Sarah Clarke

Cases
Location of case in SG report
2019-070-001
Relevant SG report
Year of the report
2019
Country Geolocation

Latitude: 35.937496

Longitude: 14.375416

Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
Malta
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
Named individual
Gender
Female
Was the victim a foreign national?
No
Was the victim a minor?
No
Individual's/organization's activity

at the time working for PEN International; Ms. Clarke had been involved in the urging of a public inquiry into the assassination of the investigative journalist and human rights defender, Ms. Daphne Caruana Galizia

Type of rights defended
  • Accountability & impunity
  • Civil/political rights
Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
No
Reported trigger of reprisal

during a UN High Level event in Marrakech, Morocco marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She was also involved in the submission of a shadow report for the review of Malta by the UPR, including on the case of Ms. Galizia.

Engagement with UN body
  • Other
  • UN Human Rights Council: UPR
Dates of engagement
10 December 2018
Type of attempted engagement
  • Participation in meeting on UN premises
  • Submission of information to UN
Dates of mentioned reprisals
10 December 2018
Location of mentioned reprisals
Marrakech, Morocco
Reprisal information

Following the intervention by Malta at the UN High Level event, Ms. Clarke approached representatives of the Maltese Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion and referred to the case of Ms. Galizia. A representative reportedly told her, using abusive language, that she was biased and unaware of the facts (see also MLT 1/2019).

Types of reprisals suffered
  • Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
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
Further case development

A public clarification and a private apology were later registered by the official

Government response dates
24 June 2019
Government response content

Government responded to the allegations indicating that the Maltese official’s reaction did not happen in isolation but was the direct result of what had transpired immediately before, when the official felt that the actions of Ms. Clarke preceding his comments were undue and inappropriate. The Government noted that the public official publicly clarified his comments and issued a private apology directly to Ms. Clarke, offering his unreserved apologies and expressing regret for his choice of words and for having caused an offense

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?
0