A/72/155 that several reputable civil society organizations that made submissions for the present report were concerned about retaliation; the sources of those submissions must therefore remain confidential. 38. She also notes with great concern that when civil society actors, including human rights organizations, undermine the work of those human rights defenders challenging fundamentalists and extremists, as has occurred repeatedly, this has a very grave impact on human rights. 30 39. The Internet has created new space for women to participate in cultural life and to challenge fundamentalists and extremists, but also a space where th ey are harassed by fundamentalists and extremists. 31 States must take necessary action and exercise due diligence in accordance with international standards to make sure women can participate in equality and safety on the Internet and can counter fundamentalist and extremist discourses in cyberspace. 40. The Special Rapporteur notes that there are also anti-rights groups that promote and act upon fundamentalist and extremist agendas that are harmful to human rights, and that issue is one that the international human rights movement itself must tackle. 32 While “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms” according to the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, such human rights defenders must accept the universality of human rights, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and act in accordance with international human rights norms. 33 Groups that promote fundamentalist and extremist agendas aiming at the destruction of internationally guaranteed rights, including discrimination against women, and that undermine universality cannot be viewed as human rights defenders. While their own human rights must be respected, in accordance with human rights norms, they should not misuse the mantle of human rights to advance their destructive activities and agendas. II. International legal framework A. Relevant international standards 41. The Special Rapporteur presented an in-depth analysis of the relevant international human rights standards of, and statements that have been made by, various United Nations bodies and mechanisms regarding fundamentalism and extremism as ideological bases for human rights violations, in her previous report on the impact of fundamentalism and extremism on cultural rights (A/HRC/34/56, paras. 40-60). She refers to the relevant sections of her previous report and __________________ 30 31 32 33 10/23 See Karima Bennoune, “Productive tensions: women’s rights NGOs, the ‘mainstream’ human rights movement, and international lawmaking”, in Non-State Actors, Soft Law and Protective Regimes: From the Margins, Cecilia M. Bailliet, ed., (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2012), pp. 140-147. Submission from Research, Assessment and Safeguarding of the Heritage of Iraq in Danger (RASHID International). See, for example, Shameem, “Rights at risk”. Note also the issues raised by leading South Asian human rights defenders “about the importance of the human rights movement maintaining an objective distance from groups and ideas that are committed to systematic discrimination ” in the “Global petition to Amnesty International: restoring the integrity of human rights ”, February 2010. See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SRHRDefenders/Pages/Defender.aspx. 17-12043