UN: 57th Session of the Human Rights Council kicks off in Geneva

Today, on 9 September 2024, the 57^th Session of the UN Human Rights Council started in Geneva (HRC57). The Human Rights Council is the primary body within the UN responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe, with significant implications for the right to freedom of expression online and offline.

At this session, the Council will maintain its focus on digital rights, with negotiations on a new resolution on human rights on the internet. We will be advocating for this resolution to affirm universal and meaningful connectivity as an essential enabler for all human rights, as well as to recommend specific human rights-based approaches to advance connectivity. At the same time, the Council will discuss and take action on several country-specific human rights crises. We will be spotlighting violations of the right to freedom of expression in Belarus, Cambodia, Myanmar, Turkey, and Russia.

Amid the Council's financial liquidity crisis, we have ongoing concerns about reductions in civil society participation, especially the discontinuation of allowing virtual participation in informal negotiations in resolutions. We will be joining partners to urge delegations to ensure broad and diverse civil society participation from those who cannot attend in person.

Human rights on the internet

Sweden - alongside a core group consisting of Brazil, Nigeria, Tunisia, and the United States - will lead negotiations on a new resolution on human rights on the internet. This is part of a series of resolutions with the same title, the first of which was adopted in 2012 and made the landmark affirmation that 'the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online'. The resolution will now be updated to responded to emerging challenge and include new commitments, with an overarching theme of connectivity.

We will take part in negotiations and meet with delegations throughout the session to ensure that the resolution contains new progressive standards. Our key priority is for the resolution to recommend concrete, human-rights based approaches to advancing connectivity. In particular, in a context where large telecommunications operators dominate and lack incentives to invest in infrastructure for remote or rural communities, it is essential that the resolution calls on governments to create an enabling and inclusive regulatory environment for small, non-profit and community operators. Another key priority will be for the resolution to move beyond its condemnation of internet shutdowns to other restrictions that deny universal and meaningful connectivity, including blocking, filtering, and throttling measures. Aside from this, it is essential that the resolution retains important previous commitments, particularly to ensure net neutrality.

The previous version of this resolution did not pass by consensus after China called the entire text to a vote, including due to references to a 'human rights-based approach'. While consensual resolutions are a desirable goal, we would encourage the core group to take the same approach this time and not aim to secure consensus through any significant compromise that would weaken the text. We reiterate that consensus should not come at the cost of rolling back international human rights standards.

Belarus

Belarus will remain at the top of the agenda at the session, with the Group of Independent Experts on Belarus issuing an oral update on their essential efforts to collect, consolidate, and preserve evidence of human rights violations committed by the authorities.

At the session, we will meet with the Group of Experts and also make a statement with partners during the interactive dialogue on their oral update to raise awareness of violations of the right to freedom of expression that continue in the country. Among our top priorities is to spotlight the systematic use of anti-extremism laws to silence dissenters, including relatives and friends of political prisoners. We will also once again speak up for Nasta Lojka, sentenced to 7 years for performing her human rights work - a vocation qualified as 'inciting hatred' by the authorities.

Cambodia

As with each September session, the human rights situation in Cambodia will also face heavy scrutiny. The Special Rapporteur on Cambodia will present his annual report as usual, while Cambodia will also formally respond to and adopt its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations to be implemented over the next 5 years.

During the interactive dialogue on the annual report, we will once again raise the alarm over the increasingly shrinking civic space in the country. In particular, we will draw attention to the recent measures taken by the government to prevent any protest and to silence public debate, including a nationwide ban on protests enforced through heavy police and military deployment, mass arrests, harassment of activists and their families, restrictions on free movement, and targeted threats from senior officials. At the same time, we will speak during the UPR adoption alongside partners to urge the government to fully implement all recommendations related to the right to freedom of expression.

Myanmar

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will present a new report on Myanmar at the session, with new recommendations to cease the human rights crisis in the country. Alongside a dedicated Special Rapporteur, the High Commissioner also has a specific mandate to monitor and report on the country since the coup, with a focus on accountability regarding violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

We will deliver a statement during the interactive dialogue on the report and encourage other delegations to mirror our concerns. We will maintain our focus on the assault on the media in the country and specifically call for the immediate release of journalists Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo, who were recently sentenced to 20 years and life in prison, respectively, under spurious terrorism charges. We will also raise awareness of recent measures by the military to block virtual private networks, which have been a lifeline for allowing citizens to access independent media websites as well as social media and messaging platforms.

Russia

The Special Rapporteur on Russia will also present an important report at the session, amid negotiations to renew her mandate to continue monitoring and reporting on the human rights crisis in the country. The Special Rapporteur's mandate was created back in 2022 - the first time that a human rights monitoring mechanism was created for one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council (known as the 'P-5') - due to severe restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and association, as well as systematic crackdowns on civil society organisations.

We will support efforts led by our partners to ensure the renewal of the Special Rapporteur's essential mandate in our conversations with delegations. We will also participate in the interactive dialogue on the report, raising awareness of a climate marked by a severe crackdown on the political opposition, extreme censorship measures, a lack of fairness and transparency of electoral processes, and repression of dissent and protests.

Turkey

Despite being one the world's leading jailers of journalists, Turkey does not have a dedicated dialogue for delegations and civil society to speak out and call for accountability for human rights violations, unlike some other countries. However, the general debates at the session provide an opportunity to ensure that the government does not evade scrutiny.

Alongside partners, we will make a statement in Item 4 General Debate, where we will raise the severe assault on the right to freedom of expression in the country. We will also urge all delegations committed to the right to freedom of expression to ramp up their efforts to ensure that the authorities face accountability for these violations.

During HRC57, follow @article19un for live updates and use #HRC57 to join the discussion. You can also check out our full coverage of the session here.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.