The Special Rapporteur’s factsheet summarizing his official visit to the United States of America in July 2016 highlights issues surrounding the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and is presented in an easy-to use “yes/no” format, with hyperlinks to source materials. This factsheet draws heavily from the Special Rapporteur’s report on the United States visit, which was presented to the Human Rights Council in June 2015. It provides details and analysis of: • Problems related to the United States extensive use of a permit system for authorizing peaceful assemblies • The increasingly militarized police response to peaceful assemblies • Discriminatory policing of assemblies held by minority communities • The effect of so-called "right to work" laws on workers' ability to exercise their association rights in the workplace • Restrictions on migrant workers' ability to exercise their assembly and association rights • The US election campaign finance system's impact on association rights • The United States Government's response to the report • And more The factsheet also gives background information on the United States, including vital statistics and its “scorecard” on ratifying key UN human rights treaties. For the Special... Continue reading →
The Special Rapporteur’s factsheet summarizing the achievements of civil society over the past decade-plus, presented in an easy-to use “yes/no” format, with hyperlinks to source materials. This factsheet is based on the Special Rapporteur’s 2017 report to the Human Rights Council and features guidance on: • The connection between a vibrant civil society and a country's social, political and economic development. • The connection between civil society and democracy • Civil society's direct economic contributions • "What has civil society done for you lately?" - selected examples of civil society's important recent achievements, taken from the report • And more For the Special Rapporteur’s full factsheet series, please see:... Continue reading →
The Special Rapporteur’s factsheet summarizing the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the workplace, presented in an easy-to use “yes/no” format, with hyperlinks to source materials. This factsheet is based on the Special Rapporteur’s 2016 report to the UN General Assembly and features guidance on: • The importance of assembly and association rights in the workplace • International laws and standards which protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the workplace • States’ responsibility to actively respect, protect, promote, and facilitate the enjoyment of fundamental rights – including labour rights • The impact of growing corporate power on workers' rights • Categories of workers most at risk of rights violations, including migrant workers, domestic workers, women and more • Examples of violations of workers' assembly and association rights drawn from the report • And more The factsheet also summarizes selected recommendations from the report and highlights key statistics in a “by the numbers” feature. For the Special Rapporteur’s full factsheet series, please see:... Continue reading →
The Special Rapporteur’s factsheet summarizing fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, presented in an easy-to use “yes/no” format, with hyperlinks to source materials. The factsheet also addresses the related but distinct phenomenon of "extremism" and how assembly and association rights can help stem its spread. This factsheet draws from the Special Rapporteur’s 2016 report to the UN Human Rights Council and features guidance on: • The definition of various "fundamentalisms," including market fundamentalism, political fundamentalism, religious fundamentalism and national/cultural fundamentalism • How fundamentalism can motivate violations of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association • States' responsibility to prevent the negative impacts of fundamentalism on the enjoyment of assembly and association rights (including their duty to prevent abuses of these rights by non-State actors) • Examples of fundamentalism drawn from the report • Selected recommendations from the report • And more For the Special Rapporteur’s full factsheet series, please see:... Continue reading →
The Special Rapporteur’s factsheet summarizing his "sectoral equity" report, which examines differential treatment of businesses and associations. This factsheet draws heavily from the Special Rapporteur’s 2015 report to the UN General Assembly and features guidance on: • States' obligation to create the best possible enabling environment for civil society • The concept of "sectoral equity" between businesses and associations - and details of exactly what this means • Permissible and impermissible restrictions on associations – with an analysis how these restrictions are often stricter than those for businesses • Examples of instances where States create drastically better enabling environments for businesses than for associations • Conclusions, recommendations, and more For the Special Rapporteur’s full factsheet series, please see:... Continue reading →
The Special Rapporteur’s factsheet summarizing his official visit to Kazakhstan in January 2015 highlights issues surrounding the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and is presented in an easy-to use “yes/no” format, with hyperlinks to source materials. This factsheet draws heavily from the Special Rapporteur’s report on the Kazakhstan visit, which was presented to the Human Rights Council in June 2015. It provides details and analysis of: • The authorization process for peaceful assemblies in Kazakhstan • The registration of associations, and the Government’s role in regulating the civil society sector • Difficulties faced by political parties and religious associations • The Special Rapporteur’s findings and recommendations • A note on an "disturbing surveillance incident in Aktau" • The Government of Kazakhstan's response to the report • And more The factsheet also gives background information on Kazakhstan, including vital statistics and its “scorecard” on ratifying key UN human rights treaties. For the Special Rapporteur’s full factsheet series, please see:... Continue reading →
The Special Rapporteur’s factsheet summarizing the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the context of natural resource exploitation, presented in an easy-to use “yes/no” format, with hyperlinks to source materials. This factsheet draws heavily from the Special Rapporteur’s 2015 report to the UN Human Rights Council and features guidance on: • The obligation of States and corporations to uphold assembly and association rights in the context of natural resource exploitation • States' responsibilities regarding private security firms and violations of human rights by corporations • The issue of blanket bans on peaceful assemblies surrounding natural resource exploitation operations • The rights of unregistered associations to participate in consultation processes • And more The factsheet also summarizes the report’s recommendations, highlights key statistics in a “by the numbers” feature, and looks at the current international legal and regulatory framework for the sector. For the Special Rapporteur’s full factsheet series, please see:... Continue reading →
The Special Rapporteur’s factsheet summarizing his official visit to Oman in September 2014 highlights issues surrounding the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and is presented in an easy-to use “yes/no” format, with hyperlinks to source materials. This factsheet draws heavily from the Special Rapporteur’s report on the Oman visit, which was presented to the Human Rights Council in June 2015. It provides details and analysis of: • The authorization process for peaceful assemblies in Oman • The registration of associations, and the Government's role in regulating the civil society sector • Oman's ban on political parties and political associations • The Special Rapporteur's findings and recommendations • The case of human rights defender Said Jadad, who was arrested following the Special Rapporteur's visit • And more The factsheet also gives background information on Oman, including vital statistics and its "scorecard" on ratifying key UN human rights treaties. For the Special Rapporteur’s full factsheet series, please see:... Continue reading →
The Special Rapporteur's factsheet summarizing the legal issues and challenges surrounding civil society's ability to access resource, presented in an easy-to use "yes/no" format, with hyperlinks to source materials. This factsheet draws heavily from the Special Rapporteur's 2013 report to the UN Human Rights Council and features guidance on: • The recognition of the importance of the ability to access resources in international law • The effect of registration on an association's ability to access resources • Permissible and impermissible restrictions on the ability to access resources - with an analysis of some common justifications for restrictions • The importance of the ability to access resources • And more The factsheet also summarizes the report's recommendations and provides links to selected international legal instruments dealing with the subject of civil society's ability to access resources. For the Special Rapporteur's full factsheet series, please see:... 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... Continue reading →
