THE RAPPORT – 25 May to 7 June 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

• The suspension of permits for a number of human rights organisations in the run-up to Uganda’s national elections in January 2026, based on their perceived affiliation with the political opposition, “has a chilling effect on broader civil society and human rights defenders,” say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of opinion, and freedom of assembly. (UGA 2/2026)

• The abduction, disappearance, and alleged torture of Ms. Izdihar Gumaa Said, a lawyer and human rights defender who provides legal assistance to civilian victims of the ongoing conflict in Sudan, undermines the principle that lawyers shall not suffer prosecution for any action taken in accordance with recognised professional duties and shall not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, human rights defenders, torture, and violence against women and girls. (SDN 2/2026)

• The continued exclusion from employment of Mr. M’hamed Hali, a Sahrawi lawyer in Morocco who has been denied access to the legal profession because of opinions he allegedly expressed in support of the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination, appears to amount to an improper use of discretionary authority of the relevant bar association, contrary to the principles of legality and due process guaranteed under the ICCPR, say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of opinion, independence of judges and lawyers, and racism. (MAR 2/2026)

• Large-scale internal displacement and serious allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed against civilians in Jonglei, Lakes, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria states of South Sudan, linked to intensified armed clashes and related military operations since late December 2025, engage the obligations of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO), and allied militias, say 21 Special Rapporteurs. (OTH 39/2026, SSD 1/2026)

• Physical attacks against a number of woman human rights defenders from Espoir et Dignité des Femmes du Kivu (EDF-Kivu), an organisation advocating for the rights of Congolese women refugees in Uganda, are compounded by the alleged lack of action taken by police in response to these attacks, as is required of state authorities under international human rights law, say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, migrants, and violence against women and girls. (UGA 3/2026)

• The October 2025 abduction and beating of lawyer and human rights defender Mr. Luís Cordeiro Vaz Martins, apparently in retaliation for his criticism of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and his involvement in Guinea-Bissau’s Universal Periodic Review in February 2025, “may have a chilling effect on civic space in Guinea-Bissau and on the future engagement of members of Guinea-Bissau civil society with United Nations mechanisms,” say the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, and human rights defenders. (GNB 1/2026)

• The Special Rapporteur on torture has provided her guidance on whether international research and practice support the merger of Mauritius’ Independent Police Complaints Commission with the National Human Rights Commission, and whether a police complaints mechanism embedded within a national human rights institution would be better suited to ensuring a human rights based approach to police accountability. (MUS 1/2026)

Americas

• The Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and executions have emphasised the importance of the findings and ordered reparations of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts for the Berta Cáceres case, which found that murder of Ms. Cáceres, in retaliation for her defence of Indigenous rights in Honduras, occurred “a context characterized by a hostile environment toward environmental and territorial human rights defenders, marked by militarization, increased investment in extractive industries, and widespread corruption.” (HND 1/2026)

• The “institutionalisation” of severe religious repression in Nicaragua — including the use of “criminal, administrative, and economic measures to silence religious actors, dismantle religious institutions and communities, and deter individuals and communities from peacefully expressing their beliefs” — is incompatible with the rights to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression, and non-discrimination, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, and religion. (NIC 5/2025)

• Criminal proceedings against Judge Álvaro Mesa Latorre for the misdemeanor offense of “judicial misconduct,” based on the content of his judicial decisions in cases involving serious human rights violations in Chile, “exemplify a broader pattern of reported acts that may amount to interference with, or reprisals against, judges, appellate court justices, prosecutors, and lawyers when individuals, public figures, or political parties disagree with judicial rulings and decisions,” say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers and transitional justice. (CHL 1/2026)

• The February 2026 killing of Ms. Rubí Patricia Gómez Tagle, a search activist whose son disappeared Sinaloa in 2025, occurred in the context of a violence that women search activists in Mexico continue to face, in an apparent attempt to prevent them from carrying out their legitimate human rights work, say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, executions, and violence against women and girls. (MEX 4/2026)

• The United States’ recent transfer of Oak Flat, a “a sacred site of profound religious, cultural and ceremonial significance” in Arizona, to Resolution Copper, a joint venture of multinational mining corporations including Rio Tinto, may amount to a “potential violation of the right of the Western Apache Peoples, particularly the San Carlos Apache Tribe, to manifest and practice their religion and belief freely, as protected under international human rights law,” say the Special Rapporteurs on Indigenous Peoples, freedom of opinion, and freedom of religion. (USA 11/2026)

