A/HRC/42/30 32. Death threats reportedly took place between September and November 2017, after a request for an evaluation of the ProRoute project to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel was made public confirming that violations had occurred and announcing the suspension of reimbursements for all civil engineering works in the ProRoutes project. Kidnapping attempts were reported in early 2018 when the defenders accompanied survivors to court. It is reported that the World Bank is in regular contact with threatened stakeholders, including civil society actors. 33. On 21 May 2019, the Government of China responded,68 stating that there is no factual basis for the allegations of the Zhengwei Congo (Golden) project, as verified by the local police investigation and the World Bank. Regarding the non-compliance of “pk99 + 800” material mining and the delay of the road construction, following negotiations, US$63,185 was paid to the landlord, who withdrew the complaint against Zhengwei Company. Regarding the complaints from the project team about sexual assault of local residents, the Government stated that local police concluded that the allegations were unfounded. Regarding the use of child labor in the project, the Government indicated that the Cong (Credit) Labor Law allows apprentices of 17 years of age to participate, as some did, but there was no use of child labor. Regarding the allegations of threats, beatings and kidnapping by Zhengwei Company, the Government states that following the compensation agreement was reached in 2017 there has been no formal or informal contact with the parties. 34. On 7 June 2019, the World Bank responded69 to the allegations in writing, stressing that they launched a collaborative discussion to help address the allegations with the UN agencies in Eastern DRC, and they have worked with the human rights defender over the past 20 months to address concerns. These actions are consistent with the Bank’s new Environmental and Social Framework, which has instituted new provisions to help protect individuals from retaliation throughout the life of a project. Regarding the Bank’s interaction with the human rights defender affected, while a member of the Bank’s team met the individual on many occasions, they do not have first-hand evidence of the allegations. They can, however, confirm that there has been verbal tension between relatives and members of the community dissatisfied about the suspension of the works. The Bank indicated that the decision to partially suspend the disbursement for all civil works under the project was taken, as it became clear that there was a breach of the Borrower’s social and environmental obligations. The Bank lifted the partial suspension when authorities met all conditions required. 12. Egypt 35. On 2 November 2018, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders addressed allegations of forced evictions and violations of the rights to physical integrity, liberty and security in what appeared to be “a pattern” of acts of intimidation and reprisals against individuals who cooperated with the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing during her visit to Egypt from 24 September to 3 October 2018 (EGY 16/2018; A/HRC/40/60/Add.1, paras. 585, 593; A/HRC/40/61/Add.2, paras. 10–12). The mandate holders underscored that the alleged violations appeared to be in breach of the Terms of Reference for country visits by Special Procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Council.70 Already at the conclusion of her visit, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing expressed 68 69 70 24 Response from Government (official translation pending at time of publication): https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=34713. Response: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=34732. See point (c) of the Revised Terms of Reference for country visits by Special Procedures mandate holders of the United Nations Human Rights Council (based on Appendix V, E/CN.4/1998/45).