A/HRC/40/52 Martin Scheinin, it was stated that “for a while, the global consensus about the imperative of combating terrorism was so compelling that authoritarian governments could get away with their repressive practices simply by renaming political opponents as terrorists”. 16 8. In many parts of the world, any form of expression that articulates a view contrary to the official position of the State, addresses human rights violations and comments on ways to do things better, in accordance with international human rights obligations, constitutes a form of terrorist activity or violent extremism or a broad “threat to national security”, which often encompasses both terrorism and extremism. No region of the world is immune from this trend. In some regions, the instrumentalization of counter-terrorism, the prevention and countering of violent extremism, and protection of national security measures is brutal, with members of civil society arrested and detained on spurious grounds, with some States even using counter-terrorism laws to silence defenders of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons,17 and others surveilling individuals involved in peaceful protests against climate change and linking them to terrorism investigations18 or branding them as “ecoterrorists”.19 Journalists have been particularly targeted by counter-terrorism and extensive security legislation.20 9. Rooted in the primacy of security imperatives, sustained measures to silence and even choke civil society have been taken. It is essential to grasp the serious impact of the cumulative sustained effect that such measures, which have proliferated under the internationalized security framework, have had across civil society, locally and globally, individually and collectively, and how they have undermined civil society and civic space. 10. Although States often justify measures against civil society through broad invocations of countering terrorism, preventing and countering violent extremism or protecting national security, targeting civil society actors is wholly inconsistent with meaningfully attending to those genuine threats. Recent research shows that there is no evidence that legal restrictions on civil society reduces the number of terrorist attacks within a country. 21 Civil society restrictions do not make a country safe from terrorist attacks; the security rhetoric does not achieve the expected outcomes. 22 This means that such measures would fail wholesale at any proportionality and necessity tests. 11. The key role played by a vibrant and active civil society was recognized during the United Nations High-level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies of Member States in June 2018. In an opinion editorial written in connection with the Conference, the Secretary-General stated that civil society was central to broader counterterrorism strategies. 23 At the Conference, the representative of Finland stated that civil society and religious communities played a significant role in preventing violent extremism and countering terrorism;24 the representative of Fiji said that successful implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy would no doubt require popular support, which could only be built and sustained with the support and cooperation of civil 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 4 Martin Scheinin and Mathias Vermeulen, “Unilateral exceptions to international law: systematic legal analysis and critique of doctrines that seek to deny or reduce the applicability of human rights norms in the fight against terrorism”, European University Institute Law Working Paper (2010). Center for Strategic and International Studies, “Counterterrorism measures and civil society”, p. 6. Adam Federman, “Revealed: FBI kept files on peaceful climate change protesters”, Guardian, 13 December 2018. Justine Calma and Paola Rosa-Aquino, “The term ‘eco-terrorist’ is back and it’s killing climate activists”, Grist, 2 January 2019. Mapping Media Freedom, “Targeting the messenger”. Jeong-Woo Koo and Amanda Murdie, “Liberty or security: do civil society restrictions limit terrorism?”, Center for Strategic and International Studies blog post, 4 June 2018. Ibid. See www.un.org/en/counterterrorism/hlc/statements.shtml. See www.un.org/counterterrorism/ctitf/sites/www.un.org.counterterrorism.ctitf/files/Finland-openingstatement.pdf.