Issue No. 26 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: • Kiai visits Geneva for final Human Rights Council session as Rapporteur • UN rights expert: ‘Fundamental right to strike must be preserved’ • Bangladesh: stop enforced disappearances • 10 Principles civil society guide: Advocate for better management of assemblies • Letter from the Rapporteur: Our fight isn’t just about closing space; it’s a ‘struggle for future of democracy’ • Maina Kiai releases annual report: 2016 in assembly & association rights • Experts urge Kenya to end crackdown on rights groups to ensure fair elections • Viet Nam: end detention of ‘Mother Mushroom’ • Burundi: UN experts raise alarm at growing repression of NGOs and human rights defenders • UN expert concerned about recurring violence against demonstrators in Belarus • Assembly & association rights: By the numbers • Special Rapporteur news in brief: February – March 2017 • World briefing: Assembly & association rights in the news For a link to the newsletter, click on the image at right or click here (1.7 MB file). To subscribe to our... Continue reading →
GENEVA – United Nations Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai will be in Geneva March 6-10 to participate in several events surrounding the 34th Session of the UN Human Rights Council. It will be his final appearance on the margins of a Council session as Special Rapporteur. On Monday, March 6, the Special Rapporteur will moderate a side event on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the workplace, a follow-up to his Oct. 2016 report to the UN General Assembly. Other featured speakers include Kate Gilmore (United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights), Deborah Greenfield (ILO’s Deputy Director General for Policy), Raquel Gonzalez (Director of ITUC’s Geneva Office) and Shawna Bader-Blau (Executive Director of the Solidarity Center). The event will take place from 12 to 2 pm (Geneva time) in Room XXI of the Palais des Nations, and will be live-streamed on CIVICUS's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CIVICUS/ The Special Rapporteur will also speak at a side-event on Tuesday, March 7, focusing on civil society and human rights defenders in Azerbaijan. The event, which is being organized by Human Rights House Foundation and a number of other organizations, will be held from 12:30 to 2 pm in Room XII of the Palais des Nations. Other panelists include Michel... Continue reading →
