THE RAPPORT – 16 March to 29 March 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/

Americas

• Disciplinary proceedings initiated against Peruvian Superior Court Judge Oswaldo Ordóñez, purportedly on account of statements he made during a 2024 hearing on judicial independence before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, could constitute reprisals for the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression before a regional human rights organ, say the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, freedom of opinion, and freedom of assembly. (PER 1/2026)

• The significant difficulties faced by the Nominations Committee for Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal, “together with the allegations of corruption and influence peddling surrounding previous processes, as well as the lack of effective civil society participation, have undermined the integrity, credibility, and effectiveness of the appointment processes for judges, magistrates, and prosecutors in the country,” says the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. (GTM 1/2026)

• The detention and risk of deportation of six Nicaraguan nationals — including human rights defenders, political dissidents, Indigenous leaders, and those with pending asylum claims — by the United States to Nicaragua or third countries, including Honduras, constitute violations of the principle of non-refoulement and the prohibition against arbitrary detention, among others, say ten Special Rapporteurs. (USA 42/2025, HND 7/2025)

• The allegedly pervasive practice of forced labour and involuntary servitude in prisons in the southern United States, for the benefit of private companies who extract profits from incarcerated workers, disproportionately affect people of African descent and is a “contemporary manifestation [of] … the brutal legacy of chattel slavery,” say the Working Groups on African descent, arbitrary detention, and business and human rights, and the Special Rapporteurs on slavery, minority issues, and racism. (USA 44/2025)

• Reprisals against Judge Fernando Muñoz Benítez for his work as an electoral judge in Ecuador threaten the independence of the judiciary and may amount to violations of international human rights standards and the country’s own constitutional principles, says the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. (ECU 1/2026)

• Brazil’s failure to investigate, prosecute, and provide reparations in relation to the events known as the “Crimes of May” — which occurred between 12 and 21 May 2006 in São Paulo, and involved the alleged excessive and lethal use of force by law enforcement officers resulting in 564 deaths, 110 injuries, and 4 enforced disappearances — “occurs within a broader and persistent context of continued allegations of excessive use of force by police and the disproportionate incarceration and lethal victimization of Afro-Brazilian communities,” say the Working Groups on African descent and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on racism, executions, and transitional justice. (BRA 1/2026)

Africa

• Ongoing fossil fuel extraction in Lokichar Basin, Kenya, by Tullow Oil and Gulf Energy Ltd., have been conducted without the free, prior, and informed consent of the Turkana people, in violation of their right to self-determination and their right to a healthy environment, say the Working Group on business and human rights and the Special Rapporteurs on Indigenous Peoples, climate change, environment, health, human rights defenders, and internally displaced persons. (KEN 4/2025, OTH 148/2025, OTH 147/2025)

• Intimidation and harassment of, threats to, forced closure of business interests of, and destruction of property of Mr. Clement Muiruri Kamau — in apparent retaliation for his monitoring of alleged human rights violations in Murang’a County, Kenya, including at the American-headquartered Del Monte pineapple plantation in Thika — constitute a prima facie violation of the right to freedom of expression, say the Working Group on business and human rights and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and freedom of opinion. (USA 3/2026, KEN 1/2026, OTH 4/2026)

• A decree in Burkina Faso which entered into force in February 2026 and requires all NGOs to open and domicile all of their current accounts exclusively with the Treasury Deposits Bank may undermine the rights to freedom of association and expression and could impede the flow of humanitarian aid, say the Special Rapporteurs on terrorism, freedom of assembly, and human rights defenders. (BFA 1/2026)

• Ghana’s draft Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill — which would, inter alia, criminalise the mere self-identification of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and other gender-diverse persons, and increase criminal penalties for consensual same-sex intimacy — is prima facie incompatible with international human rights law and regional standards provided by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on education, freedom of opinion, health, human rights defenders, SOGI, and torture. (GHA 1/2026)

Asia

• The arrest, detention, and denial of fair trial rights for Ms. Ulviyya Guliyeva, an independent journalist and correspondent for Voice of America, are emblematic of the “psychological and physical violence” experienced by women journalists in Azerbaijan, say the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women and girls, freedom of opinion, and independence of judges and lawyers. (AZE 1/2026)

• The alleged arbitrary arrest and criminalisation of four human rights defenders, stemming from their activism during the large peaceful demonstrations across Indonesia in August 2025, engage the state’s obligation to “respect, protect and fulfil the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, and human rights defenders. (IDN 2/2026)

• The arrest of Ho Sy Quyet on 18 August 2025 in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, and the extension of his incommunicado detention from 1 January 2026 to 1 April 2026, are in apparent retaliation for his environmental advocacy and in violation of international human rights law standards, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and freedom of opinion. (VNM 1/2026)

Europe

• Restrictive measures by the European Union against academics who may be “responsible for … or benefiting from actions or policies by the Government of the Russian Federation which undermine or threaten democracy, the rule of law, stability or security in the Union or in one or several of its Member States,” have triggered a “notable chilling effect coercing them not to express their views,” in violation of the right to freedom of opinion, say the Special Rapporteurs on cultural rights, education, foreign debt, international order, and unilateral coercive measures. (OTH 1/2026)

