At the 58th session of UN Human Rights Council (24 February to 4 April 2025) CIVICUS will prioritise protecting civic space and civic freedoms. With our mandate to strengthen citizen action and as a global civil society alliance, we will support civil society where they face persistent, new and unprecedented risks and challenges. We will continue to enable meaningful, effective and inclusive participation and engagement of civic groups with the Council.
*More data on the state of civic freedoms for all UN Member States available at monitor.civicus.org
Click on the links below to read more on our priorities at the Council's 58th session:
- Overview
- Thematic Advocacy priorities
-- CIVICUS' country specific-priorities
-- Country situations that should be on the Council's agenda
According to the latest CIVICUS Monitor findings, civic space for civil society participation in decision making continues to be increasingly challenging. Currently, almost a third of the world’s population lives in countries with closed civic space. This is one of the highest percentages since 2018, when CIVICUS began systematically tracking global civic space conditions. This points to a major crisis that requires immediate international efforts.
In 2024, CIVICUS recorded a slight decrease in closed civic spaces globally and a slight increase in number of people living in open countries with free civic spaces, compared with 2023. However, an additional 1.5 percent of the global population now live in repressed or closed countries.
Since the previous edition of the report, civic space ratings have changed for 18 countries. There is a remarkable deterioration in civil society conditions in nine countries, including countries and territories on the Council agenda such as the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Georgia.
Unlawful detention of protesters and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders are two of the top five violations in 2024. More than 1,350 incidents of violations of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association have been recorded.
Civil society space concerns are recognised as full-fledged human rights issues by the UN Human Rights Council. However, more attention should be paid to serious civic space incidents as early warning signs of escalating, worsening or reinvigorated human rights crises.
Considering the global regression of civic space conditions and unfolding crisis situations, the Human Rights Council should address human rights violations and abuses promptly, effectively, and impartially. Its prevention mandate should be revitalised to avert further escalation of ongoing crises.[1] Council action should continue to address the root causes of protracted crises and emerging trends, particularly as they relate to grave violations associated with the exercise of fundamental freedoms.
The 58th session offers opportunities for negotiation of higher standards. The Council should reaffirm its commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights by renewing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Counter-terrorism and Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food for a further period of three years.
The Council should continue scrutiny and extend the mandate of its mechanisms on Nicaragua, South Sudan and Ukraine. It should do the same with Special Rapporteurs on the human rights situation in Myanmar and Iran. The Council must ensure continued monitoring of the human rights situation in Belarus.
The Human Rights Council should also address challenges in countries not on its agenda that require urgent action to prevent further violations.
Civil society remains one of the most significant stakeholders of Council's processes. The full and unimpeded participation of civil society remains a critical issue for the Human Rights Council in fostering human rights. Civil society makes critical contributions to the Council agenda. However, the mechanism continues to face major challenges. The meaningful, effective and inclusive participation of civil society is essential towards ensuring the Council’s robustness and legitimacy.
However, we continue to witness a decline of good practices and an increase in barriers to effective, meaningful and inclusive civil society participation. Examples include the requirements of payment for hybrid modalities during side events, restrictions related to access to hybrid informal negotiations on draft Resolutions and growing difficulties in obtaining visas particularly for young HRDs. Limited time and space allowed to civil society in General Debates and Interactive Dialogues, Panel Discussions and Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Outcomes, and continuous adjustments of speaking times and security measures reduce their ability to convey meaningful and insightful perspectives.
Structural barriers facing historically excluded groups in their access to the Council also persist. CIVICUS continues to advocate for enhanced participation of indigenous groups. We promote protection measures for young HRDs, rights of people with disabilities, and call for removing obstacles for those facing intersectional challenges alongside civic space restrictions.
