THE RAPPORT – 31 August to 27 September 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

• Mass sexual violence against women and girls in the context of the Alue-Do fertility festival in Nigeria engages the obligation to “exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish, and provide redress for acts of sex-based violence against women, whether perpetrated by State or non-State actors,” says the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls. (NGA 3/2026)

• Arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and reprisals against human rights defenders and civil society actors in connection to their opposition to a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Zimbabwe may “create a climate of fear and self-censorship incompatible with democratic participation and the exercise of fundamental freedoms protected under international human rights law,” say the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of assembly, human rights defenders, independence of judges and lawyers, and torture. (ZWE 3/2026)

• A judicial harassment and smear campaign against Ms. Rehab Mubarak, a lawyer and human rights defender — including charging her criminally with “waging war against the state” and seeking to dismiss her from the Sudanese Bar Association — appears to be in direct retaliation to her work of monitoring and documenting human rights violations in Sudan, say the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and the independence of judges and lawyers. (SDN 3/2026)

• The enforced disappearance and ongoing detention of Mr. Erias Lukwago, the former mayor of Kampala and a lawyer who is defence counsel in an ongoing treason trial before the High Court of Uganda, “appear to contravene international standards related to the right to liberty and security of the individual, the right to not to be subjected to enforced disappearance, torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment nor punishment, and the right to prompt access to an impartial and independent judge,” say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance and the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers and human rights defenders. (UGA 5/2026)

• The rapidly deteriorating health and continued detention of Mr. Naâma (Enaâma) Asfari, a Sahrawi human rights defender currently detained in Kenitra prison, Morocco, who is reportedly on an indefinite hunger strike, engages the obligation “to ensure that all persons deprived of their liberty are treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, including through access to adequate medical care,” say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and health. (MAR 3/2026)

• The Working Groups on enforced disappearances and discrimination against women and the Special Rapporteurs on transitional justice, cultural rights, education, executions, independence of judges and lawyers, Mali, freedom of religion, and terrorism have decried the decision of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which “poses immeasurable risks to the access of victims and their families to truth, justice and reparation for the most serious violations of international law.” (NER 1/2026, MLI 2/2026, BFA 2/2026)

• The mass arrest and detention of several major opposition leaders, stemming solely from their legitimate and peaceful exercise of assembly, “may already have had a marked chilling effect on others who intend to exercise their fundamental freedoms” in Chad, says the Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly. (TCD 2/2026)

Americas

• The “harassment, surveillance, repeated displacement, attacks and persistent threats against the life and personal integrity” of Mr. Andrés Felipe Hio Paniagua, a Catholic bishop and human rights defender in Colombia, contributes to a “chilling effect” that not only endangers Mr. Hio Paniagua, but “erodes trust in the state protection system as a whole,” say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of assembly, internally displaced persons, and religion or belief. (COL 6/2026)

• The instrumentalization of criminal law against environmental human rights defenders linked to the YASunidos collective in Ecuador amounts to “misuse of the justice system” with the purpose of obstructing public and democratic participation, say the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, climate change, environment, human rights defenders, Indigenous Peoples, and hazardous substances. (ECU 5/2026)

• The containment of peaceful protestors during the FIFA World Cup, demonstrating against the persistence of the so-called “forensic crisis” in Mexico — which refers to the failure to identify deceased persons, protect searchers, and facilitate the effective participation of families in search and investigation processes — “limit the legitimate exercise of the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, and the right of the families of disappeared persons to defend, promote and protect human rights,” say the Working Groups on disappearances and the Special Rapporteurs on executions, freedom of assembly, and human rights defenders. (MEX 12/2026)

• The Working Group on enforced disappearances has expressed their concerns regarding a recent visit they took to the Guatemalan Army’s BEOS in El Subín, and in particular expressed their “regrets” at “the reluctance shown by the designated officials to engage in constructive dialogue with the delegation and to provide information relevant to the conduct of the visit.” (GTM 6/2026)

• The ongoing arbitrary detention of Indigenous human rights defender Ms. Kenia Inés Hernández Montalván, currently serving two sentences in Mexico for allegedly fabricated charges of robbery, are indicative of a trend “in which the criminal justice system appears to operate as direct reprisal for her exercise of the right to defend, promote and protect the rights of her community, and for her participation in peaceful protest,” say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of assembly, and Indigenous Peoples. (MEX 11/2026)

