THE RAPPORT — 27 October to 9 November 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

• Extensive budget cuts and institutional restructuring in Argentina may hinder the work of entities dedicated to memorialising the serious human rights violations committed during the 1976–1983 dictatorship and “constitute a serious setback in the realization of human rights in the country,” particularly with respect to rights arising from transitional justice, say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on transitional justice and executions. (ARG 6/2025)

• Institutional restructuring in Ecuador which merges the Ministry of Women and Human Rights with the Ministry of Government and the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition “sets a dangerous precedent and sends a troubling message that the realization of gender equality and the eradication of violence against women and girls are not priorities for the Government of Ecuador,” say the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on Indigenous Peoples, the sale of children, and violence against women and girls. (ECU 6/2025)

• Proposed infrastructure projects for the transportation and processing of liquefied natural gas in the Gulf of California — with potential negative impacts on a wide range of human rights in the context of climate change — implicate several companies domiciled in Mexico, the United States, and Singapore, say nine Special Rapporteurs. (USA 12/2025, SGP 3/2025, OTH 42/2025, OTH 41/2025, MEX 4/2025, OTH 40/2025, OTH 39/2025, OTH 38/2025)

• The United States’ refusal to issue visas to Palestinian officials intending to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025 impedes “the protection of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination” and constitutes unlawful discrimination based on nationality, says the Special Rapporteur on terrorism. (USA 29/2025)

• The 60-hour enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention of Ms. Martha Lía Grajales “appears to constitute direct retaliation for her legitimate activities as a human rights defender” and a lawyer for relatives of those arbitrarily detained following Venezuela’s presidential elections in July 2024, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and freedom of assembly. (VEN 4/2025)

• The killing of Ms. Katia Daniela Medina Rafael, a transgender human rights defender in Mexico, appears to be “directly linked to her legitimate work defending the human rights of transgender people in the State of Jalisco” and necessitates a prompt, effective, and independent investigation, say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, executions, and sexual orientation and gender identity. (MEX 10/2025)

• The imposition of sanctions by the United States, and Meta and Microsoft’s disruption of the digital operations of Addameer, a Palestinian human rights organisation, allegedly in relation to its association with the PLO, constitute “unjustified interference with the rights to freedom of expression, association, and participation in public affairs,” say the Working Group on business and human rights and the Special Rapporteurs on Palestine, terrorism, freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, and human rights defenders. (USA 27/2025, OTH 109/2025, OTH 108/2025)

• The arbitrary detention of and ongoing investigation against Mr. Luis García Villagrán, as well as President Sheinbaum’s stigmatization and discrediting of his work, is apparently in retaliation for his legitimate advocacy in protecting and promoting the rights of migrants relocating from Tapachula to Mexico City, say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, the independence of judges and lawyers, and migrants. (MEX 11/2025)

• The arrest, detention, and prosecution of a number of individuals within the Mayangna Sauni As Territory of Nicaragua, in connection with the Kiwakumbaih massacre in 2021, raise serious questions about “the apparent absence of a prompt, independent, and impartial investigation that would allow for full clarification of the events and the identification of both the material and intellectual perpetrators of the massacre,” say the Working Groups on arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and health. (NIC 3/2025)

• The demotion of judges and magistrates in Honduras who have reportedly been transferred to positions of similar or lower rank than those they previously held, without due process, justification, or procedural safeguards, raise serious concerns about judicial independence and the principle of irremovability of judges, says the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. (HND 5/2025)

• The use of United States military force in foreign territory and international waters against Latin American drug cartels that have recently been designated as foreign terrorist organisations does not comply with Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which “prohibits states from using armed force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, whether such force is targeting state or non-state actors,” say the Special Rapporteurs on terrorism, executions, and democratic international order. (USA 30/2025)

• Threats against Mr. Santiago Jiménez Jiménez, a Ch’ol Indigenous human rights defender, by armed groups in the State of Chiapas, may constitute an “escalating scale of attacks” against human rights defenders in Mexico, say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, executions, freedom of assembly, and Indigenous Peoples. (MEX 13/2025)

Africa

• The inhabitants of Annoban, a small island province of Equitorial Guinea, are “facing a crisis marked by severe environmental degradation” due largely to the development of major infrastructure projects developed by the federal government and foreign investors, including SOMAGEC, a company domiciled in Morocco, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and business and the Special Rapporteurs on environment, freedom of assembly, housing, human rights defenders, minority issues, toxics, and water and sanitation. (OTH 106/2025, MAR 6/2025, GNQ 1/2025)

• Algeria’s decision to ban Ms. Nassera Dutour, the President of the Collective of the Families of the Disappeared in Algeria (CFDA) and of SOS Disparus, from entering the country, constitute an illegitimate administrative sanction apparently in retaliation for her legitimate work in the defence of human rights, say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, human rights defenders, and transitional justice. (DZA 6/2025)