Resolutions remain, at best, ‘recommended’ and not enforced. States are not obliged to comply with the measures but are called on to adopt them as voluntary action. The non-enforceability principle in some instances leaves room for further human rights violations and deterioration of rule of law, and ultimately the role of Council. Non-competitive elections contribute to states with human rights violations being part of the Council membership. See joint letter: With a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, Thailand must embark on constitutional reform and secure human rights at home.
The Human Rights Council continues to face liquidity crisis due to the Member States’ delay in paying UN dues and declining trust towards multilateralism. This negatively impacts the effectiveness of human rights mechanisms. It creates challenges for Special Procedures mandate holders who are experiencing narrowed access to domestic authorities and worsens restrictions on civil society participation ultimately leading to setbacks in fulfilling human rights. Financial shortfalls also cause delays and obstacles for states voluntarily following UPR and Special Procedures' recommendations. Restricted resources stemming from budget constraints, aggravated by the recent aid freezes, can be a severe obstacle in the council’s advocacy on human rights and its effectiveness as a multilateral institution.
Over the past year, mandate holders have addressed emerging issues and developed human rights-based responses to challenges affecting civil society. They have also strengthened synergies across pillars of the UN and promoted a cohesive approach to uphold core human rights principles globally. This was done to reinforce UN capacity and Council's capacity to address human rights concerns effectively.
Given the 2024"super election year,” Prevention of human rights violations, security, conflict & peacebuilding, and election-related democracy challenges have been priority considerations. Role of artificial intelligence in several areas, including its impact on people of African descent, has also been a consideration. An Advisory Committee, as mandated by the Council, is currently working on report: the impact of artificial intelligence systems on good governance and human rights. A report on the impact of disinformation on the realization of human rights is also being prepared. They will provide recommendations on implementation of Resolutions for promotion of a democratic and equitable international order with a focus on reinvigorating North-South dialogue on democracy and human rights.
CIVICUS' thematic advocacy priorities
At this 58th session, the Council will discuss a range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights through dedicated debates with the mandate holders and the High Commissioner. CIVICUS will mainly make interventions related to the following thematic areas:
Thematic priorities
A report about HRDs working in isolated, remote and rural contexts will be presented, focusing on barriers and challenges. Two years after the 25th anniversary of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the contribution of HRDs remains largely overlooked or underestimated. There are numerous challenges HRDs, including children and youth, continue to face.
These include arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, ill-treatment, persecution, and extrajudicial killing. HRDs continue to be at severe risk. This consequently leads to the distortion of illustrating HRDs as traitors, criminals, or worse, terrorists.
Protecting HRDs at risk should be prioritized to ensure a sound, healthy, democratic civic space. Increased attention must be heeded to specific challenges facing HRDs at risk like those in exile, working in remote areas, belonging to historically excluded groups, and facing transnational repression. They also face difficult challenges in their digital work.
We anticipate that the negotiation of the Resolution on HRDs at the Council will contribute to addressing some of these challenges by considering intersectionality and providing safe preconditions for HRDs to renew their commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights via the following calls.
We call on the States to:
- Adopt a Resolution recognizing the importance of the role of HRDs and improving protection via strengthened tools and resources. This includes the States working closely with civil society partners and protection networks with expertise.
- Adopt a Resolution strengthening standards on privacy protection due to threats of surveillance and commercial spy-ware, sensitive data usage and artificial intelligence, accessibility and inclusion, responsibilities of tech companies, and new forms of online violence and persecution.
- Adopt collective and inclusive action plans with preventive and reactive measures to secure physical, mental, legal safety and protection to the HRDs.
- Establish protection for HRDs in remote or isolated areas through specific measures. Examples include supporting resources for communication to avoid HRDs being held incommunicado and resources to ensure physical and legal safety.
- Recognise the severity of surging cases of arbitrary detention of HRDs and identify concrete measures to develop mechanisms aimed at identifying unlawfully detained HRDs in remote and rural areas.
- Guarantee the protection of HRDs through judicial, legislative, administrative, technical and other necessary measures including vis-a-vis increased risks of cyber intimidation.
The arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, journalists, protestors, and civilians, often accompanied by reprisals and persecution, remains one of the most pervasive and aggressive measures implemented globally today. This practice prominently features among the top ten global violations of civic freedoms in 2024. The unlawful detention of protestors ranks first, followed closely by the wrongful detention of human rights defenders and journalists. These actions are widely employed as a means to suppress dissenting voices and impede civic movements.
Many nations have been reported to attack journalists, detaining them arbitrarily in violation of international standards. At least 58 countries unjustly detained human rights defenders (HRDs), sometimes resulting in their deaths. CIVICUS has consistently called for the release of wrongfully imprisoned activists and defended their rights through actions, speeches, and advocacy efforts like the Stand as Witness Campaign. Victims of arbitrary detention often endure immense suffering, torture, and even death.
We encourage the States to:
- Acknowledge the gravity of confirmed and reported instances of arbitrary detention of activists and citizens for engaging in activities that support and defend human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.
- Support efforts to give visibility, empower and protect those who tirelessly stand up for human rights and suffer arbitrary detention.
- Explore policy options to strengthen the work of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
- Support efforts to develop a list of Arbitrarily Detained Individuals or Countries of Concern based on different tools and resources including CIVICUS resources.
- Present to the Council and other international bodies instances of reprisals and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, with consent of the victims, to assist in identifying patterns of reprisals and acts of intimidation resulting in arbitrary detention as a severe form of reprisal, including for cooperation with the UN.
- Support the release of unlawfully detained individuals including those deemed arbitrarily detained by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and those featured on the Stand as my Witness Campaign.
- Actively cooperate with international bodies, including the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, non-governmental organisations and CSOs in monitoring and addressing unlawful arrest of HRDs.
Country situations on Council agenda
Belarus (Civic space is rated as ‘CLOSED’ by the CIVICUS Monitor)
Many protests have taken place since the 2020 presidential election in Belarus. Civilians are still facing extreme violations in human rights today. Belarusian authorities have tortured and implemented arbitrarily incommunicado detention of journalists, human rights activists, and members of political opposition. UN human rights bodies have persistently recommended the establishment of a national human rights institution and requested fair trials. Unfortunately, they have been ignored by the Belarus authorities.
Many Belarusian citizens, including members of political opposition, activists and journalists are currently prosecuted in absentia, with number of cases increasing in 2024. Citizens are deprived of basic fair trial guarantees. They are prevented from choosing lawyers, not notified of the case, and cannot take part in trials remotely. Prosecution in absentia results in sentences, heavy fines, or in extreme case, death penalty without just procedure or charge. UN experts disclose deep concerns of trials in absentia lead to violation in human rights.
We call on the States to:
- Renew the group of three independent experts on the situation of human rights in Belarus for another one-year period.
- Engage in an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner to highlight the continuous decline of civic space in Belarus. Urge the Belarusian government to immediately and unconditionally release prominent activists and members of the Human Rights Center 'Viasna' who are being detained arbitrarily.
Democratic Republic of Congo (Civic space is rated 'Repressed' by the CIVICUS Monitor)
M23 and their allies in eastern DRC brutally murdered 3,000 people and injured 2,880 since late January. Military tension in eastern DRC, especially the city of Goma, led to a severe humanitarian crisis. Violence, genocide, sexual violence, forced recruitment, and displacement continues. M23, with direct military support from Rwanda Defense Force, is utilising all means possible to take over eastern DRC.
Hazardous attacks against human rights activists, journalists, and protestors are barely recorded in areas de facto in control of M23. With military forces strictly monitoring and confining movements of humanitarian organisations, protecting or providing civilians with aid is increasingly difficult. Given the harsh conditions, international organisations CSOs located in DRC are now evacuating their staff members. HRDs are forced to hide.
