Unprecedentedly explicit: election observers are human right defenders!
07.12.2022
On 27 October 2022, UN Special Rapporteurs Clément Nyaletossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, issued a statement The Situation of Election Observers as Human Rights Defenders.
This is a historical event and long-awaited recognition.
From time to time, election observers are brushed off as "political actors" and are denied support and protection even by respectable international organisations. Let alone dictatorial governments that use rigged elections as a means to an end to eternally stay in power. We hope that this timely reminder from the special rapporteurs of the United Nations will help us to reverse these harmful tendencies.
The statement was received with a favourable reaction from the election observers' community. GNDEM, a global network of domestic election monitors, disseminated a special note where it highlighted that it was "the first time election observers have been explicitly defined as human rights defenders".
We at REM find it very important to store both documents for future reference.
Clément Nyaletossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association;
Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders;
GENEVA (27 October 2022) – Today marks the 17th anniversary of the first commemoration of the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and 2022 also marks the 10th anniversary of the 3 April 2012 commemoration of the Declaration of Global Principles for Non-partisan Election Observation and Monitoring. We wish to stress that election observers are human rights defenders and civil society actors. States should therefore enable independent and impartial election observation by all monitors, including from abroad.
Across the globe, the conditions in which democratic elections are held have become increasingly difficult. Disinformation campaigns, harsh rhetoric and even violence have targeted the broad spectrum of stakeholders who participate in electoral processes, from candidates and political parties to election officials and election observers.
Both national and international election observers have reported a significant escalation in the severity and scale of attacks against them, ranging from harassment, false accusations, defamation and threats; to infringement on their right to free movement, detention, expulsion and physical violence. Some have even been killed while carrying out their work. In a number of cases, the harassment, assaults and killings have been perpetrated by members of the state’s security services.
These attacks, which may seek to deter or retaliate against election observers, create an environment of uncertainty and insecurity which undermines the legitimate work and findings of observers, impacts their ability to do their work and threatens their physical safety.
The work of election observers, who can be considered as human rights defenders under specific circumstances and if they are facing violations, focuses on civil and political rights, including the rights to vote and to stand for election, the rights to political affiliation and freedom of association, the right to access information, to freedom of the media and of expression, to peaceful assembly, movement, security of persons, and equal protection of the law for prospective voters and those seeking to be elected, as well as access to effective remedies when electoral related rights are violated. We therefore take this opportunity to remind member states of their responsibility, within the framework of international law, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, to ensure that all persons under their jurisdiction are able to access and enjoy those rights and freedoms in practice, to enable and protect civic space, and to recognize that in the context of electoral processes, national and international election observers, who are human rights defenders and civil society actors, are entitled to this protection.
Member States are urged to take all necessary steps to establish conditions that allow national and international election observers to effectively do their work, and to protect them from any violence, threats, retaliation, adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of their legitimate exercise of their rights and freedoms.[1]
We will continue to work on collecting information and reporting on the challenges faced by national and international election observers in carrying out their work.
ENDS
[1] Commission on Human Rights, Resolution 2000/61, Human Rights Defenders, April 26, 2000, A/HRC/RES/5/1).
Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors
The United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders and on the right to freedom and peaceful assembly and of associations issued a statement on 27 October 2022 explicitly recognizing citizen and international election observers as human rights defenders.
This statement marks the first time election observers have been explicitly defined as human rights defenders, and comes in light of restricting space for and rights of election observers.
It follows advocacy by international observers, led by the Organization for American States (OAS) and the Global Network for Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM). GNDEM, in partnership with NDI, earlier this year conducted research on threats to citizen observer rights and brought together leaders of groups that are under threat to discuss common challenges. Going forward GNDEM looks to introduce a publication on the “state of citizen observation.”
The UN Special Rapporteurs directly call on UN Member States to provide election observers the same protections afforded to other human rights defenders. As such Member States “should therefore enable independent and impartial election observation by all monitors, including from abroad.”
The Special Rapporteurs further explicitly urged Member States to “take all necessary steps to establish conditions that allow national and international election observers to effectively do their work, and to protect them from any violence, threats, retaliation, adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of their legitimate exercise of their rights and freedoms.”
The statement was issued marking the 17th anniversary of the first commemoration of the Declaration of Principles (DoP) for International Election Observation and 10 years since the commemoration of the Declaration of Global Principles (DoGP) for Nonpartisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations.
GNDEM and the wider election observer community is encouraged by this explicit recognition of the importance of the work of election observers and the risks they face in promoting election integrity and democratic norms. While this statement does not mean that election observers will not continue to face challenges, it provides important support and opportunity for redress for citizen election observers.
