A/HRC/42/30 IV. Ensuring access to the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights 25. My previous report and its presentation to the Human Rights Council by the Assistant Secretary-General30 addressed obstacles that hinder individuals and organizations from speaking out in United Nations forums. There continue to be reported attempts by State representatives to block or delay the accreditation of certain civil society representatives, especially in the field of human rights. 26. OHCHR continues to receive reports of individuals filmed or photographed without their consent at United Nations meetings, and of the secret recording of statements in closed sessions, creating a climate of intimidation that may deter others from participating. In the field, some staff members of the human rights components of peace missions or those involved in the protection of civilians continued to report obstacles to engaging with communities owing to fear or intimidation (see A/HRC/39/41, para. 80). The Security Council has urged unhindered access for peace missions to be able to carry out their mandates.31 27. Issues of access were addressed by the special procedures. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders noted the exclusion of defenders as a result of restrictive State policies that hindered their registration or the provision of travel clearances (see A/73/215, paras. 54–58). He addressed the situation of women defenders, referring to the “no-objection procedure” of the General Assembly, which allowed States to veto the participation of any NGO without providing a reason. Women defenders have reported travel bans, harassment, interrogation, arbitrary detention and physical attacks before and after meetings (see A/HRC/40/60, paras. 48–51 and 109 (b)). The Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of association and of peaceful assembly linked a “worrying number” of alleged reprisals to an increase in the criminalization of defenders’ activities (see A/HRC/38/34, para. 51). 28. Successive reports continue to note the workload and working methods of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, the body mandated to consider applications for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (see E/2019/32 (Part I) and E/2019/32 (Part II)). The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat reports that over 5,000 NGOs enjoyed either general or special consultative status or were on the Roster in September 2018 (see E/2018/INF/5). Demand for this status remains high; the Department received 820 applications during the 2018 cycle, more than previously32 and an indication of the significance of consultative status for NGOs globally. 29. In January 2019, 19 States 33 were elected for a four-year term to serve on the Committee. 34 At its May 2019 resumed session, the Committee recommended 219 applications for consultative status and deferred 268 applications (see E/2019/32 (Part II)), a rate of deferral comparable to the previous year (see A/HRC/39/41, para. 22). 30. The special procedures of the Human Rights Council met with the Committee Chair in October 2018 and, on 20 June 2019, sent a comprehensive letter with recommendations, in which they noted that “a large and growing number of NGO applications for consultative status continue to be perceived as arbitrarily deferred based on politically motivated and 30 31 32 33 34 6 See A/HRC/39/41, paras. 20–21, and https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/ DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23591&LangID=E. See Security Council resolutions 2463 (2019) (Democratic Republic of the Congo); 2423 (2018) (Mali); 2472 (2019) (Somalia); 2454 (2019) (Central African Republic); and 2459 (2019) (South Sudan). https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ecosoc6982.doc.htm. Membership comprises Bahrain, Brazil, Burundi, China, Cuba, Estonia, Eswatini, Greece, India, Israel, Libya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Sudan, Turkey and the United States. Economic and Social Council decision 2018/201 E, available at https://www.un.org/ecosoc/sites/ www.un.org.ecosoc/files/documents/2018/decision.2018.201.e.pdf.