UN says most government reprisals to silence critics go unpunished

GENEVA – The top U.N. human rights official says governments that attempt to silence their critics who co-operate with the U.N. system are going largely unpunished.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says a U.N. report citing cases in 16 nations shows preventive efforts “have been far from sufficient.”

Pillay told a special session Thursday of the Human Rights Council there is a “lack of accountability in relation to the majority of reported cases of reprisals.”

The U.N. secretary-general’s report to the Geneva-based council details alleged cases of killings, beatings, torture, arrests, threats, harassment and smear campaigns against human rights defenders.

The report covering mid-June 2011 to mid-July 2012 cites cases in Bahrain, Belarus, China, Saudi Arabia, Colombia and others.