A/HRC/51/47 United Nations institutions, including the Human Rights Council, alleged that previous and current staff of Addameer are “affiliates” of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (illegal under Israeli military law), and contended that Addameer has links with terrorism, including for its provision of legal aid.138 Addameer was also included in the 2020 report of the Secretary-General139 in relation to a statement on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website accusing Addameer and other human rights organizations that supported the report of the High Commissioner on business activities related to settlements, 140 of having ties to terrorism. 99. The NGO Addameer was among one of the six organizations designated as a terrorist organization on 19 October 2021 (See Annex I). On 27 December 2021, special procedure mandate holders raised concerns about online surveillance through the planting of the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware on the phone of a staff of Addameer, among others (see annex I), (ISR 11/2021).141 Reportedly, since the issuance of the designation decision, at least one staff member of Addameer has been arrested and placed under administrative detention, without charges or trial. During the reporting period, Addameer’s engagement with the United Nations in the field of human rights continued. 100. The case of Mr. Isra Amro, founder of Youth Against Settlements in Hebron and winner of the 2010 OHCHR Human Rights Defender of the Year in Palestine award, was included in the 2014 and 2021 reports of the Secretary-General142 related to his engagement with the Human Rights Council in 2013 and allegations addressed by special procedures mandate holders that, upon Mr. Amro’s return to Israel in July 2013, Israeli soldiers confiscated his passport and he was beaten, threatened and handcuffed at a military police station in Hebron (ISR 7/2013). Reportedly, in July 2013 Israeli soldiers allegedly invaded the Youth Against Settlements centre and harassed the persons present. The following day, Mr. Amro and three other individuals were shot at (A/HRC/27/38, para. 25). Following almost five years of judicial proceedings, in March 2021, Mr. Amro received a three-month suspended sentence with a two-year probation period and a fine in relation to his human rights work. According to information received by OHCHR, on 2 August 2021, Mr. Amro filed an appeal to the Military Court, which was heard on 10 January 2022 and, as of 30 April 2022 the next hearing or verdict was pending. 16. Lao People’s Democratic Republic 101. The case of four members of the Chaofa Hmong indigenous community, including two girls, one woman and an 80-year-old man, and their relatives were included in the 2021 report of the Secretary-General on allegations of enforced disappearance in March 2020 by the Lao People’s Armed Forces following the submission of information and the consideration of their situation by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. 143 Following the August 2020 communication by special procedures mandate holders on the fate of the four disappeared community members (LAO 3/2020), relatives in the Phou Bia Mountain forests (Xaisombun Province), were reportedly subject to threats and intimidation by the army, and a male relative of two of the disappeared was killed by a group of Laotian soldiers (LAO 3/2021). 102. Mandate holders expressed concern about what appeared to be reprisals against the relatives of the disappeared in retribution for having submitted a complaint to the UN Special procedures. They noted that the fear that the army was spreading among the Hmong population in the area appeared to be deliberately intended to isolate these communities and to severe links with the outside world, including UN human rights protection mechanisms (LAO 3/2021). In August 2021, the Government responded144 categorically rejecting the 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 58 The Ministry was closed in 2021and all documentation was moved to the page of the Prime Minister’s office: https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/generalpage/blood_money/en/strategic_affairs_bloodM.pdf. A/HRC/45/36, para. 78, Annex I para. 61. A/HRC/43/71 prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 31/36. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26908. A/HRC/27/38, para. 25; A/HRC/48/28 Annex II para. 75. A/HRC/48/28, Annex II para. 59. A/HRC/48/28, Annex I para. 62.