193. Participating States should respect and fully protect the rights of all individuals to associate freely online.276 As declared by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, the right to freedom of association, alongside freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, “is essential for people’s participation in the public debate and their exercise of democratic citizenship, and it must be guaranteed […] (without any online/offline distinction).”277 The laws regulating access to and use of information and communication technology, mediums through which freedom of association can be exercised, should also provide for the free exercise of the right to association. Any limitations imposed on the right to associate freely online must strictly comply with international human rights standards. Concerning the registration of NGOs: 194. NGOs should be allowed to exist and carry out their activities without having to register.278 In line with their OSCE commitments, participating States shall recognize as NGOs those associations which declare themselves as such, according to national procedures.279 National procedures must also comply with international human rights standards and OSCE commitments. 195. In a number of participating States, however, NGOs are required to be formally registered by a state organ and to obtain authorization to carry out their activities. In addition, in some participating States, registration procedures are lengthy, expensive and applied in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner. The imposition of excessive documentation requirements and several layers of bureaucracy lead to delays in the registration process or even prevent associations from registering.280 196. T he UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders has high- lighted the criminalization of activities carried out by unregistered groups as one of the most disturbing trends.281 In some participating States, engaging in human rights work in association with others without registration is regarded as a criminal or administrative offence. A number of human rights defenders have been imprisoned on these grounds or were forced to leave their countries and seek international protection. Laws, regulations and practices that directly or indirectly 276  A/HRC/RES/24/21, adopted on 27 September 2013, para. 1. 277  Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, “Declaration on the protection of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association with regard to privately operated Internet platforms and online service providers”, 7 December 2011, <https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1883671>, para. 1. 278  See report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, UN Doc. A/59/401, 1 October 2004, para. 82 (a). See also report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, UN Doc. A/HRC/23/39, 24 April 2013, para. 82 (a). 279  Moscow 1991, para. 43. 280  A/64/226, 4 August 2009, paras. 70 and 71. 281  Ibid. Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders 91