Speech

UN Human Rights Council 47: Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association

The UK's International Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, delivered this statement during the Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association.

• From: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Rita French
• Published: 1 July 2021

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

• Location: Geneva, Switzerland
• Delivered on: 1 July 2021 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)

Thank you, Madam President,

The United Kingdom welcomes the Special Rapporteur’s report. We agree that access to justice is vital to protecting the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and that these rights contribute to combatting impunity, facilitating accountability and helping prevent future violations and abuses.

As the Special Rapporteur has noted, the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, an enabling environment for civil society, and access to justice are intertwined. While the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights allows for restrictions of freedom of assembly and of movement in order to protect public health, these must be be targeted, time-limited, and subject to regular review to ensure they remain necessary.

The UK works closely with our international partners to promote freedoms of peaceful assembly and of assocation. Mr Special Rapporteur, what are the most urgent steps we as States must take to ensure that the rights are protected?

Thank you.

Published 1 July 2021