Sponsors - Australia, Republic of Slovenia, Brazil, United States of America, United Kingdom

Signatories - Spain, Chile, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, India, Republic of Korea, Hungary, Belgium,
Germany, Egypt

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations,

Reaffirming the freedoms and rights of humans encompassed in the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Bill of Human Rights,

Taking into consideration the past relevant resolutions adopted by the United Nations
Human Rights Council, in particular, resolutions 25/39 of March 2014 on protection of
human rights in context of peaceful protests, 38/11 on right to protest and 38,7 on
internet and human rights,

Bearing in mind the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and Basic
Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials,

Recalling the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, wherein the business
enterprises have a responsibility to respect and protect human rights, and address the
adverse human rights impacts wherever they are involved,

Taking note of the report of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, dated
April 2018, on promotion and protection of right to freedom of expression and speech,

Having studied and keeping in mind the Joint Report of the Special Rapporteur on
Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, and Special Rapporteur on
Extrajudicial Summary or Arbitrary Execution on Proper Management of Assemblies,

1. Recommends that all States, as a matter of national policy must make all laws
relating to identification, notification or permissions, and management of peaceful
assemblies unambiguous so that domestic laws are in concordance with the
international law;
2. Suggests that the matters for consideration by the state that is regarding the
permits of carrying out an assembly must be made smooth and timely response
be made a priority, further suggests that ;
● Any notification process must not require more than a few days advance
notice which is enough for the government to make necessary
arrangements and should not be too long or strenuous,
 ● The policy of positive presumption must be followed;

3. Emphasizes on the need for participation intergovernmental bodies and other

non-governmental agencies to provide important inputs for Universal Periodic
Review;
4. Recommends that state in threat of Any kind of terrorism, or suspected activity if
not sure or if in any dilemma should not curtail the right to peaceful protest
without valid reason
5. Urges fellow member states to ensure the equal provision of the right to
peaceful protest irrespective of their legal capacity, social or economic status, to
the following but not limited to;
● Minorities religious or social or economic;
● Marginalized groups;
● Differently abled;
● Persons with disabilities;
● Women;
● Children;
In the following way-

a) Representation of adult minorities in law enforcement agencies;

b) Training and sensitisation of law enforcement officials towards needs of
children and protection of their rights in protest situations;
c) Special legal provisions in favour of civil and political rights of above
stated criteria of minorities;
6. Urges the States to establish a two level classification system for a peaceful
protest;
a) On the basis of the Planning;
1) Pre-planned protests where the state authorities have prior notification
of atleast 3 days;
2) Spontaneous protests which the state authority has no prior knowledge
atleast 3 days in prior;
b) On the basis of organisation;
1) Minority peaceful protests where the protest is organised by or for
minority groups and minority rights;
2) Organisation backed/funded protests where primary ideology/funding
body is an existing agency/ organisation;
3) Peer to peer backed protests where the supporting funding and the
ideological basis for the protest is entirely by people;
 7. Calls upon law enforcement bodies to treat the mentioned classifications in the
following manner;

a) In the case of Pre planned / peer to peer protests we urge law enforcement to
exercise caution and treat sole instances of violence as sole instance of violence
and to the best of their abilities not impede the general momentum of the protest
itself;

b)In the case of spontaneous/ Organisation backed protests we recognize the

threat and the unpredictability of rogue forces and urge law enforcement to be
more liberal with its tactics in dealing with the same;

c)In the instance of Minority protest groups we urge the use of extreme caution
and stress on the use of only non lethal measures;

8. Calls upon States and social media companies to ensure and respect freedom
of expression while regulating online user-generated content, and enhance
transparency through creation of social media councils and press boards that
work for dissemination of information to users;

9. Recommends resistance of privatised censorship including State-driven

demands for censorship in favour of right to freedom of expression and right to
privacy by adopting laws that provide protection and support for the use of
encryption tools, however efforts should be made to combat terrorism and hate
speech in the cyber-space;

10. Urges Human Rights Committee to issue a General Comment on Article 21

(Right to Freedom of Assembly) of the International Convention on Civil and
Political Rights, so as to provide a direction for further discussion on the scope
and limits on the Right to Freedom of Assembly;

11. Requests discussion on extension on period on the Special Rapporteur on the

Right to Freedom of Assembly and Association. .