• The abduction and secret detention of and the physical and sexual violence against Ms. Espérance Martha, Ms. Chancelle Ibrahim, Ms. Noëlla Deborah, and Ms. Christine Byaziza, and the killing of Ms. Jeanne Martha Upendo, reflect an “apparent lack of adequate protection measures by the Government to ensure the right to life and the respect for the physical and moral integrity” of human rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, say the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, executions, and freedom of assembly. (COD 2/2025)

• Human rights violations committed against human rights defenders Mr. René Koffi Missode and Mr. Foly Satchivi, including arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and smear campaigns, appear to be direct reprisals for their public support of the June 2025 anti-Gnassingbé protests in Togo, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, and health. (TGO 1/2025)

• The enforced disappearance and ongoing incommunicado detention of Mr. Khaled Omar Al-Sadiq undermine fair trial rights and “may have a chilling effect on all lawyers in Sudan attempting to carry out their functions,” say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers and human rights defenders. (SDN 2/2025)

• The Special Rapporteurs on the right to food and health have offered their observations concerning the Uganda Food and Nutrition Policy (UFNP) of 2003, the ongoing elaboration and enactment of the Food and Nutrition Bill initiated in 2024, and the possible adoption of Front-of-Package Warning Labelling (FOPWL) in Uganda, which may provide insufficient commitments regarding state accountability and protection for food and nutrition. (UGA 4/2025)

• A critical mineral sands development project in Madagascar, owned and operated by companies domiciled in the United States and South Korea, has been developed “without any clear scheme on how [environmental] impacts would be prevented, mitigated and redressed and how benefits would be shared with the local population,” in violation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, say the Working Group on business and the Special Rapporteurs on climate change, executions, freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, human rights defenders, hazardous substances, and water. (USA 28/2025, KOR 4/2025, MDG 1/2025, OTH 113/2025, OTH 112/2025, OTH 111/2025, OTH 110/2025)

• Increased repression and harassment of magistrates — including the criminal prosecution of Mr. Mourad Messaoudi, a judge and a former candidate of the October 2024 presidential elections — “raise deep concerns regarding respect for the essential guarantees of the right to a fair trial, the independence of judges, and the separation of powers in Tunisia,” says the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. (TUN 6/2025)

• Angola’s response to protests and social unrest in July 2025 — including the use of lethal force that resulted in hundreds of injured people and the death of several individuals — violate a range of international human rights obligations, including the absolute prohibition on torture and the right to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention, say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of assembly, executions, freedom of opinion, and torture. (AGO 2/2025)

Asia

• The arrest and prolonged arbitrary detention of Mr. Yaxia’er Xiaohelaiti and the enforced disappearance of Ms. Rahile Dawut exemplify a pattern in China of discouraging and delegitimizing Uyghur cultural expression, say the Working Groups on enforced disappearances and discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on cultural rights, freedom of opinion, and minority issues. (CHN 18/2025)

• India’s response to the terrorist attack on Hindu tourists near Pahalgam in April 2025 — which has included the arrest and detention of approximately 2,800 people in Kashmir, the deportation of 1,900 Muslims without due process, and the demolition of homes as acts of collective punishment — far exceeds effective counter-terrorism measures and violates multiple prohibitions under international human rights law, say ten Special Rapporteurs. (IND 8/2025)

• China’s disbarment and financial penalisation of Mr. Kevin Yam, a lawyer who had previously commented on the independence of judges and prosecutors in Hong Kong before a US congressional hearing in May 2023, appears to be “in direct retribution for the exercise of his right to freedom of expression,” say the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers and freedom of opinion. (CHN 20/2025)

• Pakistan’s imposition of the death penalty on Mr. Shahzad Masih, Mr. Qaiser Ayub, and Mr. Amoon Ayub for blasphemy constitutes a grave violation of international human rights law, including the rights to freedom of thought and expression, the independence of judges and lawyers, and fair trial guarantees, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on executions, freedom of opinion, independence of judges and lawyers, and freedom of religion. (PAK 8/2025)

• Irregularities in the trial against Mr. Arnon Nampa, a founding member of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, who has accumulated prison sentences adding up to more than 29 years incarceration in connection with 10 lèse-majesté convictions stemming solely from his peaceful advocacy for democratic and monarchy reforms, amounts to “a serious breach of a number of international and regional standards relating to the free and independent exercise of the legal profession,” say the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, freedom of opinion, and human rights defenders. (THA 10/2025)

• Disciplinary sanctions and punishments imposed during mandatory military conscription in Thailand — including corporal punishment, excessive physical exertion, and psychological abuse — may amount to arbitrary detention and torture, say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on torture, executions, and the independence of judges and lawyers. (THA 11/2025)

