A/HRC/51/47 127. During the reporting period, multiple United Nations actors, including the Spokesperson of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 165 and the CEDAW Committee,166 continued to address repressive legislation used against civil society actors and human rights defenders as a result of which organizations have been audited, heavily fined, and some forced into dissolution. Special Procedure mandate holders called for the Foreign Agent Law to be abolished or substantially amended (RUS/13/2021).167 On 7 March 2022 the High Commissioner for Human Rights reiterated her concern about the use of repressive legislation that impedes the exercise of civil and political rights. She noted further that “fundamental freedoms and the work of human rights defenders continue to be undermined by widespread use of the 2012 so-called ‘foreign agent law” and added that further legislation criminalising circumstances of ‘discrediting” the armed forces continues down this concerning path.168 23. Saudi Arabia 128. The case of Ms. Loujain Al-Hathloul, a woman human rights defender, was included in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 reports of the Secretary-General 169 on allegations of disappearance, detention and torture following her engagement with the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in March 2018. In June 2020, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found her detention arbitrary (A/HRC/WGAD/2020/33). In December 2020, Ms. Al-Hathloul was sentenced under national security related charges to 5 years and 8 months in prison, with two years and ten months of suspended sentence and a 3-year probation period in addition to the time already served and a 5-year travel ban (SAU 3/2021).170 On 10 February 2021, she was released from prison on probation for three years and with a five-years travel ban.171 The Committee and special procedures mandate holders have addressed her situation repeatedly with the relevant authorities, including allegations of acts of reprisals for her cooperation with the UN.172 129. In its 2021 annual report, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention addressed the deprivation of liberty of human rights defenders173 and cited the case of Ms. Al-Hathloul as an example of a woman human rights defender arbitrarily deprived of liberty due to her activities in support of human rights, (women’s rights), subjected to enforced disappearance, torture and ill treatment, and exposed to gender specific risks. 174 The report also cites the opinion concerning Ms. Al-Hathloul as an illustrative example of a case that takes place in a State where the detention of human rights defenders is widespread and provides an update on the case.175 It notes Ms. Al-Hathloul’s release on 10 February 2021 under probationary period, a travel ban, and the ongoing appeal of her conviction. According to information received by OHCHR, Ms. Al-Hathloul is under tight surveillance and reportedly a travel ban is also enforced on her family. 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 64 OHCHR Press Briefing Notes (19 November 2021), https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefingnotes/2022/01/press-briefing-notes-russia. See also RUS 9/2021, RUS2/2022. CEDAW/C/RUS/CO/9, para. 19. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=36763. https://www.ohchr.org/en/speeches/2022/03/global-update-bachelet-urges-inclusion-combat-sharplyescalating-misery-and-fear. See also https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2022/01/pressbriefing-notes-russia. A/HRC/42/30, para. 73 and Annex I, paras. 91–93; A/HRC/45/36, Annex II, paras. 110–111; A/HRC/48/28, Annex II, paras. 114–116. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=36216. https://www.ohchr.org/en/2021/02/bachelet-updates-human-rights-council-recent-human-rightsissues-more-50-countries?LangID=E&NewsID=26806. SAU 3/2021, SAU 8/2020, SAU 1/2019, SAU 7/2018, SAU 15/2014. See also, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26593&LangID=E. A/HRC/48/55, paras. 46–50. Ibid footnotes 11, 13, 24, 26, 31, 43. Ibid footnote 29.