Implementing the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Through Providing a Safe and Enabling Environment for Human Rights Defenders and Ensuring Their Protection

A/RES/74/146No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 70bHuman rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, published in 2020.

What other versions does this mandate have?

2 versions · 2020–2023

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/78/216

2023A/RES/78/216Implementing the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms through providing a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders and ensuring their protectionLatestCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/74/146Implementing the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms through providing a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders and ensuring their protection

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

What subjects does this mandate have?

3 topics

Human Rights Activists Human Rights Advancement Human Rights Violations

What does this mandate say?

25 operative paragraphs

Expresses grave concern at the situation of human rights defenders around the world, strongly condemns the killing of and all other human rights violations or abuses against human rights defenders, including women, environmental and indigenous human rights defenders, by State and non-State actors, and stresses that such acts may violate international law and undermine sustainable development at the local, national, regional and international levels;

Affirms the important role of human rights defenders in supporting States to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,8 including the pledge that no one will be left behind and to reach the furthest behind first;

Welcomes the work and takes note of the reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights defenders presented to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, and encourages all States to consider implementing recommendations contained in the reports and to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur;

Urges States to promote a safe and enabling environment, including through the implementation of existing national legislation that is in compliance with international human rights law and, where necessary, through the adoption and implementation of more comprehensive legislative and administrative measures, in which human rights defenders can operate free from hindrance, reprisals and insecurity, ensuring, among other things, the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs and in cultural life, the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and equal access to justice, including to an effective remedy;

Condemns all acts of intimidation and reprisal, both online and offline, by State and non-State actors against individuals, groups and organs of society, including against human rights defenders and their legal representatives, associates and family members, who seek to cooperate, are cooperating or have cooperated with subregional, regional and international bodies, including the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms, in the field of human rights, and strongly calls upon all States to give effect to the right of everyone, individually and in association with others, to unhindered access to and communication with international bodies, including the United Nations, its special procedures, the universal periodic review mechanism and the treaty bodies, as well as regional human rights mechanisms;

Continues to express particular concern about systemic and structural discrimination, violence and harassment faced by women human rights defenders of all ages, including sexual and gender-based violence as well as defamation and smear campaigns, both online and offline, and reiterates its strong call upon States to take appropriate, robust and practical steps to protect women human rights defenders and to integrate a gender perspective into their efforts to create a safe and enabling environment for the defence of human rights;

Recognizes that democracy and the rule of law are essential components for the creation of a safe and enabling environment and the protection of human rights defenders, and urges States to take measures to strengthen democratic institutions, safeguard civic space, uphold the rule of law and combat impunity;

Calls upon States to acknowledge, through public statements, policies, programmes or laws, the important and legitimate role of human rights defenders in the promotion of all human rights, democracy and the rule of law as essential components of ensuring their protection, including by respecting the independence of their organizations and by avoiding the stigmatization of their work;

Reaffirms the utility and benefit of consultations and dialogue with human rights defenders related to public policies and programmes, including for protection purposes, valuing the meaningful participation of human rights defenders in the development of programming, policies and practice relevant to their work, encourages States to hold meaningful consultations with human rights defenders on a regular basis, and further encourages States to appoint focal points or to employ other relevant mechanisms for human rights defenders within the public administration;

Calls upon all States to take all measures necessary to ensure the rights and safety of all persons, including human rights defenders, who exercise, inter alia, the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association, which are essential for the promotion and protection of human rights;

Urges States to investigate, in a prompt, effective, independent and accountable manner, complaints and allegations regarding threats or human rights violations and abuses perpetrated by State and non-State actors, including against human rights defenders, their legal representatives, associates or family members, and to initiate, when appropriate, proceedings against the perpetrators so as to ensure that impunity for such acts is eliminated and, as far as possible, to report publicly on investigations and proceedings;

Calls upon States to take concrete steps to prevent and put an end to arbitrary arrest and detention, including of human rights defenders, and in this regard strongly urges the release of persons detained or imprisoned, in violation of the obligations and commitments of States under international human rights law, for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, including in relation to cooperation with the United Nations or other international mechanisms in the area of human rights;

