UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Published First Year-End Report

UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Maina Kiai has released his mandate’s first ever year-end report, which reviews the events of 2014 from the perspective of assembly and association rights. The report serves as both a first draft of history for the events of 2014 and a yearbook of his mandate’s activities. Kiai writes that 2014 will certainly be a year that we remember, either as a year of protests, year of the revolution or a year of shrinking space. The report notes that 2014 proved to be a year of monumental developments in the area of assembly and association rights, though the direction of change was rarely positive. CSOs across the world continued to face a wave of restrictive new laws, often targeting disfavoured groups specifically or civil society generally. But it was clear by the end of 2014 that the activists’ fight is not over; the world continues to need their courage. The report includes a personal letter from the Special Rapporteur, an extensive summary of the year’s events, and in-depth coverage of the mandate’s activities, including country visits, thematic reports and joint projects. The report is available here.

[Freeasembly.net]