135. As the UN Human Rights Committee has pointed out, freedom of opinion and expression, which includes the right to seek, receive and impart information, is essential for any society and constitutes the bedrock of every free and democratic state.190 Furthermore, the Committee has stated that “[f]reedom of expression is a necessary condition for the realization of the principles of transparency and accountability that are, in turn, essential for the promotion and protection of human rights.”191 In other words, the enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression is indispensable for human rights defenders to be able to carry out their activities in promoting and protecting human rights. Accordingly, Article 6 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders reaffirms the right of individuals to know, seek, obtain, receive and hold information about human rights; to freely publish, impart or disseminate views, information and knowledge on human rights; to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance of human rights; and to draw public attention to human rights issues. 136. However, in spite of the existence of guarantees in international law, the right of human rights defenders to freedom of opinion and expression and of information continues to be unduly restricted in a number of OSCE participating States. In 2007, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly urged participating States to address “the remaining challenges, the lack of progress and even set-backs” with respect to the implementation of, inter alia, freedom of expression, which was found to be “under threat from a range of excessively restrictive laws and policies” that negatively affect the working environment of human rights defenders.192 In recent years, this situation has not substantially changed, but appears to have worsened in some parts of the region. Laws that allow for disproportionate and unreasonable limitations on the grounds of national security (in particular in relation to the fight against terrorism), public health and public morals have been consistently reported as problematic. Similarly, vague laws that can be arbitrarily applied in order to curb freedom of expression have been flagged as a cause for concern in some states. Likewise, in several countries, the defenders of the human rights of 190  UN Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 34 on Article 19, para. 2. 191  Ibid. para. 3. 192  OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Resolution on strengthening OSCE engagement with human rights defenders and national human rights institutions, para. 17, in “Kyiv Declaration and Resolutions adopted at the sixteenth annual session”, Kyiv, 5 to 9 July 2007, pp. 28-30, <http://www.oscepa.org/publications/ declarations/2007-kyiv-declaration/250-kyiv-declaration-english/file>. 68 Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders