A/HRC/45/36 140. Further, it was reported to OHCHR that the increased attention by the UN on the human rights situation in Venezuela has been accompanied by a parallel increase in restrictions, attacks and pressure on independent civil society actors, human rights defenders, health workers, and journalists, who have been threatened with legal action and accused of providing false information demonizing the country, being funded from abroad, and acting on behalf of hostile foreign interests. The High Commissioner also raised that some have reportedly also been discredited as criminals.107 141. In a September 2019 resolution, the Human Rights Council urged the authorities to engage with the UN human rights system. This includes the full and timely implementation of all commitments made during the June 2019 visit of the High Commissioner, in particular to allow OHCHR to maintain a presence in country, and its staff, both in the field and headquarters, to have full, unrestricted and unmonitored access. It also includes ensuring that all individuals have unhindered access to, and can communicate with, the UN and other human rights entities without fear of reprisal, intimidation or attack (A/HRC/RES/42/25, para. 28). 38. Viet Nam 142. On 22 January 2020, special procedures mandate holders expressed concern at the reported confiscation of Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong Thao’s passport by the Vietnamese authorities (VNM 5/2019). She is a human rights defender and pro-democracy activist, who has been involved with VOICE, a Vietnamese civil society organization. Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong Thao left Viet Nam in 2016 but continued to campaign for the promotion of human rights in the country, engaging with various UN human rights mechanisms. On 15 November 2019, Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong Thao travelled to Viet Nam for the first time since 2016. Upon her arrival at Hanoi International Airport, security officers from the Ministry of Public Security reportedly apprehended her, and held her in an interrogation room for eight hours without access to a lawyer and unable to contact family members. She was released later that day without charges. However, her passport was confiscated by the Vietnamese authorities and she is prevented from leaving the country, returning to her place of residence and pursuing her human rights work. Ms. Thao faced an online campaign, allegedly run by pro-government commentators, attacking her work. 143. On 18 March 2020, the Government responded to the communication stating that the allegations were inaccurate, mostly drawn from unsubstantiated information and did not reflect the nature of the case. The Government informed that, in 2015, Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong Thao received an administrative citation for inciting people to disrupt social order. The Government stated that, in 2019, while entering the country, Ms. Thao was questioned by the police about activities related to a terrorist group. According to the Government, authorities had neither withdrawn nor confiscated her passport. 108 144. On 31 March 2020, special procedures mandate holders expressed concern at the alleged arbitrary arrest and potential enforced disappearance on 26 March 2020 of Ms. Truong Thi Ha, a Vietnamese lawyer and woman human rights defender, in what appeared to be a reprisal for her cooperation with the UN (VNM 1/2020). In November 2019, she participated in a workshop organized by the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association in Geneva, where she voiced her fear of reprisals, and subsequently engaged with the UN over the next several months. On 25 March 2020, Ms. Truong intended to return to Viet Nam for the first time after her interaction at the UN, and was due to cross the land border at Cha Lo Border Gate, Dân Hoá into Viet Nam. As part of the measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Truong was reportedly quarantined with other Vietnamese nationals for two weeks at a government center in Quang Binh where border control authorities confiscated her identification card, driver’s license and passport, as well as her personal belongings. She was released on 13 April 2020 without her passport and other belongings. 107 108 48 Ibid. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=35202.