Thank you Mr. President,

I am honoured to deliver this statement on behalf of the Benelux: Belgium, Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. We align ourselves with the EU statement.

We thank the Special Rapporteur for her report regarding the chilling effects of digital surveillance on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. The use of surveillance for the sake of suppressing civic and political activism and silencing diverse voices is an undeniable attack on democracy and human rights.

While the abuse of digital surveillance is a largely invisible weapon, its consequences are nothing of the sort. Without a robust regulatory framework ensuring transparency, public oversight and human rights safeguards it can lead to high levels of repression, impacting not only those targeted, but their families and associates as well. As your report pointed out, it also facilitates transnational repression. We join the Special Rapporteur’s call on States to refrain from using surveillance and digital technologies to suppress political dissent and civil society actions. Intrusive, unlawful and disproportional surveillance cannot be “the new normal”. 

Madam Special Rapporteur, what effective strategies have been deployed by States and civil society to prevent unlawful digital surveillance and how can we support and protect those affected?
Thank you.