Geneva, Oct. 2 (DP.net).─ On September 30, 2010, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a Resolution on "The Rights of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association."
Sixty-three countries sponsored the landmark human rights resolution on "The Rights of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association," the result of a drawing to an end a hard-fought campaign by civil society groups. The resolution calls upon States to ensure the rights of individuals to assembly and association by taking all necessary measures to abide by obligations under international human rights law. Most importantly, the resolution also calls for the appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur to monitor and study trends, developments, and challenges in relation to the exercise of these rights, and to make recommendations on ways and means to ensure the promotion and protection of these rights. Among other duties, the Special Rapporteur will report on violations and discrimination, as well as threats or use of violence, harassment, persecution, intimidation, or reprisals directed at persons exercising these rights.
The resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council establishes the mandate of a Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and extended the mandates of the Working Group on arbitrary detention, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia. The Council also adopted a statement on religious intolerance.
With regard to the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the Council decided to appoint, for a period of three years, a Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.
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