THE RAPPORT — 24 November to 7 December 2025

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

• Guatemala’s failure to provide adequate oversight of five active sand extraction companies operating in the village of Santa Cruz de Chinautla, which is inhabited mainly by the Maya Poqomam Indigenous People, constitutes a “sustained violation over time of the human right to safe drinking water,” say the Special Rapporteurs on water, education, environment, housing, and Indigenous Peoples. (GTM 7/2025)

Africa

• Organic Law No. 97.15, governing the conditions and procedures for exercising the right to strike and adopted in February 2025 by the Parliament of Morocco, places disproportionate restrictions on freedom of assembly, the right to strike, and the personal liberty of Moroccan citizens, in violation of international standards, say the Working Groups on peasants and discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly. (MAR 7/2025)

Asia

• The regime of alternative service for conscientious objectors to mandatory military service in South Korea is applied in a “punitive and discriminatory manner” which offends several human rights, including freedom of thought and the right not to be subjected to arbitrary detention, say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion. (KOR 6/2025)

• The lack of effective remedies available to human rights defenders in Kazakhstan — especially those challenging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, including Ms. Gulzada Serzhan and Ms. Zhanar Sekerbayeva — is particularly worrying given the rise of narratives labelling these actors as “foreign agents” and their activities as “extremist,” say the Special Rapporteurs on peaceful assembly, human rights defenders, and SOGI. (KAZ 4/2025)

• “Existential threats” faced by certain Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia — stemming from, inter alia, the state’s lack of formal recognition of Indigenous Peoples; the erosion of their rights under the revised Special Autonomy Law in West Papua; and the adverse effects of National Strategic Projects, extractive industries, and green energy initiatives on Indigenous lands and livelihoods — raise questions about the state’s compliance with various binding international instruments, including the ICCPR, ICESCR, CERD, and the CRC, say the Working Group on business and human rights and the Special Rapporteurs on Indigenous Peoples, climate change, cultural rights, freedom of opinion, internally displaced persons, and terrorism. (IDN 8/2025)

• The death in custody of Mr. Vuong Van Tha, a Buddhist human rights defender in Vietnam, “creates a presumption of arbitrary deprivation of life by the State authorities, which can only be rebutted on the basis of a proper investigation,” one that has thus far not been carried out, say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, executions, freedom of opinion, and freedom of religion. (VNM 7/2025)

• The decision to extend the prison sentence of Mr. A-Nya Sengdra, a Tibetan environmental and human rights defender whose health is seriously and rapidly deteriorating while incarcerated in China, likely constitutes an arbitrary detention under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on environment, freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, human rights defenders, minorities, and torture. (CHN 21/2025)

• The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers has expressed her concern with the recent amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, which vests “unusual power” in the executive for the initial appointment of judges of the highest court in Pakistan and the leadership of the Supreme Court, in a way which is “incompatible with the notion of an independent tribunal.” (PAK 14/2025)

Europe

• France’s decision to detain Mr. Abbas Aroura, an Algerian human rights defender, during a layover at Charles de Gaulle Airport on his journey from Mali to Switzerland, on the basis of an unsigned intelligence note labeling him as having links to terrorist organisations, constitutes an inappropriate use of administrative counter-terrorism measures that offends due process, say the Special Rapporteurs on terrorism, freedom of opinion, and freedom of assembly. (FRA 12/2025)

• The disgraceful social housing conditions experienced by Mr. S. Ramburn, a person with disabilities living in a London borough, are indicative of the United Kingdom’s systemic failure “to ensure or restore the habitability of their rentals, a key element of the right to adequate housing,” say the Working Group on human rights and business and the Special Rapporteurs on housing and disabilities. (GBR 15/2025, OTH 118/2025)

• The arrest, prosecution, and pre-trial detention of Ms. Nino Datashvili, a member of the informal women-led Talgha movement for democracy in Georgia, appear to be “carried out in direct retaliation for her human rights activism,” in violation of international human rights law, say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, peaceful assembly, and torture. (GEO 4/2025)

• Increasing harassment of and violence against members of Türkiye’s Kurdish minority constitute a “pattern of continuous discrimination against the Kurdish community, aimed at their marginalization in public spaces and the prevention of the enjoyment of their freedom of expression, and cultural rights,” say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on minorities, cultural rights, racism, and torture. (TUR 11/2025)

• The Working Groups on African descent, business, and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on torture, freedom of assembly, human rights defenders, terrorism, and violence against women and girls have expressed their concern that the United Kingdom’s existing national legislation and export controls governing the trade of weapons are not aligned with international human rights standards ensuring that weapons, restraints, and equipment are not misused for torture. (GRB 19/2025)

Middle East

• The arrests, threats, and harassment by Israel against Ms. Diala Ayesh, a Palestinian lawyer focused on ensuring fair trial guarantees for Palestinian political prisoners, are part of “a broader pattern of systematic targeting of legal professionals who perform functions for Palestinian detainees and the defence of human rights,” say the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers and human rights defenders. (ISR 21/2025)

Other

• The International Finance Corporation’s financial support for NewGlobe Schools, a for-profit education company operating in India and across Africa that fails to meet national education standards and frequently violates labour rights and health and safety regulations, “raises serious concerns about the IFC’s due diligence and oversight,” says the Independent Expert on foreign debt. (OTH 130/2025)

• The Working Group on business and human rights and the Special Rapporteurs on slavery and trafficking in persons have offered their views on the European Union’s Forced Labour Regulation and recommended, inter alia, ensuring appropriate expertise and meaningful stakeholder participation in forced labour investigations. (OTH 144/2025)