Recommendations

To governments:

• Take measures to foster a safe, respectful and enabling environment in which civil society activists and journalists can operate freely without fear of attacks, harassment, intimidation, or reprisals, in line with international human rights commitments.
• Work with civil society to establish effective national protection mechanisms that respond to the needs of those at risk, recognising the distinct needs of diverse HRDs such as women, children, young people, LGBTQI+ people and people with disabilities, among others.
• Repeal any legislation that hinders the work of civil society and criminalises HRDs, journalists, protesters and members of excluded groups.
• Ensure adequate consultations are carried out with civil society and the broader public and take their views into account before drafting laws that impact on freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly.
• Carry out impartial, independent, prompt and transparent investigations into all cases of attacks on and killings of HRDs and journalists and ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
• Desist from using excessive force against peaceful protesters, stop pre-empting and preventing protests and adopt best practices on freedom of peaceful assembly, ensuring any restrictions on assemblies comply with international human rights standards.
• Review and update human rights training for police and security forces, with the assistance of independent CSOs, to foster the consistent application of international human rights law and standards during protests, including the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms.
• Establish fully independent and effective investigations into excessive use of force by law enforcement agencies and officers during protests and bring to justice those suspected of criminal responsibility.
• Ensure freedom of expression is safeguarded in all forms by making all legislation consistent with international laws and standards and refrain from censoring conventional and social media. Ensure restrictions are subject to oversight by independent and impartial judicial authorities and in accordance with due process and standards of legality, necessity and legitimacy.
• Strengthen legal protections for digital rights consistent with human rights standards.
• Maintain reliable and unfettered internet access and cease internet shutdowns that prevent people obtaining and sharing essential information.
• Repeal any legislation that criminalises expression based on vague concepts such as disinformation and ‘fake news’, as such laws are not compatible with the requirements of proportionality.
• Publicly condemn defamatory remarks, threats, acts of intimidation, stigmatisation and attacks on civil society groups, excluded communities and HRDs.
• Urgently address disinformation and misinformation through policies and partnerships with relevant partners such as CSOs, independent media and reliable tech companies.
• Condemn foreign agents laws and other repressive laws against CSOs and independent media and use diplomatic channels to challenge false transparency narratives.
• Impose targeted sanctions on officials responsible for enacting foreign agents laws and other legislation that systematically restricts civil society.
• Ensure relevant national authorities, including law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, judges, intelligence services and diplomats know how to detect and deal with different forms of transnational repression.
• Take appropriate measures to fully implement all recommendations accepted by states made by UN Special Rapporteurs, Working Groups and the Universal Periodic Review process of the UN Human Rights Council.
• Ensure and invest in the effectiveness of national and regional human rights mechanisms that seek to address human rights violations and protect HRDs.
• Hold impartial, transparent and prompt investigations into the growing trend of attacks and reprisals against climate justice advocates, environmental human rights defenders and Indigenous and land rights activists, and ensure those responsible are held to account. Ensure policies and mechanisms are put in place to protect them, consistent with international human rights standards.
• Institute mechanisms and policies on accountability and transparency in governance, and support and work with groups that work against corruption and promote good governance.
• Respect people’s right to protest and express dissent, including young people and artists, and hold the perpetrators of abuses against them accountable.
• Respect the right of people to protest in solidarity with people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and refrain from arrests, vilification and violence towards HRDs and protesters. Cease conflating legitimate criticism of the state of Israel with antisemitism and extremism.

To the United Nations and international bodies:

• Provide access for communities and civil society to meaningfully engage in UN decision-making processes and work closely with states to ensure laws, travel restrictions and technologies do not limit access to the UN. Introduce reforms to enable civil society’s participation, starting with the appointment of a UN civil society envoy to mainstream civil society participation in UN processes.
• Urge states to repeal or substantially amend restrictive legislation that is not in accordance with international law and standards on freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly.
• Strengthen existing mechanisms and implement new mechanisms to address reprisals against HRDs, particularly the persistence of attacks against activists, artists, child and young HRDs, environmental HRDs, gender equality advocates, women HRDs and groups mobilising solidarity with Palestinians, among others.
• Condemn democratic backsliding and human rights abuses and apply consistent diplomatic pressure on states that are failing to comply with democratic and human rights standards.
• Take the necessary measures to ensure that activists and civil society personnel are not put at risk because of the information they provide, and publicly call out states that impose restrictions on civil society participation.
• Create platforms for dialogue and cooperation on issues of shared concern, including abuse of environmental, Indigenous, LGBTQI+ and women HRDs, digital repression, foreign agents laws and other repressive laws that affect freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly, and transnational repression.
• Intensify regional and international cooperation, and work with relevant partners including independent media and tech companies against disinformation and misinformation and false narratives about gender equality, human rights and the work of activists.
• Support the work of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders against stigmatisation of HRDs and the promotion of positive narratives about human rights and the work of HRDs.
• Achieve a proper balance between the UN’s three pillars of human rights, peace and security and sustainable development by evening out budgetary allocations and expanding civil society’s role across the system.
• Regional human rights mechanisms should ensure that accountability, monitoring and redress mechanisms are in place to monitor transnational repression

To the private sector:

Align business policies with international human rights standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and resist being complicit in human rights violations perpetrated by governments.

To funders:

• Provide long-term, unrestricted and core support for civil society in countries where civil society is facing increasing restrictions from states.
• Provide specific support to groups conducting advocacy in countries with rapidly closing civic space.
• Adopt participatory approaches to grant-making. As part of this, include human rights organisations in designing schemes and conduct situation assessments with CSOs. Maintain engagement at every stage, including when funding has been granted, to create adaptation and reallocation strategies with grantees in response to difficult working environments.
• Prioritise security. In sensitive cases, this means balancing transparency and security needs. Where civil society and human rights work is criminalised or HRDs are under surveillance or facing harassment, key information such as the activities, identity, location and operations of those receiving funds may need to remain undisclosed.
• Support programmes to ensure civil society personnel and HRDs have appropriate equipment, skills and training to conduct their work safely.
• Adapt grant-making modalities to the evolution of social movements and youth activists, among other key elements of contemporary civil society.