• Escalating threats against Mr. Jorn Naowa-opas and Mr. Sumet Rianpongnam, two human rights defenders advocating against industrial projects in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor, are indicative of the state’s priority of profit over environmental damage and security for human rights advocates, say the Working Group on business and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, the environment, freedom of opinion, and hazardous substances. (THA 12/2025)

Europe

• The expulsion of Ms. Mariam Soumah to Somalia, and the placement of her young child in the state care of Belarus, constitutes a “forced and arbitrary” family separation which may stem from Ms. Soumah’s experience as a migrant worker, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteur on migrants. (BLR 6/2025)

• Turkiye’s arbitrary detention and discriminatory judicial harassment of human rights defender Mr. Enes Hocaoğulları, accused of “inciting [the] public to hatred and hostility” through his LGBTI+ activism, appears to “be in contravention of the human rights of all persons to freedom from arbitrary detention, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and non-discrimination in relation to the enjoyment of all of those human rights,” say the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, human rights defenders, and sexual orientation and gender identity. (TUR 10/2025)

• The stabbing of human rights defender Mr. Joseph Akaravong in southwestern France, apparently by agents associated with Lao, raise concerns about France’s ability to independently investigate instances of transnational repression, say the Special Rapporteurs on cultural rights, executions, freedom of opinion, and human rights defenders. (FRA 11/2025, LAO 3/2025)

• Restrictions imposed by Belarus between Ms. Alena Lazarchyk and Ms. Iubov Valiuk, two single mother who were imprisoned under charges of “violating the public order” and participation in “an extremist formation,” and their underage children, is a violation of the special protection allotted to motherhood and childhood under article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on Belarus, terrorism, and torture. (BLR 7/2025)

• Criminal proceedings in Norway against Mr. Quang Quy Nquyen, a Vietnamese migrant and a victim of trafficking in persons for the purposes of forced criminality, may violate the principle of non-punishment as explicitly enshrined in the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, says the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons. (NOR 2/2025)

• A travel ban imposed on Ms. Iryna Levina, who is under criminal prosecution in Belarus and who requires urgent medical care in Minsk, may violate the right to life and the prohibition on torture, says the Special Rapporteur on Belarus. (BLR 10/2025)

• The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers has offered comments on proposed amendments to the Italian Constitution, which represent an opportunity to strengthen human rights protection. (ITA 7/2025)

• The Joint Framework between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland on addressing the legacy of the Troubles may not align with international standards which, for instance, prohibit broad amnesty laws and establish robust conflict of interest checks, say the Special Rapporteurs on truth, justice, and reparation, executions, and torture. (GBR 16/2025, GBR 18/2025, IRL 1/2025)

Middle East

• Human rights violations, mercury poisoning, and environmental degradation reportedly linked — through supply chains — to gold refining companies based and operating in the United Arab Emirates expose policy and regulatory gaps that contravene the state’s due diligence obligations, says the Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances. (ARE 5/2025)

• The imminent execution of Mr. Babak Shahbazi, sentenced to death in Iran for allegedly spying for Israel, violates the right to life under international law, which the Human Rights Committee has affirmed is non-derogable, “even in situations of armed conflict or other public emergencies that threaten the life of the nation,” says the Special Rapporteur on Iran. (IRN 14/2025)

• The destruction and desecration of a grave site in Tehran, holding the remains of thousands of political prisoners executed in Iran during the 1980s, “appear to be a deliberate effort to obstruct the right to truth, justice and reparation for gross human rights violations and the right to access and enjoy cultural heritage,” in violation of international human rights law, say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on Iran, cultural rights, executions, and truth, justice, and reparations. (IRN 15/2025)

• The imminent executions of Mr. Babak Alipour, Mr. Vahid Bani Amerian, Mr. Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar, Mr. Pouya Ghobadi, Mr. Abolhassan Montazer and Mr. Seyyed Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi, sentenced to death in Iran for their alleged connections with a dissident political group, stem from judicial proceedings which do not fulfill the requirements for due process under international human rights law, “rendering such sentences unfair and the death penalty unlawful,” say the Working Group on enforced disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on Iran, executions, freedom of religion, and torture. (IRN 16/2025)

Other

• A proposed directive of the European Parliament, laying down minimum rules to prevent and counter the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and stay in the European Union, “may have negative impacts on the human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, including children and those in vulnerable situations and on organizations and human rights defenders assisting and protecting migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, including victims of trafficking,” say the Special Rapporteurs on trafficking in persons, human rights defenders, and migrants. (OTH 119/2025)

• Samsung Electronics’ environmental pollution in its operations in Vietnam have “significant human rights impacts associated with hazardous waste management and unsafe working conditions,” say the Working Groups on business and discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on hazardous substances, the environment, freedom of assembly, a democratic and equitable international order, violence against women and girls, and water. (OTH 17/2025, OTH 116/2025)