HRC
Inclusive participation of civil society actors helps ensure that the Council is informed and responsive to human rights priorities and needs on the ground, engagement of organisations based outside Geneva, as well as under-resourced civil society actors.
APC's priorities at this session of UN Human Rights Council include gender-based violence online, in particular the issue of gendered disinformation and violence against women journalists; freedom of expression and association; and the human rights impact of the tech sector.
APC has joined with over 30 other civil society organisations to send letters to member states of each of the five regional groups of UN member states, urging them to ensure competitive slates of candidates and further deepen the level of competition in the 2022 Human Rights Council elections.
This submission was produced in response to the call by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for input to a report on internet shutdowns and human rights that will be presented to the 50th session of the Human Rights Council in June 2022.
In this open letter to the incoming president of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), APC and other organisations take the opportunity to voice a series of recommendations to ensure effective civil society participation in the upcoming 16th cycle of the HRC.
The 48th Session of the Human Rights Council was held from 13 September to 8 October 2021. The HRC remains a key space for APC to raise concerns about threats and challenges to human rights online.
Following the end of the 48th session of the Human Rights Council, 13 NGOs have issued a joint statement welcoming and expressing concern over key resolutions.
The HRC will hold its 47th session in Geneva from 21 June to 13 July. APC considers the HRC sessions an important opportunity to influence the formulation of international standards on human rights online and to raise awareness regarding violations of human rights online in specific countries.
APC is joining a group of organisations in sending letters to regional groups of states at the UN concerning the elections at the Human Rights Council, containing civil society recommendations for ensuring a competitive process and minimum standards for states that want to be elected to the HRC.
In 2011, the UN General Assembly resolved to maintain the status of the Human Rights Council as a subsidiary body and to consider the question again 10 to 15 years later. Our organisations wish to express their position regarding the expected consideration of this question between 2021 and 2026.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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