• Repeated raids on the offices of the Human Rights Center Fray Matías de Córdova A.C., and the alleged lack of any meaningful action or response by local authorities, occurs within a broader “climate of insecurity faced by human rights defenders in Tapachula and in the border region of the state of Chiapas” in Mexico, say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of assembly, and migrants. (MEX 5/2026)

• The killing of Mr. José Albino Cañas Ramírez, a member of the Embera Chamí People Indigenous People, “forms part of a longstanding pattern of structural violence against Indigenous and territorial defenders” in Colombia, say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, executions, and Indigenous Peoples. (COL 3/2026)

Asia

• The conviction and sentence of Ms. Pimsiri Petchnamrob, a human rights defender, under Thailand’s lèse-majesté law in connection with a speech she made at a pro-democracy assembly in 2020 in which she allegedly drew comparisons between King Rama X to Adolf Hitler, is “disproportionate to her action” and incompatible with international human rights standards on freedom of expression, say the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, and human rights defenders. (THA 2/2026)

• An acid attack on Mr. Andrie Yunus, a human rights defender in Indonesia who has investigated mass human rights violations during the August 2025 protests, engages the state’s obligation to “guarantee effective accountability and his right to access to justice for the crime committed against him, including through the identification and prosecution of the material and intellectual authors of the crime,” say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, executions, and freedom of opinion. (IDN 4/2026)

• The prolonged and indefinite detention of Mr. Umar Khalid, a human rights defender and student activist who was arrested by authorities in India in September 2020 allegedly on politically motivated counter-terrorism charges and who has remained in detention without trial for more than five years, is a violation of his right to liberty and security and the prohibition on arbitrary detention under article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, say the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of assembly, freedom of opinion, human rights defenders, independence of judges and lawyers, minorities, religion, and terrorism. (IND 5/2026)

• The alleged enforced disappearance and death in 2021 of Ms. Elena Tijamo and the alleged enforced disappearances in 2023 and 2024 of Mr. Dexter Capuyan, Mr. Gene Roz Jamil de Jesus, and Mr. Felix Balonzo Salaveria Jr., “may be directly linked with their work in defence of the right to a healthy environment and other human rights, in particular the rights of indigenous people” in the Philippines, in violation of international human rights standards, say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, the environment, executions, freedom of opinion, and Indigenous Peoples. (PHL 2/2026)

Europe

• The prosecution of Ms. Defne Güzel, a trans human rights defender, for art exhibitions and the publication of books that run “contrary to public morality,” “appears to be directly linked to the exercise of her rights to freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of association, including her defense of LGBTI+ rights, and it forms part of the wider pattern of judicial harassment faced by LGBTI+ defenders and organizations in Türkiye,” say the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of opinion, human rights defenders, and SOGI. (TUR 5/2026)

• The deterioration of fundamental freedoms and civic space in Georgia over recent years — as exemplified by legislative reforms aimed at restricting freedom of association, excessive monitoring of civil society organisations, reprisals against civil servants who have exercised their freedom of expression, and crackdowns on journalists — may amount to violations under both international human rights conventions and the European Convention on Human Rights, say the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of assembly, freedom of opinion, human rights defenders, and torture. (GEO 1/2026)

• The arbitrary arrest, detention, and criminal prosecution of Ms. Daria Egereva and Ms. Natalia Leongardt, Indigenous human rights defenders of the Selkup people of Russia, apparently in retaliation for their participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, “appears to fit a broader pattern in the Russian Federation of abusing national security and public safety legislation … to silence civil society, including Indigenous activists, human rights defenders, civil society representatives, media and cultural figures, lawyers, persons who engage with the United Nations,” say 10 Special Rapporteurs. (RUS 3/2026)

• Alleged retaliation against and the prosecution of Mr. Vitaliy Shabunin, a prominent anti-corruption activist and co-founder of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, engage Ukraine’s to investigate attacks on human rights defenders and to ensure the right to a fair trial, say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and freedom of opinion. (UKR 1/2026)

Middle East

• The murder on 2 March 2026 of Ms. Yanar Mohammed, a human rights defender and feminist advocating for women’s equality and secularism in Iraq, “was committed with the additional aim of sending a clear chilling message to civil society in Iraq, in particular to women human rights defenders active in the so-called Coalition 188, that they will be targeted if they continue to carry out their human rights defence work,” say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, executions, freedom of opinion, and violence against women. (IRQ 1/2026)

Other

• Partnerships between Microsoft and Chevron and Israel’s Ministry of Public Defence may amount to complicity of the executives of these corporations in war crimes, atrocity crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel, says the Special Rapporteur on Palestine. (OTH 32/2026, OTH 31/2026)