Invitation to a side event on 16 March 2011: Reprisals against persons cooperating with the UN: towards a strengthened institutional response

You are cordially invited to a panel discussion on

Reprisals against persons cooperating with the UN: towards a
strengthened institutional response

Wednesday, 16 March 2011, 1:00-3:00 PM
Room 21 (XXI)


Ending reprisals against persons cooperating with the UN and its mechanisms in the field of human rights should be a priority for the Human Rights Council. Reprisals violate human rights and are a threat to civil society and to the effective functioning of human rights mechanisms that rely on information from civil society.

The side event will seek to explore ways in which the Human Rights Council, OHCHR and the UN system more broadly can live up to their responsibility to effectively address cases of reprisals. Short interventions by panellists will be followed by a debate with participants, with a view to identifying concrete elements of strategies that protect individuals or organisations from reprisals.

Panellists:

• Orest Nowosad, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• Sunanda Deshapriya, journalist from Sri Lanka presenting cases of reprisals in India and Sri Lanka
• Florian Irminger, Human Rights House Foundation, presenting cases of reprisals against lawyers and human rights organisations in Belarus
• Updates of the cases from Venezuela, Kenya, and Syria, presented at the 15th session,