A/HRC/22/29 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 17 December 2012 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-second session Agenda items 2 and 3 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Study on common challenges facing States in their efforts to secure democracy and the rule of law from a human rights perspective Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Summary The present study is submitted pursuant to paragraph 24 of Human Rights Council resolution 19/36, in which the Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to draft a study on common challenges facing States in their efforts to secure democracy and the rule of law from a human rights perspective, and on lessons learned and best practices in the engagement of the State with the international community to support such processes. Several Member States provided input and their views are reflected in the study. The study concludes that securing democracy is a continuous exercise. Challenges to democracy can arise in both settled democracies and States transitioning towards democracy. Human rights and the rule of law can be endangered in both contexts in different ways. These challenges can be manifested by the absence, interruption, or abridgement of democratic rules and processes. Democracy is rendered insecure by encroachments on human rights, the lack of empowerment opportunities for all, limits to participation, and poor or absent public debate. More profoundly, democracy is challenged at the political, security and social levels, domestically and globally, by weak or dysfunctional institutions, the erosion of the rule of law, poor leadership, violence, sectarianism, radicalism, extremism, terrorism, intolerance, corruption and impunity. GE.12-18848