THE RAPPORT – 11 May to 24 May 2026

THE RAPPORT is the only newsletter devoted to briefing human rights practitioners on the communications of the UN Special Procedures. It is written by our Principal, Kate McInnes, and is published on Sundays on a biweekly basis. To subscribe and read the full newsletter, visit https://therapport.substack.com/

Africa

• Murders and other acts of violence against members of the Mbororo Indigenous Peoples of northwestern Cameroon, committed in the context of the ongoing armed conflict between State forces and non-state armed groups, continue to be perpetrated due to an apparent lack of effective protection for the affected communities, which may “amount to collective punishment of Indigenous Peoples living in these areas,” say the Special Rapporteurs on executions, Indigenous Peoples, internally displaced persons, racism, and violence against women and girls. (CMR 1/2026)

• Interference and harassment of Mr. Mounir Gharbi and Mr. Soufiane Oauli, two lawyers in Algeria working to defend prisoners of conscience and Amazigh activists, violate international human rights standards that provide that lawyers must be entitled to perform their professional functions without being threatened, say the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, freedom of opinion, human rights defenders, and terrorism. (DZA 1/2026)

• The imminent risk of return of Ms. Umba Juliana Ambrosia Jose and eight other individuals currently detained in Equitorial Guinea, after being deported from the United States under a bilateral temporary transfer agreement, would expose them to a risk of irreparable harm and serious human rights violations, say the Working Groups on African descent, arbitrary detention, and discrimination against women and girls, and the Special Rapporteurs on migrants, health, international solidarity, racism, freedom of religion, torture, trafficking, and violence against women and girls. (GNQ 1/2026)

• Uganda’s Protection of Sovereignty Bill — which is premised on the notion that the country currently faces risks to “the nation’s ability to self-govern without undue external interference,” apparently stemming from “inadequate regulation of civil society” — may “create a significant chilling effect that discourages public participation and isolates activists from their communities,” says the Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly. (UGA 4/2026)

Americas

• The failure of authorities in Mexico to investigate the murders of Simón Pedro Pérez López and Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez is indicative of “a lack of concrete and effective action on the part of local, state, and federal authorities to create a safe environment” for human rights defenders, say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, executions, and Indigenous peoples. (MEX 2/2026)

• “Obstetric violence” in Peru, including Caesarean sections without medical indication or without free, prior, and informed consent, disproportionately affects Indigenous, rural, and Quechua-speaking women and violates not only the dignity and autonomy of pregnant women and girls, but “could also constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, contrary to the State’s international human rights obligations,” say the Working Group on peasants and discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on Indigenous Peoples, cultural rights, health, racism, and violence against women and girls. (PER 2/2026)

• Disappearances in Chiapas, Mexico, represent an acute human rights crisis that disproportionately impacts women and girls, say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and executions. (MEX 3/2026)

• The selection processes initiated on 25 February 2026 to appoint the heads of the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Ombudsperson in Venezuela — which lack adequate guarantees of transparency, participation, impartiality, and compliance with established constitutional procedures governing the appointment of senior public officials — present serious irregularities in relation to both Venezuelan law and applicable international standards protecting the rule of law and independence of prosecution services, say the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers and human rights defenders. (VEN 1/2026)

• The Special Rapporteur on racism has issued his “express support” for Assembly Bill A6920, presently before the New York Senate in the United States, which, if passed, would prohibit discrimination of individuals on the basis of caste. (USA 15/2026)

• Argentina’s Draft Law on the Inviolability of Private Property “fails to strike a fair balance between the protection of private property and the right to adequate housing” by, inter alia, accelerating eviction procedures without conducting a proportionality assessment and without alternative housing solutions for affected persons, says the Special Rapporteur on housing. (ARG 3/2026)

