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Attacks against National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) weaken their ability to fulfill their mandates to protect human rights and hinder access to justice and accountability for all, UN experts warned Monday, noting an increase in reported attacks.
The experts said, “NHRIs in compliance with the Paris Principles play a critical role in the promotion and protection of human rights. In carrying out their mandate, NHRIs’ leadership, members, and staff are increasingly subjected to smear campaigns, threats, defamation, and online and offline abuse, often with gendered dimensions targeting women human rights defenders and those working on gender equality and LGBTQ+ issues.”
The Paris Principles dictate the competencies, responsibilities, governance, and jurisdiction of NHRIs. Their main responsibilities include: “to submit to the government … opinions, recommendations, proposals and reports on any matters concerning the promotion and protection of human rights; to promote and ensure the harmonization of national legislation, regulations and practices with the international human rights instruments to which the State is a party, and their effective implementation; [and] to encourage ratification of the above-mentioned instruments or accession to those instruments, and to ensure their implementation,” among others.
While not a legally binding instrument, the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders “identifies human rights defenders as individuals or groups who act to promote, protect, or strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms through peaceful means” and “recognizes the key role of human rights defenders in the realization of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and legally binding treaties and in the international human rights system.”
The UN experts called for NHRI leaders and all staff of independent institutions to receive all the necessary protections afforded to human rights defenders under international law when they are attacked while attempting to carry out their objectives.
“NHRIs engage with victims of human rights violations, cooperating with international and regional human rights mechanisms and speaking out on sensitive or contested issues. In doing so, NHRI staff face similar risks and reprisals to other human rights defenders, particularly when their work challenges State authorities or powerful non-State actors,” the press release warned.
The International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), in Article 5, holds: “There shall be no restriction upon or derogation from any of the fundamental human rights recognized or existing in any State Party to the present Covenant pursuant to law, conventions, regulations or custom.”
Because the work NHRI leaders and staff conduct is essential in upholding and protecting the integral human rights entrenched in the UDHR, the protections human rights defenders receive under international law should be protected and not restricted or limited, in accordance with Article 5 of the ICCPR.
The UN experts warned that more direct forms of intimidation and retaliation are being increasingly reported and that NHRI staff members’ family members are more commonly becoming the targets of the intimidation and various attacks, underlining the extended risks those who engage in crucial human rights work face.
“More direct forms of intimidation and retaliation are also increasingly reported. Judicial harassment, including arbitrary legal proceedings and unfounded prosecutions, affects many NHRIs globally. Physical threats and violence continue to be reported, while digital threats are becoming more prevalent.”
The post Attacks against national human rights institutes hinder protection of essential human rights: UN appeared first on JURIST - News.
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The experts said, “NHRIs in compliance with the Paris Principles play a critical role in the promotion and protection of human rights. In carrying out their mandate, NHRIs’ leadership, members, and staff are increasingly subjected to smear campaigns, threats, defamation, and online and offline abuse, often with gendered dimensions targeting women human rights defenders and those working on gender equality and LGBTQ+ issues.”
The Paris Principles dictate the competencies, responsibilities, governance, and jurisdiction of NHRIs. Their main responsibilities include: “to submit to the government … opinions, recommendations, proposals and reports on any matters concerning the promotion and protection of human rights; to promote and ensure the harmonization of national legislation, regulations and practices with the international human rights instruments to which the State is a party, and their effective implementation; [and] to encourage ratification of the above-mentioned instruments or accession to those instruments, and to ensure their implementation,” among others.
While not a legally binding instrument, the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders “identifies human rights defenders as individuals or groups who act to promote, protect, or strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms through peaceful means” and “recognizes the key role of human rights defenders in the realization of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and legally binding treaties and in the international human rights system.”
The UN experts called for NHRI leaders and all staff of independent institutions to receive all the necessary protections afforded to human rights defenders under international law when they are attacked while attempting to carry out their objectives.
“NHRIs engage with victims of human rights violations, cooperating with international and regional human rights mechanisms and speaking out on sensitive or contested issues. In doing so, NHRI staff face similar risks and reprisals to other human rights defenders, particularly when their work challenges State authorities or powerful non-State actors,” the press release warned.
The International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), in Article 5, holds: “There shall be no restriction upon or derogation from any of the fundamental human rights recognized or existing in any State Party to the present Covenant pursuant to law, conventions, regulations or custom.”
Because the work NHRI leaders and staff conduct is essential in upholding and protecting the integral human rights entrenched in the UDHR, the protections human rights defenders receive under international law should be protected and not restricted or limited, in accordance with Article 5 of the ICCPR.
The UN experts warned that more direct forms of intimidation and retaliation are being increasingly reported and that NHRI staff members’ family members are more commonly becoming the targets of the intimidation and various attacks, underlining the extended risks those who engage in crucial human rights work face.
“More direct forms of intimidation and retaliation are also increasingly reported. Judicial harassment, including arbitrary legal proceedings and unfounded prosecutions, affects many NHRIs globally. Physical threats and violence continue to be reported, while digital threats are becoming more prevalent.”
The post Attacks against national human rights institutes hinder protection of essential human rights: UN appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.