In September 2013, the HRC adopted by consensus a landmark resolution urging States to create a safe and enabling environment for civil society. However, internationally guaranteed protections for fundamental rights are clearly not understood by some States and not translated into safeguards for civil society nationally.
In March 2014, the HRC for the first time also held a panel discussion on the increasing challenges facing civil society. As HRC States consider the ways forward, member organizations of the Civic Space Initiative, including ECNL, organized a side event at the 26th session of UN HRC to identify how States must address the “implementation gap” between international standards and domestic law and practice, in particular for marginalized groups.
The panel discussion examined what action is needed at the international and domestic level to ensure that States meet their responsibility to protect and promote civil society rights on the ground. The key questions the side event will try to answer include:
- What must States do to protect civil society space?
- How can this space be protected for all members of society equitably?
- How can the Human Rights Council assist States in doing this?
- Is there a need for further normative development of civil society rights, such as through General Comments or guidelines?
Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association highlighted that the existence of an independent civil society is a prerequisite for a legitimate democracy.
“It is the primary vehicle for people to organize and make their voices heard. States have no business interfering with that process – rather, they should encourage it.”
Also Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression explained that the situation for human rights has been getting worse since he began his mandate six years ago. Furthermore civil society activists from Bahrain, Venezuela and the Philippines lamented the widening implementation gap at the national level of the freedoms of peaceful assembly, association and expression, which are fundamental to civil society.
The CSI reiterates its call on the HRC to take action to address the implementation gap in the protection of civic space at the national level, both by elucidating State obligations to create a safe and enabling environment for civil society and insisting on accountability for failures by States.
*Members of the CSI are ARTICLE 19, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, the World Movement for Democracy, and the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law.