Impact of measures to address terrorism and violent extremism on civic space and the rights of civil society actors and human rights defenders

In the present report, submitted in pursuant to General Assembly resolution 73/174 and Human Rights Council resolutions 31/3 and 37/27, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, examines the impact that measures and practices used to counter terrorism and to prevent and counter extremism have on the protection of human rights for civil society and human rights defenders. She further examines the global challenges of protecting civic space that have arisen as a result of the implementation of counter-terrorism law and practice. Since 2001, civil society space has been shrinking around the globe. This is indisputably linked to the expansion of security measures. The Special Rapporteur gives an empirically based assessment of the scale of misuse of such measures, and identifies trends and patterns in State practice. Targeting civil society violates human rights and makes for inept and poorly executed counter-terrorism practice. It undermines the fundamental interests of all States and must be addressed urgently.