• The ongoing detention and deteriorating health of Ms. Ruth López, a Salvadoran human rights defender and lawyer who has been in pre-trial detention in El Salvador since 18 May 2025, requires the state to meet its “heightened obligation” to guarantee her right to health, say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, freedom of assembly, health, and independence of judges and lawyers. (SLV 1/2026)

• Violations of the rights of peasants and Indigenous Peoples in the communities of Las Pampas and Palo Quemado, Ecuador, have occurred in the context of the “La Plata” mining project, managed and controlled by several mining companies, many of them domiciled in Canada, say the Working Groups on peasants and business and human rights and the Special Rapporteurs on environment, food, freedom of opinion, human rights defenders, internally displaced persons, hazardous substances, and water. (ECU 3/2026, CAN 1/2026, OTH 25/2026, OTH 20/2026, OTH 19/2026, OTH 18/2026, OTH 24/2026, OTH 23/2026, OTH 22/2026, OTH 17/2026, OTH 21/2026, OTH 16/2026, OTH 15/2026)

• A disciplinary complaint lodged with a provincial Judicial Impeachment Jury in Argentina against Judge Miguel Sebastián Sarmiento Militelo, stemming from the content of his judicial decisions, could constitute reprisal and improperly interfere with the exercise of his judicial functions, says the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. (ARG 7/2026)

Asia

• The capsizing of a vessel carrying Rohingya refugees in the Andaman Sea, likely resulting in the deaths of some 250 people, is emblematic of Bangladesh’s “systemic shortcomings in the prevention of trafficking, the identification of victims and persons at risk, and the implementation of protection measures, particularly in the context of maritime movements and affecting populations in situations of vulnerability,” say the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls and the Special Rapporteurs on human trafficking and migrants. (BGD 4/2026)

• The forced evictions and displacement of approximately 3,600 families from the riverside corridors of Kathmandu, Nepal, in April 2026 and the arrest of members of the United National Squatter Front Nepal in July 2026 “appears to be directly connected to their defence, promotion and protection of the housing and land rights of Sukumbasi communities, through attempted criminalisation and presumed misuse of law,” say the Special Rapporteurs on housing, human rights defenders, internally displaced persons, and extreme poverty. (NPL 2/2026)

• The decision of the Government of Victoria to demolish 44 public housing towers in Melbourne, Australia, and the resulting forced evictions and mass displacement of approximately 10,000 residents without prior meaningful consultation with the affected communities, may constitute a violation of the rights to adequate housing under the ICESCR, and in particular the corresponding rights to security of tenure, affordability, habitability, accessibility, location, and cultural adequacy, says the Special Rapporteur on housing. (AUS 6/2026)

• The alleged arbitrary detention and torture of Mr. Suresh Sallay, former Director General of the State Intelligence Service and former Director of Military Intelligence of Sri Lanka, in connection to the Easter Sunday bombings of 2019, are made all the more concerning by the “reported lack of evidence in the case record, evidence tampering and failure to consider exculpatory evidence,” say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on terrorism, health, and independence of judges and lawyers. (LKA 2/2026)

• The imminent deportation of Mr. Bai Zhaodong, a prominent Chinese investigative journalist and human rights defender living in Thailand, could amount to a violation of the principle of non-refoulement and the prohibition against torture, say the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders and torture. (THA 5/2026)

• The arbitrary detention of and reprisals and violence against Ms. Syed Bibi Baloch, a human rights defender engaged in Baloch minority advocacy in Pakistan, “reflect a pattern of harassment and intimidation against human rights defenders from Balochistan, with a particular focus, and ensuing differentiated and gendered harms, against women human rights defenders,” say the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women, human rights defenders, minorities, and terrorism. (PAK 1/2026)

Europe

• The predatory recruitment of a Colombian national with autism, initially enticed by an advertisement for a motorcycle maintenance position but who was subsequently trafficking into the Russian Federation, forcibly recruited into the Russian army, and deployed to the frontline in Ukraine, reflects a “broader institutional pattern facilitated by [Russia’s] legal and administrative framework” to recruit foreign nationals into that country’s armed forces, say the Working Group on mercenaries and the Special Rapporteurs on disability, health, and trafficking. (RUS 6/2026, COL 5/2026)

Middle East

• The Special Rapporteur on human trafficking has expressed alarm at the continued presence of both American and Serbian nationals currently held in Syria’s Al-Roj camp and who the United States and Serbia have failed to repatriate. (SRB 4/2026, USA 19/2026)

• The ongoing arbitrary detention of Mr. Ryan Cornelius, a national of the United Kingdom who has been in prison in the United Arab Emirates since May 2008, appears to violate basic standards, including the prohibition against indefinite and prolonged solitary confinement, say the Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Special Rapporteurs on torture, health, and older persons. (ARE 3/2026)

