Right Livelihood delivered five statements during the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, focusing on the repression of human rights and environmental defenders across the globe. From enforced disappearances to arbitrary detentions and unjust prison sentences, regimes are violently cracking down on Right Livelihood Laureates’ peaceful dissent worldwide, and we called for these corrupt actors to be held accountable.
‘You can find our Advocacy team’s summary of the session here, and read brief summaries of each statement below.
In 2013, Saudi Right Livelihood Laureate Mohammad al-Qahtani was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison for his peaceful human rights work. He was forcibly disappeared upon the completion of his sentence in October 2023.
Speaking on behalf of al-Qahtani’s family, we called on Saudi Arabia to release him unconditionally. The statement built upon our #FreeAlQahtani campaign, a joint effort with ALQST for Human Rights and MENA Rights Group to secure al-Qahtani’s release.
Right Livelihood highlights global rise in arbitrary detentions at UN Human Rights Council
Human rights and environmental defenders across the world are being arrested and detained in concerning numbers for their peaceful activism, we told the UN Human Rights Council.
To bring awareness to this situation, we shared the stories of Right Livelihood Laureates Mother Nature Cambodia, Ales Bialiatski and his Viasna colleagues, and Mohammad al-Qahtani, all of whom have been imprisoned or forcibly disappeared for their human rights work.
Saudi Arabia must be held responsible for human rights abuses
With ALQST for Human Rights, we delivered a statement highlighting human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, specifically authorities’ pattern of denying entry to international experts and cracking down on and arbitrarily arresting human rights defenders.
The statement was delivered amid concern over Saudi Laureate Mohammad al-Qahtani’s now two-year-plus enforced disappearance.
Right Livelihood and Viasna urge accountability for human rights violations in Belarus
As Belarus nears its next presidential election, we partnered with Laureate organisation Viasna to highlight ongoing human rights violations in the country.
During the 2020 election, thousands of protesters were detained under President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. By demanding accountability, we aim to ensure such repression is not repeated in the upcoming election.
Mother Nature Cambodia activists should be applauded not imprisoned, Right Livelihood tells the UN Human Rights Council
Addressing Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, we called attention to the unjust imprisonment of ten activists from Laureate Mother Nature Cambodia.
Our statement asked Muntarbhorn to work alongside civil society to seek accountability for the Cambodian regime’s abuses against environmental defenders.