The UN Human Rights Council reached a consensus, as an outcome of the 37th Special Session of the body, to launch an urgent fact-finding mission and commission of inquiry into atrocities being committed by all parties to the armed conflict in eastern DRC. However, the situation continues to deteriorate. On 16 February Rwandan-backed M23 rebels entered Bukavu, the second-largest city in the eastern DRC, seizing the regional governor's office.
We call on the States to:
- Provide adequate funding for the fact-finding mission and commission of inquiry to allow the collection of information and verification into grave human rights violations. Request the Fact-Finding mission to make recommendations on accountability measures.
- Call upon the M23 and the Rwanda Defence Force to immediately end the human rights violations and abuses of international humanitarian law in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
- Adopt a strong Resolution on the human rights situation in the DRC with a focus on the protection of HRDs at risk and the use of judicial, legislative, administrative, technical, and other necessary measures.
Iran (Civic space is rated ‘CLOSED’ by the CIVICUS Monitor)
Repression of human rights activists, religious minorities, women, and families of past protesters continues in Iran. The country recorded at least 901 executions in 2024, one of the highest among UN Member States. Many were sentenced on fabricated charges like “armed rebellion against the state,” indicating the government's potential abuse of power to suppress political prisoners, ethnic minorities, and activists.
The Iranian authorities have aggressively restricted freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. University students faced harsh restrictions on peaceful speech. Repression against women, especially with hijab laws, is notable. There has been little accountability for Iranian security forces' actions, with few meaningful criminal investigations into abuses. Unlawful detention, judicial harassment, torture, and human rights violations appear to worsen each year.
We call on the States to:
- Renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur to ensure continued scrutiny of the wide range of grave human rights violations in Iran.
- Extend the mandate of the independent international fact-finding mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Request the Fact-Finding mission to present a report on concrete and enhanced accountability options for grave human rights violations.
- Use the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur to request the Iranian government to immediately and unconditionally release Narges Mohammadi and dozens of HRDs arbitrarily detained.
Myanmar (Civic space is rated as ‘CLOSED’ by the CIVICUS Monitor)
Since the 2021 coup, numerous activists, journalists, and protesters have been unlawfully killed, tortured, ill-treated and imprisoned. They were accused on trumped-up charges such as terrorism, sedition, and incitement for conducting anti-junta activism. The Junta forces have killed more than 6,000 civilians put at least 20,000 political prisoners behind bars. Forced conscription of young people, arbitrary arrests, prosecution, unfair trials, displacement, the blocking of humanitarian assistance, air strikes on civilians’ homes and infrastructure have been reported.
The junta forces frequently detain humanitarian workers, lawyers, religious leaders, journalists, and even children, often charging them under incitement laws and the amended counterterrorism act for supporting the National Unity Government (NUG) or criticizing the junta. Approximately 630,000 Rohingya in Rakhine State face persecution, deprivation of liberty, and systematic abuses amounting to crimes against humanity. Recently, a strict new cybersecurity law was enacted.
CSOs have urged ASEAN to discontinue all interactions with the military junta and reconsider the 2021 5-point consensus. Despite international civil society efforts to hold the military forces accountable, unlawful activities persist. The junta has extended the state of emergency for another six months in preparation for the upcoming November 2025 election, which some civil society groups view as a sham.
We call on the States to:
- Renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar and adopt a meaningful and robust resolution to reflect the ground realities and advance accountability.
- Use Interactive Dialogues with the High Commissioner and the Special Rapporteur to highlight the misuse of counter-terrorism laws and incitement provisions against activists. Call for the release of human rights defenders and activists and reject the junta-proposed sham election to legitimize de-facto military rule.
- Request the High Commissioner to continue to track progress on human rights situation in Myanmar and identify avenues for the protection of the human rights of Myanmar people including of Rohingya Muslims and minorities.
