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A number of United Nations (UN) human rights experts have condemned a "smear campaign" against a Northern Irish academic.

Four UN special rapporteurs said Prof Colin Harvey had been subject to a "vicious online campaign".

Prof Harvey teaches human rights law at Queen's University in Belfast (QUB).

He previously served two terms as a commissioner on the NI Human Rights Commission and was a member of the NI Higher Education Council.

He is also a board member of the Ireland's Future organisation.

Ireland's Future was set up to "promote, debate and discussion about Ireland's future, including the possibility and viability of new constitutional arrangements on the island" after Brexit.

However, it is not a political party or affiliated to any political party.

Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the UN to investigate and monitor how countries across the world are upholding human rights in specific ways.

Four have released a statement in support of Prof Harvey.

The Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, were two of the signatories.

The Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Koumba Boly Barry, and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Diego García-Sayán also signed the statement.

They said that Prof Harvey's "academic credibility has come under attack and he received hundreds of smears and threats from politicians, journalists and other social media users".

"His personal security has also been threatened," their statement continued.

"The threats seek to discredit his academic standing by making baseless claims he is connected with paramilitary groups or equating his ideas with Nazism.

"We believe the campaign against Colin Harvey may constitute incitement of national hatred, putting him at risk of physical harm.

"When attacks are made against legitimate academic work, it deals a blow to democracy, progress and development."

The UN experts also claimed that "some influential figures in the country were fuelling conspiracy theories" about Prof Harvey but did not specify to whom they were referring.

"Northern Ireland knows better than most the value of conciliation and mutual understanding," they concluded.

"We urge for debate in the media and among public officials and private citizens online to be held in a constructive and meaningful manner, to preserve peace, security and academic freedom in Northern Ireland."