Issue No. 11 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: • Special Rapporteur in Geneva to launch ‘landmark’ freedom of association guidelines on sidelines of HRC session • ‘Two legal reform projects undermine the rights of assembly and expression in Spain’ – UN experts • Mass death sentences in Egypt a profound disgrace, UN human rights experts say • UN rights experts urge release of Bahrain opposition politician • Australia: Special Rapporteur welcomes moves to repeal restrictive laws on protest • Steering the final two years of Kiai’s UNSR mandate • Freedom of association and assembly: By the numbers • Special rapporteur news in brief: February-March 2015 • A call to submit cases in the UNSR’s litigation project • World briefing: Freedom of assembly and association in the news For a link to the newsletter, click on the image at right or click here (1.4MB file) or here (5MB full resolution file). To subscribe to our newsletter, please drop us a line at info@freeassembly.net with the subject line “subscribe to newsletter.” For other recent newsletters, see the links below: The Assembly and Association Briefing, Vol. 1,... Continue reading →
GENEVA – United Nations Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai will be in Geneva this week to participate in several events on the margins of the 28th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, including the launch of landmark joint guidelines on the right to freedom of association. The guidelines – which were developed by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE-ODIHR) and the Venice Commission – are the first of their kind in the field on association rights. They were adopted and released last December, and are being officially launched on March 5. The guidelines are currently available via the OSCE-ODIHR website via this link: http://www.osce.org/odihr/132371 The guidelines offer advice and expertise on how to legislate on freedom of association-related matters in a manner consistent with international human rights standards and OSCE commitments. They also reflect evolving good state practices, and are intended to enhance awareness of the right to freedom of association in general. The Special Rapporteur and his team participated in the development of the guidelines, most notably at a consultation in Warsaw, Poland, last year that brought together experts from around the world. “International treaties merely set out broad... Continue reading →
Issue No. 10 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: • Full coverage of the Special Rapporteur's visit to Kazakhstan • Oman: UN experts call for the immediate release of activist Said Jadad, as reprisals continue unchecked • Lao: Two years later, Sombath Somphone still missing • Bahrain: Kiai joins call to drop charges against women activists for government criticism • UNSR releases first-ever annual report recapping 2014 • Freedom of association and assembly: By the numbers • Special rapporteur news in brief: December 2014 - January 2015 • World briefing: Freedom of assembly and association in the news For a link to the newsletter, click on the image at right or click here (1.5MB file) or here (6.5MB full resolution file). To subscribe to our newsletter, please drop us a line at info@freeassembly.net with the subject line “subscribe to newsletter.” For other recent newsletters, see the links below: The Assembly and Association Briefing, Vol. 1, No. 7 (September 2014) The Assembly and Association Briefing, Vol. 1, No. 8 (October-November 2014) The Assembly and Association Briefing, Vol. 1, No. 9 (December 2014) All previous... Continue reading →
