Situation of human rights defenders

Notwithstanding the endorsement by the Human Rights Council of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (A/HRC/17/31, annex), there continues to be a worrying lack of accountability for the adverse human rights impacts of business activities. While human rights defenders seek to expose human rights abuses and actively contribute to sustainable and positive changes, they face a growing number of attacks from States and business-related actors. The Special Rapporteur urges States, business enterprises and investors to fulfil their obligation to respect and protect human rights defenders and to recognize and promote the shared interest of all actors in free, open and enabling environments that uphold human rights and the rule of law. New approaches are needed to tackle the situation and ensure that both preventive and reactive measures are adopted and implemented.