Freemuse has published its annual report on worldwide oppression of artists and freedom of artistic expression. In 2020, 26% of all documented restrictions of artistic freedom – 978 cases in 89 countries and online – took place in Europe, followed by 22% in North and South America, 19% in the Middle East and North Africa, 15% in Asia and  Pacific,  9% in Africa and 9% Online. 17 artists were killed, 82 were imprisoned and 133 detained. “This year’s report illustrates increasing misuses of blasphemy, anti-terrorism legislation, and COVID-19 measures as pretexts, to silence dissident voices of artists and artworks” commented Srirak Plipat, Freemuse Executive Director.

Download the report here

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed some of the greatest threats to artistic freedom and cultural rights in recent memory. On February 3rd, Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) at PEN America, together with UNs Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights Karima Bennoune, are launching the Safety Guide for Artists. The guide aimes to help artists navigate and overcome risks and better understand their work within the  framework of human rights defense.
The launch features also a panel discussion with photojournalist, teacher and activist Shahidul Alam, director of Belarus Free Theatre Natalia Koliada, and director of Al Mawred Al Thaqafy (Culture Resource) Helena Nassif. The conversation will draw upon the 2020 report of the Special Rapporteur and explore how art can be levied in the fight for human rights and how artists can be better protected against human rights violations. 

Download the guide – PDF, 155 pages (en, fr,  es)

Freemuse has developed with artists an online toolkit which provides information, best practice and advice for  artists rights, especially in the digital sphere.

It gives also a good overview on additional resources, organizations and platforms.

The Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, has published her annual report , which relates for the first time cultural rights with climate change. The report will be presented Thursday, 22 October, tentatively at 15:00, New York time. The presentation will be broadcasted via UN webtv. One day before, on 21 October, between 13:15 – 14:45 EDT Karima Bennoune will hold a a webinar addressing the theme of her report, entitled “Climate change and cultural extinction: A Human Rights Crisis”. 

Benoune states in her introduction: “The mandate on cultural rights was established to protect not culture and cultural heritage per se, but rather the conditions allowing all people, without discrimination, to access, participate in and contribute to cultural life through a process of continuous development. These conditions are greatly jeopardized by the climate emergency.”

All relevant actors are requested to develop “a human rights-based global action plan to save the cultures of humanity and protect cultural rights from the climate emergency”. Engagement is needed  in capacity-building on environmental issues for cultural rights defenders and on cultural rights issues for environmental human rights defenders and others. Further joint initiatives and advocacy campaigns should bring these sectors together.

The report can be downloaded here.

The Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and promotion and protection of  the freedom of opinion and expression was given to the Human Rights Council at the UN General Assembly on 15 June – 3 July 2020.

The report starts with an explanation of the legal framework applicable to artistic freedom of expression and then addresses the ways in which States and other actors often fail in their obligations or responsibilities in this field. A main result is, that states are restricting repressions increasingly in the form of art. For online content filtering mechanisms, private companies should also adopt the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. 

The report is available at the HRC site (in English only)

For their next thematic reports to the UN General Assembly or the Human Rights Council, the effects of the COVID19 crisis will be closely analysed. A questionnaire will assist the human rights experts to obtain information and elaborate comprehensive recommendations on the measures taken by national, federal and local governments to protect their population and ensure the enjoyment of human rights, including particular groups at risk of discrimination or social exclusion. It consists of a section with joint questions for all mandates, and specific questions for each mandate. The report on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the exercise of cultural rights and on the role of culture and cultural rights in responding to the pandemic will be presented by Karima Bennoune in March 2021. The joint questionnaire can be consulted and downloaded online and should be sent electronically no later than 19 June 2020.