• The withdrawal from the registration procedure before the Office of the Comptroller General of Chile of more than 40 environmental decrees “could imply State inaction in advancing effective measures to prevent serious risks and to ensure fundamental rights, including the rights to a healthy environment, health, life, and access to water and sanitation for individuals and communities,” say the Special Rapporteurs on the environment, climate change, toxics, and water and sanitation. (CHL 2/2026)

Asia

• Pressure on independent media outlets in Kazakhstan, including death threats and cyberattacks against journalists and the lawyers representing them, “may constitute an attempt to interfere with legitimate journalistic work and to capture an independent media to control its reporting,” say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and freedom of opinion. (KAZ 1/2026)

• The ongoing judicial harassment in Kazakhstan of Father Iakov Vorontsov, which is apparently related to his public advocacy against the Russian Orthodox Church’s support for Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine, engages the State’s duty to “put in place effective measures to protect against attacks of all kinds aimed at silencing those exercising their right to freedom of expression,” say the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion. (KAZ 3/2026)

• The interim stay imposed by the Supreme Court of India on the adoption of the University Grants Commission Guidelines on Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions, which is pending review before the court, “could pose significant risks to students belonging to the marginalised communities,” say the Special Rapporteurs on racism and minorities. (IND 2/2026)

• Proposed amendments to the laws of Kyrgyzstan — which aims to, inter alia, define a person’s sex for civil status and family-law purposes solely by “biological (anatomical and genetic) characteristics recorded at birth”; prohibit any change of gender markers in civil status records and identity documents; and ban gender-affirming surgery — violates the principle of non-discrimination by excluding intersex, transgender, and other gender-diverse individuals from the scope of such protections, say the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on SOGI, cultural rights, education, freedom of assembly, health, and privacy. (KGZ 1/2026)

Europe

• Recruitment, merit and interview procedures for judicial and prosecutorial positions in Türkiye — which are based on, inter alia, criteria, rubrics, and scoring methodology that are not made public in a detailed or auditable manner — may infringe on the right to a fair trial, which emphasises the right to a competent, independent and impartial tribunal as one of the fundamental guarantees of due process, says the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. (TUR 4/2026)

• Contamination to the physical environment of the “Chemical Valley,” an industrial zone located south of Lyon, France, linked to the activities of Arkema and Daikin Chemicals France, undermines the State obligation to ensure the enjoyment of a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, in which people can live in dignity and well-being, say the Working Group on business and human rights and the Special Rapporteurs on environment, food, toxics, and water and sanitation. (FRA 4/2026, OTH 35/2026, OTH 34/2026)

• Arbitrary and prolonged incommunicado detention of inmates in punishment cells and denial of adequate medical and psychological care in Belarus’ Correctional Colony No. 1, as embodied by the suicide attempt of Mr. Ilhar Losik prior to his expulsion to Lithuania in 2025 and the death in custody of an unidentified man, constitute physical and psychological abuse that violate the prohibition on torture under international human rights law, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on Belarus, executions, freedom of opinion, older persons, terrorism, and torture. (BLR 1/2026)

• A heavily-redacted communication concerning a human rights defender and registered asylum seeker broadly claims that he will be the victim of reprisals if he is transferred out of Germany, say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on terrorism, freedom of opinion, human rights defenders, international solidarity, migrants, and freedom of religion. (DEU 1/2026)

Middle East

• Allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of Palestinians deprived of their liberty in Israel “suggests either a pattern of grave neglect by Israeli authorities of their duty to treat all persons deprived of their liberty with humanity and without discrimination, and to investigate all credible complaints of torture and ill-treatment, or, more concerningly, a de facto policy that encourages, condones and institutionalizes the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of Palestinians in Israeli custody, backed by ministerial and functional authorities,” say the Special Rapporteurs on torture and executions. (ISR 3/2026)

• Israel’s Death Penalty for Terrorists Law, adopted on 30 March 2026, is incompatible with State obligations to protect the right to life, among others, say 15 Special Rapporteurs. (ISR 6/2026)