Civil society organizations engaging with international bodies
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2019-062-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2019
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 31.046051
Longitude: 34.851612
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Israel
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 31 May 2019
- Type of record
- General situation addressed
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Type of rights defended
- Caste/Ethnic minorities' rights/Racism
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
civil society organizations for their engagement with international bodies, including the UN in the field of human rights, and also noted reports of harassment of civil society organizations engaging with UN human rights mechanisms;
Among the activities included under the umbrella of anti-Israel delegitimization were support for the creation of a database on businesses that have enabled, facilitated and profited from the construction and growth of Israeli settlements in the OPT, as requested by Human Rights Council (resolution 31/36), and petitioning the UN Secretary-General on further issues related to business and human rights in the OPT. In January 2019, a second report 84 alleging ties between NGOs promoting BDS and terrorist organizations was published by the Ministry. It includes information on their engagement with the Human Rights Council, the 2009 UN fact-finding mission on Gaza, and their petitioning of the UN Secretary-General on issues relating to business and human rights in the OPT. The report calls on governments and donor organizations providing funds to these organizations to halt such support.
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Human Rights Council: UN Human Rights Council - General
- UN Human Rights Council: UN Independent Investigation
- UN Secretary-General / ASG
- Unclear
- Dates of engagement
- Unclear
- Type of attempted engagement
- Unclear
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- May 2018; January 2019
- Reprisal information
refer to a May 2018 report 83 published by the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs which lists civil society organizations working on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), which the Ministry claims promote boycotts against Israel, and calls for halting financial support from European Union (EU) institutions to these organizations. In the report, the Ministry notes the involvement of these human rights organizations in anti-Israel delegitimization and the promotion of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Defamation / Defamation campaign
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Government response dates
- 31 July 2019
- Government response content
rejecting alleged attacks on civil society organizations operating in Israel and the Palestinian territories and referring to the 2017 UPR in which it emphasized the recurring opportunities for dialogue and free discourse between civil society, academia and government representatives. Regarding the alleged stigmatization, the Government noted that despite the important role NGOs play in Israeli society, they are not “immune from criticism” and stated that BDS organizations often hide behind human rights claims. It noted that the Ministry of Strategic Affairs in its reports revealed direct links between BDS-promoting NGOs and designated terrorist organizations, information which it has aimed to provide to the EU and other European countries so they could re-examine the transfer of funds and make sure they are used for their intended purpose.
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2020
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
The 2019 report of the Secretary-General (A/HRC/42/30, paras. 61–62, Annex I, paras. 62–66, Annex II, paras. 63–65) addressed intimidation and reprisals of civil society at UN events in relation to their cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms. Special procedures mandate holders noted incidents involving harassment against civil society representatives during the 40th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva (ISR 8/2019), and it was reported to OHCHR that similar incidents occurred during the 41st and 42nd sessions of the Human Rights Council and that representatives of civil society had been followed and their actions recorded. 82. Intimidation was also reported in relation to the December 2019 review of Israel by CERD. Representatives of Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (see also ISR 12/2019), and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, who had submitted a joint submission to CERD for the review that was made public, 55 reportedly faced allegations that their organizations had links to terror groups from other organizations participating in the review.
- Followup Trends 0
- Deterioration/further reprisals
- Did the government respond? 0
- No