UN Special Rapporteur’s Report to the General Assembly on Multilateral Institutions and their Effect on Assembly and Association Rights
PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 2014
The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association are equally fundamental and protected at the national and multilateral levels. Yet civil society is far too often excluded from international debates; multilateral institutions commonly view peaceful assemblies during global summits or when implementing a project as posing a security threat; the operations of many multilaterals lack transparency; and reprisals against human rights defenders who cooperate with multilaterals are common.
In this report (A/69/365), Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai examines obstacles to the exercise of assembly and association rights in the context of multilaterals – some erected by these entities themselves, and some erected by the States that comprise them. He also makes extensive recommendations on what can be done to improve the situation.