Human Rights Council

The UN Human Rights Council will be discussing a draft resolution on human rights defenders operating in conflict and post-conflict situations. Our organisations call on the Council to ensure that the resolution clearly reflects the gravity and the reality of the situation defenders face daily.

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.

In this joint statement, APC and other civil society organisations share their perspectives on the recently concluded 47th session of the UN Human Rights Council, held in Geneva from 21 June to 13 July in a hybrid format that combined face-to-face and online sessions.

In recognition of the 250 organisations in the #KeepItOn Coalition against internet shutdowns, we urge all states to immediately and unconditionally cease shutting down, throttling, or blocking the internet.

APC welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, in particular its recognition of gendered disinformation online and the recommendation to states and companies to confront it, as well as to give special attention to its consequences in the offline world.