A/HRC/45/36
104. On 30 March 2020, the Government76 indicated that the central directorate of the
Ministry of Justice found a number of gross violations of the legislation on non-profit
organizations. On this basis, on 12 August 2019, the central directorate filed an
administrative action with the Moscow City Court calling for the organization to be
disbanded. On 6 November 2019, the Court adopted a decision to dissolve the organization,
which filed an appeal against the decision of the Moscow City Court. On 27 July 2020, the
Government responded to the note verbale in connection to the present report, further
noting that on 23 April 2020, the Ministry of Justice decided to exclude CSIPN from the
Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow on 22
June 2020 terminated administrative proceedings due to the liquidation of the
administrative plaintiff. The Government refutes that CSIPN is persecuted for its
cooperation with the UN, and notes that 60 organizations in the Russian Federation have
ECOSOC status, including some working on indigenous rights.
31.
Saudi Arabia
105. Multiple UN 77 actors identified alleged intimidation and reprisals, including
arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, torture, and harassment targeting Saudi civil society
representatives cooperating, having cooperated, or seeking to cooperate with the UN. The
present report includes allegations of reprisals concerning ten individuals in detention.
Additional cases have not been included due to fear of further reprisals. On 3 July 2019, a
group of Member States in the Human Rights Council reiterated their “serious concerns
regarding all acts of intimidation or reprisal against human rights defenders and
investigative journalists seeking to engage or engaging with the UN,” providing examples
in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.78
106. On 19 December 2019, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights addressed
patterns of intimidation and reprisals to the Government in writing. In January 2020, the
Government responded, reiterating information on the charges imposed on individuals
addressed by multiple UN actors.
107. On 15 July 2019, special procedures mandate holders expressed their most serious
concern at the executions of 37 individuals on 23 April 2019, 79 including Mr. Munir AlAdam,80 whose execution took place while his detention was under consideration by the
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (SAU 9/2019). 81 Mr. Al-Adam, a juvenile with
disabilities when detained, was one of 14 individuals charged by the General Bureau for
Investigation and Prosecution (since July 2017, the General Prosecution Office) in relation
to pro-democracy protests, with a count of “joining a terrorist cell within the country that
disobeyed the King and to disturb the peace,” which requested the death penalty against
each of them.
108. The mandate holders raised concern that Mr. Al-Adam may have been subject to
reprisals during his incarceration and while a communication was pending before the
special procedures (SAU 9/2019). On 2 August 2018, they had specifically requested that
the Government ensure his physical and mental integrity, and had raised concerns that Mr.
Al-Adam was reportedly subjected to acts of torture and ill-treatment while in detention
76
77
78
79
80
81
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=35210.
See also A/HRC/42/30 (paras. 73–74, Annex I, paras., 91–95 and Annex II, paras. 92–95);
A/HRC/39/41 (paras. 65–66, Annex I, paras. 95–99 and Annex II, paras. 49–50); and A/HRC/36/31
(para. 49, Annex I, paras. 68–69).
Statement by the Netherlands on behalf of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg, 41st session of the
Human Rights Council, General Debate, item 5 (3 July 2019), http://webtv.un.org/search/item5general-debate-23rd-meeting-41st-regular-session-human-rightscouncil/6055385648001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Regular%2041st%20session&sort=date&page=7#
player.
See also, OHCHR, “Bachelet strongly condemns mass executions in Saudi Arabia,” (24 April 2019)
https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24510&LangID=E.
Also spelled Munir Aal Adam.
Opinion No. 26/2019 adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its eighty-fourth
session, concerning Mounir Abdullah Ahmad Aal Adam (Saudi Arabia), 24 April–3 May 2019.
41