• Russia’s conviction in absentia by the Moscow City Court of the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor and eight sitting judges “undermine[s] the ICC’s ability to investigate, prosecute, and sanction war crimes and crimes against humanity, and risk[s] obstructing victims’ access to justice,” in violation of international human rights law standards safeguarding the independence of the judiciary, say the Special Rapporteurs on Russia and the independences of judges and lawyers. (RUS 1/2026)

• The arrest of 52 peasants and farmers, including members of the Confédération Paysanne, during a protest addressing, inter alia, France’s agricultural policies discriminating against small- and medium-sized farms, could constitute serious violations of the rights to peaceful assembly and association and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, say the Working Group on peasants and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly. (FRA 1/2026)

• The arrest, detention, and criminal prosecution of three human rights defenders who have been monitoring prison conditions in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia are part of a broader trend toward the “disproportionate and vague application of national security legislation to criminalize cooperation with international organizations and the receipt of foreign funding for peaceful human rights activities,” say the Special Rapporteurs on Russia and human rights defenders. (RUS 2/2026)

• The decision to remove the departments of History, Serbian Language and Literature, and Russian Language and Literature from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Niš, and instead establish a “Faculty of Serbian Studies,” without the involvement or consent of competent university bodies, forms part of a “broader pattern of measures affecting academic freedom and the independence of academic institutions in Serbia,” say the Special Rapporteurs on education, cultural rights, and freedom of opinion. (SRB 1/2026)

• The repeated invocation of Article 421-2-5 of the French Penal Code, criminalizing apology for terrorism in the context of debates in France relating to Israeli actions in Gaza and French foreign policy, has been “arbitrary and excessive” and has stoked “a climate of division, tension, and politicization of public debate following the attacks of October 7, 2023,” say the Special Rapporteurs on terrorism, freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, human rights defenders, and Palestine. (FRA 15/2025)

• The administrative detention and imminent deportation to Ethiopia of Mr. Tesfu Asfaha, an Eritrean national living in Switzerland and currently receiving continuous medical monitoring for his opioid dependency treatment, could amount to violations of the Convention against Torture and broad principles of non-refoulement, say the Special Rapporteurs on health and migrants. (CHE 10/2025)

• The Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty has provided follow-up to France regarding a 2025 communication that addressed the reform of the active solidarity income by the Full Employment Act No. 2023-1196 of 18 December 2023. (FRA 2/2026)

• The Working Group on business and human rights has provided its views on Norway’s decision to pause its coordination with the Government Pension Fund Global, pending a review of the ethical framework governing the Fund, which “may affect situations involving serious breaches of international human rights and international humanitarian law, including in contexts of armed conflict, where the risk of severe and irreparable harm to individuals and communities is heightened and where timely action is essential.” (NOR 1/2026)

• The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers has provided her views on new legislation in Serbia, which “may not be in line with international human rights standards related to the independence of the judiciary and the right to a fair trial, including: the impartiality of the prosecution service, the separation of powers, and the ability of judges and prosecutors to perform their functions free from undue influence, pressure or interference.” (SRB 3/2026).

Middle East

• The repeated arrests and ongoing arbitrary detention of Mr. Awad Al-Sawafi, a human rights defender who has repeatedly decried corruption in Oman, appear to contravene a wide range of rights enshrined in, inter alia, the ICCPR, the ICESCR, the CAT, and the Arab Charter on Human Rights, say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of opinion, and freedom of assembly. (OMN 1/2026)

• The demolition of the Abu Diab family home “exemplifies a broader and increasing pattern of home demolitions in East Jerusalem, alongside the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the same area,” say the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women and girls, housing, internally displaced persons, and Palestine. (ISR 1/2026)

• Iran’s extensive use of executions for drug crimes is in clear violation of international human rights standards, which only permit the application of capital punishment in exceptional circumstances for intentional murder, say the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on Iran, executions, minority issues, and violence against women and girls. (IRN 24/2025)

• The death sentences imposed by Iran on Mr. Reza Abdali, Mr. Farshad Etemadi-Far, Mr. Masoud Jamei, and Mr. Alireza Mardasi, stemming from security-related charges of “enmity against God” and “corruption on earth,” contravene international human rights standards, which only permit the application of capital punishment in exceptional circumstances for intentional murder, say the Special Rapporteurs on Iran and executions. (IRN 23/2025)

• Israel’s Bill for the State-National Commission of Inquiry for Examining the Failures Surrounding the Shemini Atzeret (7 October 2023) Massacre and Related Events, introduced in the Knesset in December 2025, may not, as currently drafted, satisfy the requirements for investigations into violations of the right to life under Article 6 of the ICCPR, nor appropriately engage with victims’ rights, say the Special Rapporteurs on terrorism, executions, and Palestine. (ISR 4/2026)