be a controversial statement. By definition, organizations need resources – financial, human and material – to operate. Without money, staff and equipment, an association is reduced to an empty shell – a vehicle stripped of its engine, fuel and driver. Unfortunately, civil society’s ability to access resources is far from secure in today’s world. Restrictions on funding have in recent years become a major threat to associations in a range of countries across all regions of the world, as UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai has repeatedly pointed out. There is clearly a trend toward strangling civil society with the financial noose, and the trend is growing. There is an urgent need to further strengthen associations’ ability to access resources, and to protect it. In this spirit, the Special Rapporteur recently partnered with the Community of Democracies to launch a project dedicated to enhancing space for civil society, with a particular focus on the ability to access financial resources. More on the project – which is funded by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs— is available here. The centerpiece of the project will be a series of five regional dialogues led... Continue reading →
Issue No. 2 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: • Kiai makes official visit to Rwanda; calls for increased space for peaceful dissent • Kiai makes unofficial visit to Cambodia, calls on gov’t to lift ban on public assemblies • Freeassembly.net website updated with new ‘country invitation status’ page • Community of Democracies & UNSR launch new project on civil society’s right to access funding • UK lobbying bill threatens to ‘stain’ British democracy • World briefing: freedom of assembly & association in the news • Assembly & association rights: By the numbers • Plus, our new Flickr page, which allows anyone to download and reuse official photos from the UNSR mandate under a Creative Commons attribution license For a link to the newsletter, click on the image at right or click... 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... Continue reading →
