Ireland plays a leading role in promoting and protecting those who face persecution for defending the rights of others. As well as raising individual cases with concerned countries, we also support the participation of human rights defenders in multilateral fora, including the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
We have been concerned for some time at the increasing trend of governments to prevent human rights defenders from engaging with the UN and by reports that some have been punished and even imprisoned on return from participation in meetings of the Human Rights Council.
As a member of the Human Rights Council, Ireland prioritised the role of civil society and took the lead on a resolution in 2013 which addressed this issue for the first time as a human rights concern and called on states to create an maintain a safe and enabling environment for civil society.
We have continued to follow this issue very closely following the conclusion of our term on the Human Rights Council. At its 32nd session in July 2016, Ireland led negotiations which resulted in the adoption of a further resolution on civil society space which, among other measures, called on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report compiling information on the procedures and practices in respect of civil society involvement with regional and international organisations, including United Nations bodies, agencies, funds and programmes. It is expected that this report will be presented to the Human Rights Council at its 35th session in July 2017.
While the accreditation of participants to Human Rights Council meetings in Geneva is ultimately a matter for the UN Office in Geneva and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ireland has actively supported the position that civil society actors, including human rights defenders, should be free to participate in such meetings without fear of reprisals. Ireland is a member of a core group, together with Fiji, Ghana, Hungary and Uruguay, which will deliver a joint statement at the next meeting of the Human Rights Council in March welcoming the mandate given to the Assistant Secretary General of the UN for Human Rights to receive, consider and respond to allegations of intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders and other civil society actors engaging with the UN. We strongly believe that this long awaited and important development will ensure a more systematised and coordinated response to this issue of concern and help to put an end to intimidation and reprisals against those cooperating with the UN on human rights issues.
