Freedom of Assembly: UN Special Rapporteur Warns Youth Activists Are Being Stigmatised and Criminalised

Summary

On 16 October 2026, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Gina Romero, presented a report to the General Assembly's Third Committee on youth activism. According to UN Meetings Coverage (GA/SHC/4445), she warned that young activists are increasingly stigmatised, criminalised and treated as security threats, and that their participation in political institutions remains "largely tokenistic".

"Stop talking about youth without having them at the table. And second, stop expecting youth to be soft, tidy and silent where the present and future are being gambled away," Ms. Romero told the Committee, according to the UN record. Several States rejected findings that concerned them during the interactive dialogue. This report summarises the Special Rapporteur's findings, the responses recorded at the meeting, her recommendations and the relevant international standards.

Background: The Mandate and the Report

The report, "Youth activism: from systemic exclusion to real participation" (A/81/186), is dated 15 July 2026 and was transmitted to the General Assembly's eighty first session by the Secretary-General in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 50/17. According to the report, it is informed by 190 submissions, including from 180 young people, youth-led organisations, non-governmental organisations, one ombudsperson's office and 10 States, and draws on data concerning 97 States and regions.

The Special Rapporteur states that she consulted more than 500 youth-led organisations and activists. Because of what the report describes as threatening environments, submissions from children and youth activists were not published and are referred to anonymously. The report applies broad age parameters, generally excluding children under 12 and adults over 35, and stresses that activists under 18 retain the special protections of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Key Findings of the Report

The report describes a surge of youth-led mobilisation, often called the "Gen-Z Movement", which it says emerged in Bangladesh and Kenya in 2024 and spread in 2025 to countries including Nepal, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mexico, Peru and Serbia. It characterises these movements as driven by demands for accountability, inclusion and justice, and as relying heavily on decentralised, "digital-first" organising.

Stigmatisation and Legal Barriers

According to the report, State actors, officials and media frequently dismiss young activists as naive, manipulated or controlled by foreign agents, and label non-violent acts such as student strikes and campus occupations as terrorism or sabotage. It states that registration and authorisation laws are used to treat informal youth groups as illegal, and cites examples including the use of extremism laws against independent student associations in Belarus, the closure of the Central American University in Managua, Nicaragua, a four-decade ban on student unions in Pakistan and a March 2026 action plan in Nepal to dismantle politically affiliated student organisations.

Use of Force and Detention

The report states that hundreds of young activists, including children, have been killed and thousands arbitrarily detained in youth-led protests since 2024. It says that law enforcement use of live ammunition has reportedly killed young participants in States including Angola, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Republic of Tanzania, and that authorities in Serbia allegedly deployed an acoustic weapon in March 2025. It also describes alleged detention of young people under anti-terrorism and national security laws in several countries, and raises concerns about the treatment of climate and Palestine solidarity student activists in Europe and the United States. The report presents many of these incidents as allegations drawn from communications and submissions.

Digital Space and Education

The report finds that surveillance, network shutdowns, opaque content moderation and account suspensions restrict youth organising online. While it acknowledges that child protection is a legitimate objective, it warns that blanket social media bans for young people under 16 can create a "civic-political vacuum". It also states that schools and universities are increasingly securitised, with student activists facing surveillance, suspension or expulsion, and that young women, LGBTIQ+ youth, persons with disabilities and migrants face compounded barriers.

Responses From States

According to UN Meetings Coverage, Switzerland's representative said Gen Z protests demonstrate a demand for "justice, inclusion and accountability" and urged protection of peaceful assembly on university campuses. Afghanistan's representative reported that a new Taliban law prohibits demonstrations and that at least six people were detained after a university protest in September.

India's delegate rejected the report's reference to young people in India reporting retaliation or stigmatisation for discussing mental health or gender justice. "A sweeping charge against the world's largest youth population, resting on anonymous and unverified claims, is not evidence," he said, adding: "It is hearsay dressed up as a UN report." The Hindu, citing the Press Trust of India, identified the speaker as First Secretary Anuj Swarup and reported that he said these freedoms are guaranteed under Article 19 of India's Constitution and pointed to government engagement with student protesters over public examination irregularities.

Israel's representative dismissed the findings concerning her country as "baseless", stating that arrests and law enforcement operations "are conducted strictly for criminal offenses, violence or involvement in terrorism, and not for political activism or the expression of opinion". Cuba and Türkiye also challenged references to their countries, questioning the report's evidentiary basis and defending their domestic protections for peaceful assembly, according to the UN record.

Recommendations

The report organises its recommendations into six pillars. It calls on States to enact legal frameworks that explicitly guarantee formal, informal and unregistered youth collectives the rights to assembly, association and participation; to institutionalise youth and child consultations on laws and policies affecting them; to repeal laws that criminalise informal or spontaneous organising; and to remove arbitrary or blanket age-related restrictions.

It further calls on States to stop stigmatising youth activism, to refrain from using counter-terrorism or national security laws against legitimate dissent and non-violent direct action, to strengthen independent oversight of excessive force, to protect digital infrastructure from arbitrary shutdowns and targeted surveillance, and to refrain from blanket, age-based social media bans in favour of enforcing human rights due diligence by companies. Technology companies are asked to review content moderation and algorithms in consultation with diverse young people and to apply robust data protection standards.

Educational institutions are asked to respect assembly, expression and academic freedom on and off campus and to refrain from surveillance and arbitrary disciplinary measures against peaceful dissent. The report also asks States to ensure that anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules are not misused to freeze crowdfunding, and asks donors to provide flexible funding, emergency legal support and mental health support for young activists.

Relevant International Standards

The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of association and participation in public affairs are protected under articles 21, 22 and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child protects children's right to express their views in matters affecting them, and article 15 recognises their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly. The report also refers to Human Rights Committee general comment No. 37 (2020) on the right of peaceful assembly and to Committee on the Rights of the Child general comment No. 20 (2016) on adolescence.

On youth participation, the report cites the World Programme of Action for Youth (1995), Security Council resolution 2250 (2015), the Pact for the Future adopted in 2024 and regional instruments including the African Youth Charter and the Ibero-American Convention on the Rights of Youth. Several of these policy frameworks are not legally binding.

Taskforce Note

The Global HR Taskforce will continue to monitor developments, including further responses from States, any follow-up by the Special Rapporteur and the Third Committee's ongoing work during the eighty first session. Sources: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, "Youth activism: from systemic exclusion to real participation", A/81/186, 15 July 2026; UN Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, GA/SHC/4445, 16 October 2026; The Hindu (Press Trust of India), 17 October 2026; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Convention on the Rights of the Child.