A/HRC/28/3
LGBT persons. In Cambodia, the Office and the United Nations Development Programme
jointly organized the country’s first national conference on the rights of LGBT persons.
OHCHR field presences also supported the investigation of allegations of discrimination
and violence against LGBT persons and conducted training for civil society on monitoring
violations.
48.
In 2013, OHCHR launched the Free and Equal campaign, a global United Nations
public information campaign designed to promote greater respect for the rights of LGBT
persons. Over the past year, the campaign reached more than a billion people and attracted
support from leading public figures and celebrities around the world.
49.
In September 2014, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 27/32 on human
rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, in which it reiterated its grave concern at acts
of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and
requested the High Commissioner to update the previous relevant report11 with a view to
sharing good practices.
C.
Combating impunity and strengthening accountability and the rule of
law
50.
Ongoing and new conflicts and natural disasters have highlighted the immense,
persistent challenges faced by States in preventing acts of violence and safeguarding the
security of those within their jurisdiction. In the wake of these threats to security, some
States have rushed to adopt emergency legislation, modify detention policies, revise
criminal justice rules and practices and impose limitations to freedoms of expression and
peaceful assembly.
51.
OHCHR continued to address complex legal and policy challenges related to these
issues, including new technologies. It partnered with the United Nations University in a
research project on the application of international human rights law to national regimes
overseeing governmental digital surveillance. It also launched an open consultation on the
right to privacy in the context of domestic and extraterritorial surveillance. Drawing on
these activities, the Office presented a report to the Human Rights Council and the General
Assembly on the right to privacy in the digital age,12 in which it examined the protection
afforded to privacy by international human rights law. The issues raised in the report were
the subject of a panel discussion on the right to privacy in the digital age held during the
twenty-seventh session of the Council.13
52.
As an active member of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task
Force, OHCHR continued to co-chair the Task Force Working Group on Promoting and
Protecting Human Rights and the Rule of Law while Countering Terrorism. The Working
Group implements a long-term project on training and capacity-building for law
enforcement officials on human rights, the rule of law and prevention of terrorism, and
produced a series of practical basic human rights reference guides.
53.
OHCHR advanced the global debate on a moratorium on the death penalty, aiming
at its abolition. In cooperation with the Governments of Chile, Italy and the Philippines, it
organized three global events on the theme “Moving away from the death penalty”, and
regional meetings in Algeria and Indonesia, focusing on deterrence and public opinion,
discriminatory practices in the use of the death penalty, and best practices and challenges in
11
12
13
10
A/HRC/19/41.
A/HRC/27/37.
See A/HRC/28/39.
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