GENEVA – United Nations Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai will be in Geneva this week to present his latest reports to the UN Human Rights Council and to participate in other events.Kiai, will present two reports covering his country visits to Oman and Kazakhstan and a third focusing on assembly and association rights of the context of natural resource exploitation. A fourth report contains his observations on the mandate’s official communications with UN Member States and replies between March 1, 2014, and February 28, 2015.Kiai, who is the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, is scheduled to present to the 29th Session of the Council at the Palais des Nations, Room XX, during the June 17 session starting at 11:30 a.m. His presentation may run into June 18, depending on the length of other agenda items. The session will be broadcast live on http://webtv.un.org/.Thematic report: Natural resource exploitation Kiai’s fourth thematic report to the Council examines the role that the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association play in opening space for genuine participation across the spectrum of natural resource exploitation activities. The report defines natural resource exploitation widely to include a broad range of materials such as land,... Continue reading →
The global economy relies heavily on the availability and exploitation of natural resources. With that demand has come a plethora of concerns relating to the sustainability of economic growth and its impact on the climate, the environment and, more generally, on human rights. Despite the high stakes, citizen engagement in the natural resources sector is notoriously difficult. Secrecy cloaks decision-making processes and outcomes; there is a lack of mechanisms through which interested parties may express their concerns; discussions are often highly technical; and, above all, the financial stakes are often massive. This opaque and lucrative environment presents ideal conditions for corruption to thrive, a challenge with which many resource-rich countries have to contend. In this report, Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai examines the role that the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association play in opening space for genuine and effective participation across the spectrum of natural resource exploitation activities. He also examines how these rights help foster increased transparency and accountability, facilitate constructive dialogue, and ultimately form the basis for people’s ability to secure other substantive rights. “The significance of civil society as a stakeholder in the context... Continue reading →
Issue No. 9 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: Surmounting civil society restrictions “the great challenge of our time" • A step forward for LGBT rights in Botswana, with a step backward looming in Kyrgyzstan • Your rights on one page: UNSR releases fact sheets on assembly and association rights • Experts: "Legitimate concerns" over outcome of Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases • Sound off for the UNSR’s next report: Tell us your views on FOAA rights in the context of natural resource exploitation • Video: Strategic litigation for assembly & association rights • Freedom of association and assembly: By the numbers • Special rapporteur news in brief: November-December 2014 • 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 (1.3MB file) or here (6.8MB 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, Issue 6 (July-August... Continue reading →
