The Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Context of Peaceful Protests

A/HRC/RES/44/20View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2020.

What other versions does this mandate have?

8 versions · 2012–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/56/10

2024A/HRC/RES/56/10The promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protestsLatestCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/50/21The promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protestsCompare with previous version
2020A/HRC/RES/44/20The promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protestsCompare with previous version
2018A/HRC/RES/38/11The promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protestsCompare with previous version
2016A/HRC/RES/31/37The promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protestsCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

9 topics

Access to Information Conferences Covid-19 Crisis Management Human Rights Internet Law Enforcement Public Demonstrations Right of Assembly

What does this mandate say?

30 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the thematic report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the impact of new technologies on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of assemblies, submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 38/11;

Expresses deep concern regarding the instances in which peaceful protests have been met with repression, including the unlawful use of force by law enforcement officials, the misuse of less-lethal weapons, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture and enforced disappearance, as well as undue restrictions, such as Internet shutdowns and assaults on protesters, bystanders, human rights defenders, journalists and other media workers;

Recalls that States have the responsibility, including in the context of peaceful protests, to promote and protect human rights and to prevent human rights violations and abuses, including extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearances and torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and calls upon States to avoid the abuse of criminal and civil proceedings, or threats of such acts, at all times;

Calls upon States to promote a safe and enabling environment for individuals and groups to exercise their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, of expression and of association, both online and offline, including by ensuring that domestic legislation and procedures relating to the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, of expression and of association are in conformity with their international human rights obligations and commitments to clearly and explicitly establish a presumption in favour of the exercise of these rights, and that they are effectively implemented;

Also calls upon States to ensure that all human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled also during emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and that their responses are in full compliance with their human rights obligations and commitments;

Encourages all States to give due consideration to the compilation of practical recommendations for the proper management of assemblies based on best practices and lessons learned, which provides a useful tool for States on how to fulfil their obligations and commitments, including on how to operationalize them in their domestic laws, procedures and practices, and to promote and protect human rights in the context of assemblies, including peaceful protests;

Calls upon States to facilitate peaceful protests by providing protestors, to the extent possible, with access to public space within sight and sound of their intended target audience, and by protecting them, without discrimination, where necessary, against any form of threat or harassment, and underlines the role of local authorities in this regard;

Underlines the important role that communication between organizers, protestors, local authorities and officials exercising law enforcement duties can play in the proper management of assemblies, such as peaceful protests, and calls upon States to establish such appropriate channels;

Urges States to pay particular attention to the safety and protection of women and girls, as well as of women human rights defenders, from acts of intimidation and harassment, and gender-based violence, including sexual assault, in the context of peaceful protests;

Reaffirms that States must take all appropriate measures for the safety and protection of children, including while they exercise their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, of expression and of association, including in the context of peaceful protests;

Calls upon all States to pay particular attention to the safety of human rights defenders, journalists and other media workers observing, monitoring and recording protests, taking into account their specific role, exposure and vulnerability;

Stresses that, in times when physical assemblies are restricted, inter alia in times of crisis or emergency, it is all the more necessary that access to and use of the Internet be ensured by refraining from undue restrictions, such as Internet shutdowns or online censorship, by taking measures to ensure that access to the Internet extends to the entirety of the global population and that it is affordable, and by fully respecting and protecting each individual’s right to privacy;

Calls upon all States to refrain from and cease measures, when in violation of international human rights law, that are aimed at shutting down the Internet and telecommunications or at otherwise blocking Internet users from gaining access to or disseminating information online, or from gathering in online spaces;

Urges all States to avoid using force during peaceful protests, to ensure that, where force is absolutely necessary, no one is subject to excessive or indiscriminate use of force, and also to ensure that assistance and medical aid are rendered to any injured or affected person at the earliest possible moment;

