Human rights

In this statement delivered during the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, APC welcomed a gender perspective being integrated into the work of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and the adoption of intersectionality as a framework in the digital age.

Since December 2019, peaceful protests have erupted throughout India in response to the adoption of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. In response, India has witnessed large-scale violence against dissenters and a clampdown on freedoms of religion, expression, assembly and association.

At the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, states will consider a resolution extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders for three years. Civil society organisations including APC are calling on all states to support the extension.

APC’s priorities at this HRC session include gender and privacy online, freedom of religion or belief, and the criminalisation of human rights defenders, journalists and digital security and tech expertise, as well as highlighting violations of internet rights in countries like India and Myanmar.

In India, a discriminatory citizenship law has sparked widespread protests, which have been met with arbitrary arrests, excessive force and violence by the authorities. APC took part in a side event at the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council which addressed these human rights violations.

Ola Bini is a computer expert and human rights defender recognised worldwide, who is facing a political-judicial process in Ecuador since April 2019. In regards to this, Ecuadorian and international civil society organisations have decided to attend, as observers, the preparatory hearing and trial evaluation of 5 March 2020.

APC outlines positions on some of the areas covered in the digital strategies presented by the European Commission that will undoubtedly set a key precedent for global discussions on issues such as regulating platforms, data governance and artificial intelligence.

Political information and communication ecosystems have been changing lately. In many countries, social media and other online sources have been displacing newspapers and broadcasting, especially among the young. David Souter shares some thoughts on the implications of this for press freedom and why it matters.