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Concerned about the increasing numbers of unresolved cases, the NGO Forum held ahead of the 85th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights looked at ways to address impunity for human rights violations in Africa.
Earlier this month, Belgium, on behalf of the the BENELUX States, raised a number of cases of reprisals during an interactive dialogue at the Third Committee before the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ilze Brands Kehris.
As part of the NGO Forum ahead of the 85th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies convened a panel on the issue of 'AI and Human Rights in Africa: Navigating the Future of Governance and Development'.
Ahead of the 85th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the NGO Forum convened a panel on the issue of 'Environmental Justice and Indigenous Peoples' Rights'.
On 17 October 2025, ahead of the 85th ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, civil society organisations expressed their concerns about the continual shrinking of civic space.
Sharing the documentation of the situation of human rights on the continent, the NGO Forum of the African Commission gave the opportunity to sub-regional focal points to provide a brief description of the situation of human rights defenders in Africa.
Relatives of the Chilean Indigenous environmental defender Julia Chuñil must be granted immediate protections by the Chilean State, the Committee to Support Implementation and Compliance of the Escazú Agreement ruled, in response to a request supported by ISHR. This marks the first time the regional treaty urges a signatory State to take protective action.
Last Thursday, the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor presented her final annual thematic report during an interactive dialogue at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee.
In light of the UN’s liquidity crisis since 2024, ISHR compares when UN Member States are paying their assessed contributions to the UN’s regular budget over the period 2019-2025.
ISHR analysed how UN Member States voted at the General Assembly Fifth Committee over the past seven years (2018-2024) on initiatives that seek to defund Human Rights Council (HRC) resolutions establishing investigative mechanisms on specific countries. None of these initiatives have so far been successful.
In a first-of-its-kind investigation into the closed-door negotiations of the UN’s budget in New York, ISHR uncovers how a small group of States - led by China and Russia - have coordinated efforts to block and slash funding for the UN’s human rights work through political manoeuvring and influence. At a moment of sweeping UN reform and financial crisis, these efforts - compounded by the US failure to pay their UN membership fees and outstanding debts - pose an existential threat to the UN’s human rights system.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) recently published its General Comment on the environmental dimension of sustainable development. In addition to recognising human rights defenders, the Comment clarifies State obligations towards marginalised communities and notes the importance of transitioning away from fossil fuels. It also outlines States’ extraterritorial obligations.
