Today, RSI submitted evidence to the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism's call for inputs on the impact of counter-terrorism and measures on civil society and civic space.
In our submission, we argue:
- Measures to prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE), as well as counter-terrorism (CT) measures, can and do negatively impact civil society and civic space in many ways, including ways that may violate or call into question a state’s compliance with its international human rights obligations.
- RSI’s existing research concludes that the UK government’s approach to P/CVE – ‘Prevent’ –restricts the internationally recognised rights to privacy, free assembly, and free expression to an extent that violates the state’s treaty obligations, while CT measures taken by the Kenyan and other governments have similar negative effects.
- P/CVE and CT measures also have disproportionate impacts on civil society groups representing communities that already face bias and disadvantage: in the UK, Muslims are disproportionately negatively impacted by Prevent; in Indonesia, P/CVE measures are used to further disenfranchise Ahmadiyah, Shia and Gaftar communities; and in the Philippines, indigenous rights activists are heavily affected.
- These developments are part of a broader ‘mission creep’ of P/CVE measures, whereby these measures increasingly target civil society organisations and individuals that oppose government policies rather than anyone who demonstrably intends to engage in violence. Insofar as these measures focus on detecting or preventing ‘extremism’ – in the sense of beliefs, thoughts or opinions – rather than any demonstrable and credible threat of violence, governments can easily misuse them to oppress peaceful dissent or the simple holding of a belief or opinion, the right to which is absolute.
- Especially in the aggregate, governments’ P/CVE and CT measures often create an oppressive environment for civil society to operate, limiting activists’ ability to challenge government policies and fulfil their democratic function. Indeed, this effect may be the unstated goal of some measures.
For more information, see the attached document.
