A/HRC/43/51/Add.3 AFRICA REGION 13. During the present reporting period, the Special Rapporteur sent 25 communications to 16 countries in the Africa region. While the response rate was low, 40%, it represents a nine percentage point increase on last year, and a significant improvement compared to the very low response rates received in the previous years. While the Special Rapporteur thanks the Governments who sent replies to his letters, no state that received more than one communication sent substantive responses to all letters sent by the Special Rapporteur. The Rapporteur urges states to engage with Special Procedures in a more committed manner, working with his mandate to guarantee a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders in their respective countries. 14. The Special Rapporteur notes with particular concern the continuation of the deterioration of civil society space in the region, which was reported on in the previous reporting period. The space in which human rights defenders carry out their work has been restricted through both legal instruments and use of force. 15. As reflected in communications sent to Burkina Faso, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone South Sudan and Togo, human rights faced increasingly restrictive legislative frameworks in carrying out their legitimate activities, especially for the registration of their civil society organisations. Some organisations found it more difficult to get registered or convene assemblies within the existing laws, while other states approved new legislation which made it more difficult for unregistered NGOs to carry out their work. 16. Excessive use of force during demonstrations in some countries in the region posed serious challenges to the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression for human rights defenders in this reporting period. Allegations of violent repression and arrests in the context of protests were brought to the attention of the Special Rapporteur by human rights defenders in several countries, as illustrated in the communications sent to Sudan and Zimbabwe. The Special Rapporteur is also concerned about the chilling effect that the excessive use of force employed by police may have on the exercise of freedom of expression and assembly, by individuals and groups standing up for human rights. 17. While the Special Rapporteur notes that there was a reduction in reported cases of enforced disappearance over last year’s reporting period, he remains concerned about widespread arbitrary arrest, threats, physical attacks and intimidations made against human rights defenders, as reflected in the letters sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Gabon, South Sudan and Uganda. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that these arrests, many of which are not followed by fair legal proceedings, are linked to the legitimate work of human rights defenders, limiting their scope to protect and promote human rights. 18. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that attacks on human rights defenders often go unpunished. This concern is compounded by the lack of specific detail provided in Government replies regarding the status of investigations into these attacks. 19. Women human rights defenders faced challenges across the region in this reporting period. Two of the three cases involving women human rights defenders involved violent attacks facilitated by the authorities. In his report on the situation of women human rights defenders published in January 2019 (A/HRC/40/60), the Special Rapporteur singled out physical attacks as one of the major gendered risks that women human rights defenders must confront in carrying out there work. LGBTI defenders are also often the target of physical and verbal attacks, as reflected in the communication sent to Mauritius. 20. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern that human rights defenders in the Africa region are being increasingly targeted for their online activities. Defamation legislation and related charges have been used in a number of cases to persecute those who exercise their right to freedom of expression online, as illustrated in communication sent to Nigeria. 21. The Special Rapporteur urges States to comply with their international human rights law obligations and reminds them of their responsibility to ensure a safe and enabling environment, without fear of threats, prosecution or acts of intimidation and harassment of any kind. 8