Nicaragua (Civic space is rated as ‘CLOSED’ by the CIVICUS Monitor)
The human rights crisis in Nicaragua continues to escalate, with authorities intensifying their crackdown on dissent by enforcing disappearances, arbitrarily detaining activists, revoking citizenship and forcing individuals into exile. The targeting of HRDs, journalists and political opponents has widened to encompass broader segments of society. This puts at risk anyone perceived as questioning state policies or narratives.
135 political prisoners were released by the Nicaraguan government in September 2024. However, they were expelled to Guatemala after the release and the Supreme Court revoked their nationality. Government repression has extended to collective actions.
This move follows the closure of 1,500 CSOs in August 2024. The legal decision was unprecedented, leading to stricter regulations on civil society actions. Since 2019, over 5,500 CSOs have been closed by Nicaraguan authorities under a Ministerial Agreement that eliminated the legal status of 1,500 CSOs, as part of a systemic effort to stifle dissent.
We call on the States to:
- Renew the Group of Human Rights Expert’(GHRE)’s mandate for two years and extend the monitoring mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Provide particular attention to the limitations on civic space, the conditions of political prisoners, the circumstances of forcibly displaced families, and incidents of transnational repression.
- Use the Interactive Dialogues with the GHRE and with the High Commissioner to raise concerns about the civic space environment in Nicaragua, particularly pertaining to the recent mass closure of CSOs.
South Sudan (Civic space is rated as ‘REPRESSED’ by the CIVICUS Monitor)
In July, South Sudan's parliament passed a security bill granting the National Security Service (NSS) enhanced powers for warrantless arrests. Passed before South Sudan's first election since 2011, the bill has raised citizen concerns. The NSS had already been accused of human rights abuses, including illegal arbitrary arrests and detentions. With the bill's enactment, civil society faces greater repression, exemplified by the detention of civilians at the Transitional National Legislative Assembly on the day it was passed to prevent attendance at parliamentary sessions.
UN reports disclosed multiple arrests and detention perpetrated by several state and non-state groups including the NSS, the National Prison Service, and the South Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Women have been arrested for rejecting marriages, and political opponents detained without charges.
We call on the States to:
- Support the continuation of the Human Rights Council's action on South Sudan by extending the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS)’s mandate in full for a period of two years. Request CHRSS to present comprehensive written reports on the human rights situation in the country.
- Call on Council action to prevent further violations and abuses according to its prevention mandate and ensure accountability for past and ongoing violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law.
Country situations that require Council attention
United States of America (Civic space is rated ‘NARROWED’ by the CIVICUS Monitor)
Civic space in the USA has significantly declined since 2024. Authorities have taken measures against pro-Palestine protests and climate activists. This repression is reflected in a three-point drop in the Monitor’s score since 2023. In early 2025, restrictions on peaceful assembly emerged, with 11 state-level bills imposing additional penalties.
Press freedom has also seen deterioration. In January, security officers forcibly removed two journalists from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s final briefing after they questioned the administration’s role in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Two days later, police arbitrarily detained a photojournalist during an anti-deportation protest. In February 2025, two Associated Press reporters were denied White House access due to editorial policies, while the Kansas House Speaker imposed new restrictions on journalistic access to the state legislature.
The freedom of association is increasingly under threat. Last November, the House of Representatives passed a bill permitting the Treasury Department to revoke the tax-exempt status of non-profit organisations accused of supporting terrorism, without providing due process guarantees. In early January, the Justice Department announced significant revisions to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), raising concerns about its potential use to suppress dissent.
The freezing of USAID funds has considerably weakened multilateral cooperation.
We call on the States to:
- Highlight the negative consequences of USAID freeze on humanitarian aid, human rights and good governance, and the withdrawal of the US from the UN Human Rights Council and its implications for the entire human rights system.
- Use relevant Interactive Dialogues to raise concerns about the deteriorating civic space environment in the US, with a focus on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, association, press freedom, and right to due process guarantees.
[1] On the Council's prevention mandate see UNGARES 60/251, 5(f) and HRCRES 45/31.
