A/HRC/43/51 challenge excessive uses of force or arbitrary practices sometimes become the targets of counter-complaints or charges. Practices must urgently be aligned with existing guidance on the management of peaceful assembly and law enforcement, including in contexts of armed conflict. 37. Freedom of expression is virtually inexistent in some of the areas concerned. It is hampered by general suspensions affecting communications and online media, including social media. Journalists, media outlets and associations are particularly affected. Many individuals have been arrested and charged for interviewing armed groups, travelling to areas under their control or covering counter-terrorism operations. Many have been targeted for coverage considered to undermine the State’s reputation or critical of military interventions. NGO staff members have been charged for spreading “false news” or endangering State security on the basis of vaguely defined criminal provisions; academics and students have been charged for “belonging to a terrorist organization”; religious leaders have been charged for sedition while denouncing extrajudicial killings; others have been charged for “treason” for revealing the sweeping repression of peaceful demonstrations or for “calling to extremism” or for “insulting a public agent” by questioning the actions of public authorities; and others still have been charged on multiple grounds for challenging illegal settlements in occupied territories. Challenges are no less acute in post-conflict settings, where the work of journalists and artists are criminalized for allegedly being harmful to national security. The Special Rapporteur recalls that sedition, treason, counterterrorism and security-related laws should not be invoked to prevent access to and dissemination of information of public interest, in particular information concerning human rights violations, nor to prosecute defenders. 45 Intimidation and reprisals against their sources of information also must end. 38. Defenders’ right to defend human rights and exercise their lawful profession is equally under threat. Journalists and paramedics have been deliberately targeted with lethal force while covering public protests and bringing assistance to demonstrators. Judges have been intimidated while working on cases relating to corruption and organized crime; some attempts at removing them have been successful. Lawyers have received direct threats when taking up sensitive cases involving the military or engaging with transitional justice institutions. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about legal reforms granting discretionary powers that allow prosecutors and judges to associate defenders with the actions of their clients and restricting the ability of NGOs to stand for victims in criminal procedures or submit public petitions before the courts. Many journalists covering public demonstrations have had their licences and work permits withdrawn or been removed from working for public media institutions. 39. Humanitarian aid workers continue to be denied access to civilian populations by the authorities, armed groups or terrorist organizations. They face bureaucratic hurdles to the movement of their personnel and goods into conflict-affected countries, arbitrary requisition of medical facilities for military purposes and deliberate attacks against them, their assets and facilities. Legal and social practitioners face similar challenges in monitoring detention. They are unable to access and assist detainees held in secret facilities, placed under administrative and preventive detention without judicial review or effective right to a lawyer or a doctor or illegally transferred beyond national borders. The State must grant access to West Papua for journalists and international institutions, just like other parts of the country. (Defender, Indonesia) 40. Defenders from international NGOs and institutions are also regularly targeted and prevented from operating. Human rights researchers have been deported or arbitrarily denied entry, including into specific conflict-affected areas and occupied territories. NGOs have faced general suspensions and bans on their operations. International journalists have faced restrictions and stringent administrative requirements effectively challenging their incountry access. Individual defenders have been subjected to arrest and deportation, in what appear to be deliberate attempts to deter others. In situations of occupation, some have 45 12 Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 34; Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information, principle 10.