Calls upon States, as a matter of priority, to ensure that their domestic legislation and procedures are consistent with their international obligations and commitments in relation to the use of force in the context of law enforcement and are effectively implemented by officials exercising law enforcement duties, in particular, applicable principles of law enforcement, such as necessity and proportionality, bearing in mind that lethal force may only be used as a last resort to protect against an imminent threat to life and that it may not be used merely to disperse a gathering;

Affirms that nothing can ever justify the indiscriminate use of lethal force against a crowd, which is unlawful under international human rights law;

Calls upon States to investigate any deaths or significant injuries, including those that lead to disability, incurred during protests, including those resulting from the discharge of firearms or the use of less-lethal weapons by officials exercising law enforcement duties or by private personnel acting on behalf of the State;

Also calls upon States to ensure adequate training of officials exercising law enforcement duties and, where applicable, to promote adequate training for private personnel acting on behalf of the State, including in international human rights law and, where appropriate, international humanitarian law, and in this regard urges States to include in such training the application of de-escalation strategies;

Encourages States to make appropriate protective equipment and less-lethal weapons available to their officials exercising law enforcement duties in order to decrease their need to use weapons of any kind, while pursuing efforts to regulate and establish protocols for the training and use of less-lethal weapons, bearing in mind that even less-lethal weapons can result in a risk to life or serious injury;

Underlines the importance of thorough and independent testing of less-lethal weapons prior to procurement and deployment to establish their lethality and the extent of likely injury, and of monitoring appropriate training and use of such weapons;

Stresses the importance of international cooperation in support of national efforts for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the context of assemblies, including peaceful protests, in order to raise the capacities of law enforcement agencies to deal with such assemblies in a manner that conforms to international human rights law and standards;

Underlines the necessity to address the management of assemblies, including peaceful protests, so as to contribute to their peaceful conduct, and to prevent injuries, including those that lead to disability, and loss of life of protestors, those observing, monitoring and recording such assemblies, bystanders, and officials exercising law enforcement duties, as well as any human rights violation or abuse, to ensure accountability for such violations and abuses and to provide victims with access to a remedy and redress;

Recognizes the importance of documenting human rights violations and abuses committed in the context of peaceful protests, and the role that can be played by national human rights institutions, civil society, including non-governmental organizations, journalists and other media workers, Internet users and human rights defenders in this regard;

Calls upon States to refrain from the use of digital technology to silence, unlawfully or arbitrarily surveil, or harass individuals or groups solely for having organized, taken part in, or observed, monitored or recorded peaceful protests, or from ordering blanket Internet shutdowns and from blocking websites and platforms around protests or key political moments;

Also calls upon States to refrain from applying any undue restrictions to technical solutions to secure and to protect the confidentiality of digital communications, including measures for encryption, pseudonymization and anonymity online, given that these can be important to ensure the enjoyment of human rights, in particular the rights to privacy, in the context of assemblies;

Urges States to ensure accountability for human rights violations and abuses through judicial or other national mechanisms, based on law and in conformity with their international human rights obligations and commitments, and to provide all victims with access to a remedy and redress, including in the context of peaceful protests;

Decides to convene, at its forty-eighth session, a panel discussion on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests, with a particular focus on achievements and contemporary challenges;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to liaise with States, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, other relevant special procedures, relevant United Nations bodies and agencies, non-governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders with a view to ensuring their participation in the panel discussion, to make the panel discussion fully accessible, and to prepare a report on the outcome of the panel discussion in the form of a summary, to be submitted to the Human Rights Council at its fiftieth session;

Requests the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association to prepare a dedicated report on the protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests during crisis situations, and in preparing the said report to seek the views of States, the Office of the High Commissioner, relevant United Nations agencies, in particular the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, United Nations human rights treaty bodies, regional human rights mechanisms, other relevant special procedure mandate holders, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and other relevant stakeholders, such as law enforcement practitioners, through global and regional consultations, and to present the report and its recommendations to the Human Rights Council at its fiftieth session;

Decides to continue its consideration of the present topic.

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