A/HRC/34/23 2. Challenges and lessons learned 101. Participants noted that States had been using the global threat posed by terrorism as a pretext for the adoption of legislation that restricted civil society activities and threatened freedom of association. Civil society actors were subjected to physical attack and excessive use of force, and Governments were not fully aware of international standards for peaceful protest. 3. Forms of cooperation 102. The panellists made the following suggestions: (a) National human rights institutions should be encouraged to act as a bridge between the United Nations and civil society and continue providing information on the human rights situation to all human rights mechanisms; (b) The independence of national human rights institutions should be recognized at the regional level as well; (c) International and regional human rights mechanisms should raise awareness of counter-terrorism measures and how they pose a threat to the rights to freedom of assembly and of association and civic space; (d) International and regional human rights mechanisms should encourage the implementation and incorporation into domestic practice of the set of recommendations on managing assemblies developed by the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; (e) Civil society should engage in strategic litigation; (f) International and regional human rights mechanisms should engage with a more diverse range of civil society actors, not only the traditional organized groups. F. Cooperation at the country level, including follow-up to recommendations and decisions made by United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms 103. Discussion focused on enhancing cooperation at the country level, including followup to recommendations made by United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms. Although it was made clear that States bore primary responsibility for acting on such recommendations, the panellists also highlighted the role of national human rights institutions, civil society organizations and human rights defenders. 1. Good practices 104. It was noted that national human rights institutions with a broad and independent mandate, compliant with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), were instrumental in the follow-up to recommendations made by international and regional human rights mechanisms. 105. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights had produced guidelines on how national human rights institutions could participate in the implementation of its recommendations. 15