The call for inputs on General Comment No. 38 by the UN Human Rights Committee and IAHRAG's contribution to this important and timely process
While the right to freedom of association is facing growing restrictions worldwide, the call for inputs on General Comment No. 38 by the UN Human Rights Committee reflects a strong commitment to the promotion and protection of this fundamental right. IAHRAG is pleased to submit its contribution to this important and timely process.
The UN Human Rights Committee is currently considering Draft General Comment No. 38 on Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the right to freedom of association.
In response to this process, the International Association for Human Rights Advocacy in Geneva (IAHRAG) has submitted a detailed input calling for a robust, principled, and non-regressive interpretation of this fundamental right.
🔎 Key points from the submission include:
🔹 A broad understanding of “association”
Freedom of association must extend beyond formally registered organizations to include informal groups, movements, and collective action. Expressive acts reflecting shared values or solidarity may also fall within the scope of protection.
🔹 Strict limits on emergency powers
Even during states of emergency, the right to association cannot be totally suspended. Derogations must be exceptional, temporary, and proportionate. Emergency measures must never result in the permanent dissolution of associations or irreversible confiscation of their assets.
🔹 Due process and effective remedies
Judicial guarantees remain non-derogable. Closures, dismissals, and sanctions must be subject to independent judicial review and cannot be based solely on executive decrees or vague claims.
🔹 State obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil
Restrictions must comply with legality, necessity, and proportionality. Vague legal concepts such as “affiliation” or “connection” undermine legal certainty, while dissolution should always remain a measure of last resort. States must also prevent the misuse of Anti-Money Laundering / Counter-Terrorism Financing frameworks to financially exclude civil society organizations.
🔹 Prohibition of retroactive criminalisation
Individuals must never be punished for conduct that was lawful at the time it occurred. The submission firmly rejects “guilt by association” and emphasizes that criminal liability must be based on individual responsibility, not past lawful affiliation with an association.
📌 The submission draws extensively on post-2016 developments in Türkiye as a cautionary example of how state of emergency and counter-terrorism frameworks can be used to permanently dismantle civil society and criminalize lawful associative life.
See our submission here:
