A/HRC/45/36 Committee with 25 deferrals.40 It has reportedly received 97 written questions in total from the Government of India,41 which IDSN has reportedly answered (see OTH 16/201642; OTH 5/201743).44 59. On 31 July 2020, the Government responded to the note verbale sent in connection to the present report stating that the references to IDSN, an NGO being considered by the 19-member NGO Committee in an inter-governmental process, ignores the facts, that IDSN is not based in India, and the Government is not aware of any incident of reprisal or intimidation against this organization by India. The Government noted that legitimate scrutiny of an application for a special status with the UN cannot be termed as a ‘reprisal,’ it would be grossly unfair to single out this case, and there are several other long-standing NGO applications pending before the Committee. 17. Israel 60. Multiple United Nations actors identified alleged intimidation and reprisals for cooperation with the UN (see A/HRC/43/70). In January 2020, the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that “ongoing harassment and denunciations continued with the evident aim to silence and discredit the work of human rights defenders and to discourage support for their work, including by curtailing international funding” (para. 63). In December 2019, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights addressed patterns of intimidation and reprisals for cooperation with the UN to the Government in writing. 61. On 13 February 2020, the Ministry for Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy published a statement on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website referring to human rights organizations that supported the Human Rights Council mandated report 45 on business activities related to settlements (A/HRC/43/71)46 as having ties to terrorism. In particular, the statement listed Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, AlHaq, Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Norwegian People’s Aid as “terrorlinked Delegitimization Organizations Tied to the UNHRC [UN Human Rights Council] Israel Blacklist” in regard to their call for the creation and release of the UN database through public statements, petitions and letters. The statement noted that “the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released a database of 94 Israeli and 18 foreign companies operating in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem. An in-depth Ministry of Strategic Affairs examination of the NGOs involved in its release reveals the ties to terrorist groups these organizations hold.” The statement detailed these organizations’ engagement with the Human Rights Council and OHCHR.47 62. On 17 April 2020, special procedures mandate holders raised concern about the travel ban imposed on Mr. Laith Abu Zeyad, Amnesty International campaigner on Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The travel ban has prevented him from leaving the occupied Palestinian territory, which the mandate holders stated could be a reprisal for his cooperation with the UN, and his endeavours to raise concerns at the Human Rights Council (ISR 1/2020). In a briefing to the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 See, for example, UN ECOSOC, “Non-Governmental Organizations Committee Recommends 4 Entities for Status with Economic and Social Council, Defers Action on 65 Others,” (25 January 2019); ECOSOC/6958-NGO/882, https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ecosoc6958.doc.htm; E/2020/32, Part I (7 February 2020). See Ibid. and, for example, A/69/365, para. 74. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=31916. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=33474. See also A/HRC/33/19, para. 13. Human Rights Council resolution 31/36. OHCHR, “UN rights office issues report on business activities related to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” (12 February 2020), https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25542&LangID=E. See for example ISR 12/2019, ISR 13/2019, ISR 14/2019; A/HRC/43/70 paras. 55, 64–65 and A/HRC/37/42, para. 55, footnote 83; A/HRC/WGAD/2016/15; A/74/507, para. 17; and https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25131&LangID=E. 31