Also calls upon States to take appropriate measures for the prevention of all forms of violence, intimidation, threats and attacks against human rights defenders on the Internet and through digital technologies, and to protect human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, in online spaces and to consider adopting laws, policies and practices that protect them from defamation and hate speech while also affirming the rights to freedom of expression and privacy;

Further calls upon States to develop and implement appropriate and effective protection initiatives for human rights defenders at risk or in vulnerable situations, including through meaningful consultation with them and based on comprehensive risk analysis, and also to ensure that these measures are holistic, respond to the protection needs of individuals and the communities in which they live and function as an early warning to ensure that human rights defenders, when threatened, have immediate access to authorities that are competent and adequately resourced to provide effective protective measures;

Calls upon States and encourages non-State actors to ensure that those involved in the protection of human rights defenders, their legal representatives, associates or family members are trained in human rights and the protection-related needs of human rights defenders at risk;

Underlines the legitimate and valuable role of human rights defenders in mediation efforts and in supporting victims in accessing effective remedies for violations and abuses of their human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, including for members of impoverished communities and communities in vulnerable situations and for those belonging to minorities and indigenous peoples;

Also underlines the value of national human rights institutions, established and operating in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), in the continued engagement with human rights defenders and in the monitoring of existing legislation and consistently informing the State about its impact on the activities of human rights defenders, including by making relevant and concrete recommendations;

Strongly encourages States to develop and put in place comprehensive, sustainable and gender-responsive public policies and programmes that support and protect human rights defenders at all stages of their work, that ensure effective coordination between relevant institutional actors, including coordination within national and local levels, and address causes of attacks against defenders and barriers against the defence of rights, and that take into account, inter alia, the diverse situations of human rights defenders and the contexts in which they operate, and the intersectional dimensions of violations and abuses against women human rights defenders, indigenous peoples, children, persons belonging to minorities and rural communities;

Recognizes the important contribution of the promotion and protection of the safety of human rights defenders in the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals, including target 16.10, and calls upon States to strengthen national disaggregated data collection, analysis and reporting on the number of verified cases of killing, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture and other harmful acts against human rights advocates, as reflected in Sustainable Development Goal indicator 16.10.1, and to do their utmost to make these data available to the relevant entities;

Also recognizes the important and legitimate role of human rights defenders in identifying and raising awareness of human rights impacts, the benefits and risks of development projects and business operations, including in relation to workplace health, safety and rights, natural resource exploitation and environmental, land and development issues, by expressing their views, concerns, support, criticism or dissent regarding government policy or action or business activities, and underlines the need for Governments to take the measures necessary to safeguard space for such public dialogue and its participants;

Calls upon all States and encourages non-State actors to implement the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, underscores the responsibility of all business enterprises, both transnational and other, to respect human rights, including the rights to life and to liberty and security of person of human rights defenders, and their exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and participation in the conduct of public affairs, and underscores further the importance that business enterprises establish or participate in effective and accessible operational-level grievance mechanisms for individuals and communities who may be adversely impacted;

Strongly reaffirms the urgent need to respect, protect, facilitate and promote the work of human rights defenders promoting and defending economic, social and cultural rights, as a vital factor contributing towards the realization of those rights, including as they relate to environmental, land and indigenous issues and business activity, as well as development, including through corporate accountability;

Urges non-State actors, including transnational corporations and other business enterprises, to assume their responsibility to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons, including human rights defenders, and underlines the need to ensure human rights due diligence and the accountability of, and the provision of adequate remedies by, transnational corporations and other business enterprises, while also urging States to adopt relevant policies and laws in this regard, including to hold all companies to account for involvement in threats or attacks against human rights defenders;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders,9 in which he called for the development of a more coherent and comprehensive approach to support the Declaration by the United Nations, encourages the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in consultation with the Special Rapporteur and other special procedures of the Human Rights Council, to continue to compile and share information on best practices and challenges in this regard, requests all concerned United Nations system entities and organizations, within their mandates, to provide all possible assistance and support to the Special Rapporteur for the effective fulfilment of his mandate, including in the context of country visits and through suggestions on ways and means of ensuring the protection of human rights defenders, and requests the Special Rapporteur to continue to report annually on his activities to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, in accordance with the mandate;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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Who created this mandate?

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What does this mandate say?

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