New research has found that the most significant violation of civic freedoms in 2024 occurred in occupied Palestinian territories or was perpetrated against those in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
In its annual global report, “People Power Under Attack 2024,” CIVICUS Monitor, a global research partnership that assesses the state of civic space worldwide, identified the most common forms of repression against the right to protest, the right to free speech and the defense of human rights and the environment in 198 different countries. It found a widespread assault on democratic freedoms, with 70% the world’s population living in countries where their civic freedoms are now heavily restricted.
"It's quite shocking that the majority of the world's population are living in countries where they are denied agency to shape the decisions impacting their lives," Mandeep Tiwana, co-secretary general of CIVICUS, said in an interview with Salon. “Many of these restrictions on the right to peaceful protest or the right to protest in solidarity with Palestinian people have happened in countries with very strong democratic traditions."
“Civic space," he added, "is a bedrock of democratic societies and without [it] people are not able to have the agency to shape the decisions that impact their lives."
Nearly 10% of so-called civic space violations documented worldwide occurred in occupied Palestinian territories or against those protesting Israel’s actions. In the United States, 3,200 students were arrested or detained by police for peacefully protesting Israel’s invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack, the report found. In the Netherlands, police deployed batons and tear gas on pro-Palestinian protestors, while in Canada it is now forbidden to wear a keffiyeh in Ontario’s legislative assembly.
In Israel, the government has severely restricted the right to protest its occupation of Palestine “through the disproportionate use of force and arbitrary arrests,” the report found. The country moved from “repressed” to “closed” on CIVICUS’ scale, marking a complete closure of civic space both legally and in practice.
“The civic space in the occupied Palestinian territory is passing through an unprecedented time. It is subjected simultaneously to the Israeli occupation, to apartheid policies, and to continued occupation and genocide,” Amjad Al Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network, said in a statement. “But it's also under constant surveillance by the Israeli legislative, executive, and judiciary branches, and abandoned by the silence of the international community."
The CIVICUS report labels the civic spaces of 198 countries with one of five categories: open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed or closed. That's based on examining policies related to “freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly and the state’s duty to protect these fundamental freedoms."
Only 40 out of 198 countries scored an "open" civic space rating, meaning there is little to no restriction on civic participation and freedom. Some 81 countries were ranked in the worst two categories, with over 30% of the population living in nations where civic space is entirely “closed.” These countries include Russia, Palestine, Ethiopia, Venezuela, Afghanistan and China,.
The most prevalent violation of civic freedom was the widespread detention of protestors, the report found.
When people are denied the ability to speak out against policies that harm them, Tiwana said, it "means that people are unable to seek transformative changes in societies whether it's for gender justice or to advance the rights of excluded minorities, or they are unable to uncover corruption."
In Bangladesh, more than 1,000 people were killed in anti-government demonstrations last July that did eventually result in the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In Kenya, police abducted, arrested and tortured those who protested the anti-finance bill, which would raise taxes on essential goods and services to meet revenue targets set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to Human Rights Watch. In February alone, over 1,300 Extinction Rebellion protestors were arrested in the Netherlands for blocking roads in Amsterdam and The Hague.
Attacks on journalists and repression of media was the second most prevalent violation of civic freedom, CIVICUS found. At least 49 countries saw attacks on journalists from both state and non-state actors, many of which were on journalists covering elections.
“Governments used a range of tactics to silence critical and dissenting voices, including arbitrary detention, threats, and physical assaults. In many instances, these actions created a chilling effect, discouraging free speech and independent journalism,” the report found.
Journalists were detained in at least 58 countries and killed in Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Honduras, Lesotho, Mexico, Myanmar. Over 137 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israel in the last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The report also found that violence against environmental protestors and land defenders was rampant in 2024 as calls for climate action increased worldwide. Latin America remains the most dangerous region in the world to defend land and the environment, particularly Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru.
The violent repression of land defenders has become a prominent issue in the last decade. From 2012 to 2023, more than 2,100 environmental defenders were killed, with 196 of those killings occurring in 2023 alone, according to Global Witness. Indigenous peoples and people of African descent are disproportionately targeted and account for nearly half of total murders.
While it may be on a less extreme scale, climate protestors in Europe and North America also faced state repression this year, the report found. Activists have been targeted in Austria, France and Italy; in the U.K., five Just Stop Oil activists received lengthy prison sentences for planning to block a roadway. In Canada, Indigenous land defenders were convicted for protesting against the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
Despite the grim tally, Tiwana said some countries did take steps forward in protecting civic freedom and human rights this year. Japan, Slovenia, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago all moved from narrowed to open on CIVICUS’ rating scale, while Bangladesh moved from closed to repressed.
There have been particular advances when it comes to gender-based violence and LGBTQ+ rights, Tiwana explained. In Poland, civil organizing helped reverse a law that required prescription for birth control. Greece became the first Christian orthodox country to legalize same sex marriage and Thailand passed a monumental marriage equality bill.
Such steady progress should be the standard, Tiwana said.
"What we really expect governments to do, especially democratic governments, is to champion democratic values and ensure that civic space is protected," he said.
