A/HRC/13/22 Similarly, the Spanish Congress unanimously passed a resolution on human rights defenders in June 2007. (b) Prosecution of defenders and criminalization of their activities 31. States increasingly resort to legal actions to violate the human rights of defenders denouncing human rights violations. Defenders are arrested and prosecuted on false charges. Many others are detained without charge, often without access to a lawyer, medical care or a judicial process, and without being informed of the reason for their arrest. 32. Communications issued by the Special Rapporteur indicate that the criminalization of human rights defenders’ activities by States’ authorities has not decreased. Some States tend to systematically invoke national security and public safety to restrict the scope of activities of defenders. In many countries, trade unionists, members of NGOs and social movements face repeated arrests and criminal proceedings for charges of “forming criminal gangs”, “obstructing public roads”, “inciting crime”, “creating civil disobedience” or “threatening the State security, public safety or the protection of health or morals”. Moreover, human rights defenders, including defence lawyers, providing legal assistance to other defenders or victims of human rights violations are threatened, denied access to courthouses and their clients, and arrested and charged under various criminal provisions. The multitude of arrests and detentions of defenders also contributes to their stigmatization, since they are depicted and perceived as troublemakers by the population. 33. Authorities and non-State actors increasingly resort to civil and criminal defamation suits against defenders raising their voice against violations of freedom of opinion and expression and carrying out activities for free and fair elections. Civil defamation suits, used in particular against journalists and newspapers, are as damaging as criminal defamation charges and have a disastrous impact on the freedom of opinion and expression. The severe fines to be paid can endanger the existence of newspapers by forcing them into bankruptcy. Civil defamation suits are also launched in order to silence political opponents who are subsequently sentenced to heavy fines. Similarly, civil and criminal defamation and libel proceedings are often used against members of human rights NGOs speaking out against human rights violations. The fines and prison sentences received may effectively cripple such organizations, while the threat of civil and criminal proceedings may also lead to self-censorship and diminished human rights monitoring. 34. Some States continue to resort to ambiguous security laws to arrest and detain human rights defenders, often without charges. In some States, national intelligence and security services have the power to detain human rights defenders without charge for a prolonged period of time. In some instances, agents of intelligence and security services are granted immunity from prosecution, and can therefore commit human rights violations against defenders in total impunity. Defenders may also face arrests, detention and harsh sentences, including the death penalty, under various State secret laws. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that legislation on State secrets often lacks clarity on what constitutes a State secret and that States frequently resort to such legislation to silence defenders and political opponents. The activities of defenders are also often criminalized and their freedom of association and expression violated through the use of extremely broad provisions of criminal codes. 35. In certain States, judges and lawyers are working under constant threat, which may jeopardize their independence. Prosecutors sometimes resort to inadmissible evidence to initiate proceedings against defenders, thus compromising their right to a fair trial. In several countries, the relevant authorities still resort to secret, incriminating evidence to arrest and administratively detain human rights defenders without charges for prolonged periods of time. Such evidence is reportedly often obtained by the security services and not shared with detainees or their lawyers. The Special Rapporteur would like to recall that, GE.10-10012 7