• The persistent characterisation in Israel of mothers reporting domestic violence or abuse of children in family proceedings as “alienating” or mentally instable “diverts the attention of courts away from the question as to whether a father is abusive,” in violation of the rights of mothers and their children, say the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women and girls and the sexual abuse of children. (ISR 8/2026)

• The confiscation of the compound of St Peter’s Evangelical Church in Tehran, the planned eviction of the 27 members of Iran’s recognised Armenian and Assyrian Christian minorities who reside within it, and threats of arrest directed against the church leaders, constitute a “culmination of a decades-long pattern of measures directed against the Christian community in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and in particular against Persian-speaking Christian worship,” say the Special Rapporteurs on Iran and freedom of religion. (IRN 10/2026)

• 13 Special Rapporteurs have reiterated their concern, as expressed by over 60 communications sent over the past 14 years, respecting Egypt’s counter-terrorism laws and “certain inconsistencies” of such with international human rights law. (EGY 3/2026)

• Environmental damage and related impacts resulting from armed attacks against civilian-related infrastructure in Iran, and attributed to the armed forces of the United States of America and Israel, “raise serious concerns under international humanitarian law,” including the rules on distinction, proportionality, necessity, and precautions in attack, the special protection afforded to objects indispensable to civilian survival, and the protection of the natural environment, say the Special Rapporteurs on Iran, climate change, environment, democratic international order, hazardous substances, and water. (USA 18/2026, ISR 9/2026, IRN 9/2026)

• The launch of Operation Northern Arrows, which involved extensive air strikes by Israeli forces across Lebanon and culminating in the killing and wounding of thousands of civilians, and the significant re-escalation of hostilities in March 2026, have resulted in, inter alia, extensive displacement and “distinct and foreseeable forms of sex-specific harm” against women and girls, say the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women and girls, executions, housing, internally displaced persons, democratic international order, and terrorism. (ISR 10/2026)

• The imminent executions in Iran of Mr. Hadi Nikbakht, Mr. Fazlollah Nikbakht, Mr. Hassan Amiri, Mr. Hossein Amiri, Mr. Farhad Baranzehi, Ms. Arghavan Fallahi, and Mr. Shervin Bagherian Jebeli do not meet the threshold under international human rights law that permits the death sentence only in circumstances involving intentional killing, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance and the Special Rapporteurs on Iran, executions, and independence of judges and lawyers. (IRN 11/2026, IRN 14/2026)

• The bombing of the Minab girls’ school in Iran by the United States and Israel on 28 February 2026, resulting in the death of at least 168 people, “raise serious concerns under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, particularly with regard to the protection of civilians, including women and girls, the protection of schools and medical facilities, and the obligation to investigate attacks involving civilian casualties,” say the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women, education, executions, housing, democratic legal order, and terrorism. (USA 21/2026, ISR 11/2026)

• Judicial appointments, disciplinary processes, and the organisation of the justice sector in Syria may lack the safeguards required to ensure an independent and impartial judiciary, rendering it incompatible with international standards governing the independence of judges, the protection of lawyers, and the right to a fair trial, says the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. (SYR 5/2026)

• The arrest, detention and prosecution on terrorism charges of Mr. Ismail Alexandrani and Mr. Al-Sayed Sobhy Ahmed Eid appear to be related to the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression, reflected in personal Facebook posts and podcasts, and are indicative of a concerning trend in Egypt towards misusing counter-terrorism legislation to target critics of authorities, say the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance and the Special Rapporteurs on terrorism, freedom of assembly, human rights defenders, and torture. (EGY 5/2026)

• The Special Rapporteurs on Iran, executions, freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, human rights defenders, independence of judges and lawyers, terrorism, and torture have provided comments on Iran’s Law on Intensification of Punishment for Espionage and Cooperation with the Zionist Regime and Hostile States Against National Security and Interests, which raises serious concerns about legality and legal certainty, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, and the imposition of the death penalty, among others. (IRN 16/2026)

Other

• The Financial Action Task Force’s recommendations regarding terrorist financing and targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing currently do not fully exempt humanitarian activities by impartial humanitarian organizations in accordance with international humanitarian law, which may result in “unjustified interferences in the rights to life, food, water, sanitation, shelter, health, an adequate standard of living, and education of civilian populations,” say the Special Rapporteurs on terrorism, education, food, health, and water. (OTH 74/2026)