THE RAPPORT — 22 December 2025 to 4 January 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

• Acts of intimidation, including arson, targeting Indigenous defenders and leaders of Bolivia’s Seque Jahuira community — apparently in retaliation for their advocacy against mining contamination — run contrary to “the importance of guaranteeing consultation and the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples,” say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of assembly, and Indigenous peoples. (BOL 2/2025)

• The absence of measures for truth, justice, reparation, memorialization, and guarantees of non-repetition for the grave human rights violations committed against Indigenous Peoples in Peru’s Putumayo region during the so-called Rubber Boom era constitutes a breach of human rights treaty obligations and the right to truth as enshrined in Peru’s Constitution, say the Special Rapporteurs on transitional justice, executions, Indigenous Peoples, and slavery. (PER 8/2025)

Africa

• Threats against and the attempted enforced disappearance of Mr. Alseny Farinta Camara, a human rights defender working to expose corruption in Guinea, have extended to his relocation in Senegal, where he appears to remain at risk of transnational repression, say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of opinion, and freedom of assembly. (GIN 2/2025)

• The harsh conditions of detention and deteriorating health of human rights defender Mohamed Embarek Lefkir, who is serving a 25-year sentence in Morocco for his peaceful protests in support of the rights of the Sahrawi people, constitute a clear violation of treaty obligations and the Mandela Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of opinion, and freedom of assembly. (MAR 8/2025)

Asia

• The criminalisation of five environmental human rights defenders opposing the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan appears to constitute direct “retribution for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association,” say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, the environment, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and older persons. (KAZ 6/2025)

• The Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance and the Special Rapporteurs on North Korea, slavery, and trafficking of persons have expressed interest in a recent North Korean decree granting amnesty to individuals convicted of committing “crimes against the country,” which, “if implemented … could be a positive step.” (PRK 3/2025)

Europe

• The harassment of members of Saturday Mothers — a human rights group comprising human rights defenders and relatives of victims of enforced disappearances and political killings in Türkiye during the 1980s and 1990s — engages state obligations “to take appropriate measures in response to death threats against persons in the public sphere, and … to protect individuals from foreseeable threats to life or bodily integrity proceeding from any governmental or private actors,” say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on executions, freedom of assembly, human rights defenders, transitional justice, and violence against women. (TUR 12/2025)

• An INTERPOL Red Notice issued by El Salvador against Ms. Ivania Cruz and Mr. Rudy Joya, two Salvadoran human rights defenders currently in Spain, appears to contravene INTERPOL’s three-part “predominance” test for assessing the political character of a notice and engages Spain’s obligations of non-refoulement, say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of opinion, and freedom of assembly. (ESP 2/2025, OTH 136/2025)

Other

• The Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders has issued communications to Meta and X, expressing concern that neither company has “provided any information about whether its current policies and practices take into account the impact they may have on the ability of human rights defenders to carry out their legitimate and peaceful work and activities. (OTH 164/2025, OTH 165/2025)