THE FARIDA SHAHEED REPORT In March 2013, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed, submitted a report entitled ‘The Right to Freedom of Artistic Expression and Creativity’13 (hereafter the Shaheed report) to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Shaheed report became one of the most important reference points for artists and organizations advocating for and monitoring artistic freedom. The report does not define ‘artistic freedom’, but, like the UNESCO documents, it places freedom of artistic expression and creativity into a larger context and, as described in the preamble to her report, “addresses the multi-faceted ways in which the right to the freedom indispensable for artistic expression and creativity may be curtailed.” The report expresses “growing worldwide concern that artistic voices have been or are being silenced by various means and in different ways” and addresses the laws and regulations restricting artistic freedoms. She also discusses the underlying motivations for these restrictions, which she describes as “most often political, religious, cultural or moral.” They “lie in economic interests, or are a combination of those.” She encourages states to “critically review their legislation and practices imposing restrictions on the right to freedom of artistic expression and creativity, taking into consideration their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil this right.” 13 18 https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/23/34