ORAL STATEMENT
Humanists International
UN Human Rights Council, 58th session (24 February – 4 April 2025)
General Debate: Item 6 – Universal Periodic Review
Mr President,
In areas where the UPR has had success in pushing forward human rights standards, the role of Civil Society Organisations, particularly those at the grassroots level, should not be underestimated. Their engagement is central to tracking state implementation and bridging the gap between recommendations and local action.[1]
Despite their key role, CSOs are still not included at every stage of the UPR, and risks for them when engaging, still not mitigated against. Accordingly, we reiterate previous calls made for strengthening the engagement possibilities for CSOs – specifically, by including space for Civil Society statements at the working group stage, and by creating a mechanism of accountability for reprisals within the UPR process.[2]
This renewed call comes at a time of a global crackdown against Civil Society, [particularly those in support of universal human rights and equality]. Just over a week ago, the Prime Minister of Hungary encapsulated this anti-CSO sentiment when vowing to wipe out NGOs and media he claimed to be fed by foreign funding.[3] He described them as “bugs” that needed to be carried off by flood water.[4] Hungary is not alone in its clampdown, we see similar trends in Azerbaijan,[5] India,[6] Nicaragua,[7] Russia,[8] Slovakia,[9] Turkey,[10] and Uganda[11] to name a few.
This global pattern is compounded by sweeping funding cuts and disinvestment in the multilateral human rights system as a whole.
Empowering Civil Society is key to creating a more accountable and effective human rights system, including via the UPR. Never has the voice and action of Civil Society been more needed. We urge the Council to consider this in the process going forward.
Thank you.
Endnotes
[1] https://upr-info.org/en/news/participation-impact-role-csos-upr
[2] These were two of the calls made by the International Service for Human Rights at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council
https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/hrc34-states-and-ngos-call-strengthened-universal-periodic-review/
[3] https://miniszterelnok.hu/en/speech-by-prime-minister-viktor-orban-on-the-177th-anniversary-of-the-hungarian-revolution-and-war-of-independence-of-1848-49/
[4] https://miniszterelnok.hu/en/speech-by-prime-minister-viktor-orban-on-the-177th-anniversary-of-the-hungarian-revolution-and-war-of-independence-of-1848-49/
[5] https://www.occrp.org/en/news/azerbaijan-escalates-crackdown-on-civil-society-arrests-ngo-figures-targets-exiled-activists, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/10/cop29-azerbaijan-end-assault-on-civil-society/.
[6] https://www.context.news/money-power-people/empty-beds-lost-jobs-the-price-of-indias-crackdown-on-ngo-fund s, https://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r36
[7] https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/nicaragua-shutters-1500-ngos-as-crackdown-continues/, https://ticotimes.net/2025/01/08/nicaragua-continues-ngo-crackdown-with-save-the-children-ban
[8] https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/01/russia-un-experts-alarmed-escalation-crackdown-civil-society, https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/02/20/russia-year-after-navalnys-death-supporters-targeted
[9] https://www.fairplanet.org/story/inside-slovakias-crackdown-on-free-media-fico-assassination-attempt/
[10] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/03/turkiye-massive-escalation-in-ongoing-crackdown-including-arrest-of-istanbul-mayor/
[11] https://www.fidh.org/en/region/Africa/uganda/uganda-crackdown-on-activists-protesting-against-large-scale-oil, https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/11/02/working-oil-forbidden/crackdown-against-environmental-defenders-uganda
'Shrinking of Civil Society Spaces and UPR engagement', Humanists International