The Human Rights Law Centre joined 11 international NGOs in a Joint Paper that outlines how member and observer States of the Human Rights Council can more systematically use civic space indicators as objective criteria for interventions at the Council.

The Paper makes the case that States should focus on restrictions on the work of human rights defenders, civil society, journalists and other independent actors to objectively assess human rights situations in countries early, and work to uphold the Council’s mandate to prevent human rights violations and “respond promptly to human rights emergencies.”

States must be prepared to respond to emerging human rights violations that manifest through civic space restrictions being places on human rights defenders, as indicated through:

• Individual and joint statements on situations already on the Council’s agenda;

• Individual and joint statements on situations that are not on the Council’s agenda;

• Thematic debates;

• Resolutions;

• The UPR process: reviews and adoptions; and

• Special sessions or urgent debates.

Read the Joint Paper to the UN Human Rights Council.