A statement calling on the United Nations to appoint a special rapporteur on democracy has been signed by more than 80 civil society organizations, networks, think tanks and institutions as well as numerous individuals from across the world united by their commitment to human rights and democracy. 

According to the document, which was released on 20 November 2023 and is endorsed by Parliamentarians for Global Action, “democracy is threatened and authoritarianism is on the rise”. In this situation, the UN “needs to do more to strengthen human rights and democracy”. The new rapporteur position would be created by the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva and “mandated to investigate the state of democracy around the world.”

“Threats to democratic principles and institutions are a global issue. The establishment of a UN Special Rapporteur on Democracy will support our legislative work, especially when drafting evidence-based legislation and policies that promote integrity in political speech, transparency in government and the protection of fundamental human rights”, said Hon. Naveed Qamar, Member of Parliament from Pakistan and President of Parliamentarians for Global Action.

The statement points out that the new mandate can be based on UN resolutions that identify and support democratic principles. This includes the “central democratic principle” that “public authority must derive from the will of the people” which is expressed in Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

United Nations special rapporteurs play a crucial role in ensuring accountability for human rights obligations from a thematic or country-specific perspective. Unpaid and independent, they do not represent any specific state, region, or partisan group. Their responsibilities include conducting fact-finding missions and addressing individual and collective complaints of human rights violations. Depending on the mandate, there can also be working groups. The first working group was set up in 1980 and a first special rapporteur mandate in 1982. At this time, 45 thematic and 13 country-related mandates exist.

According to the document, the proposed UN Special Rapporteur on Democracy, assisted by an independent advisory board, would “examine challenges and opportunities related to the realization of democracy”. This would include, among other things, looking into “constitutional and institutional arrangements such as checks and balances; effectiveness of parliaments; free, fair and competitive elections and election environments; political participation including of minorities and women; direct and deliberative mechanisms; as well as civic space and freedoms.”

The new mandate would “go beyond and complement” existing mandates operating under the Human Rights Council. The statement asks “all governments that are committed to democracy” to support its establishment.

The joint appeal is made ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is coming up on 10 December 2023. Like-minded organizations, policy-makers and individuals are invited to sign on.

Groups that endorsed the appeal include: ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, Asia Democracy Network, Citizens for Global Solutions, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Counterpart International, Democracy International, Democracy Without Borders, European Partnership for Democracy, Forum 2000, Integrity Initiatives International, Open Society Foundations, PEN America, Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe por la Democracia, Society for Threatened Peoples, The Carter Center, The May 18 Foundation and Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)].

In addition to representatives of the endorsing organizations, the list of initial supporters includes over 100 individuals from around 70 countries, among them numerous human rights and democracy defenders and scholars as well as over 25 parliamentarians from across the world.

In an individual capacity Thomas Garrett, Secretary-General of the Community of Democracies and Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General of The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), declared their support of the statement. Their organizations are intergovernmental with 30 and 34 member states respectively, some of which are current members of the Human Rights Council. Both organizations work closely with civil society.