A/HRC/24/29
38.
With regard to the closing of Amparo, a number of special procedures mandate
holders raised concerns about the lack of procedural safeguards, including the fact that
Amparo had reportedly never received a copy of the audit initiated by the Ministry of
Justice in July 2012 on the basis of which it was closed, and had not been able to comment
thereon. It was also reported that the Ministry of Justice had issued internal instructions that
were allegedly not published, and did not provide procedural guidelines for audits to the
judge concerned.25 No government response had been received as at the end of the period
under review.
12.
United Arab Emirates
39.
Allegations relating to the fairness of the trial and the treatment in detention of 94
civil society actors calling for change in a peaceful way in March 2013 and the
developments leading up to their trial were raised in a series of communications by several
special procedures mandate holders, the latest of which is dated 16 April 2013. In its
response, the Government called these allegations “far removed from the truth and
unfounded in virtually every detail”. 26 In particular, the allegations pertaining to torture,
physical abuse and beatings were categorically denied.
C.
Follow-up information on cases included in previous reports
1.
Colombia
40.
Further to the information included in my previous report regarding John Fredy
Ortiz Jimenez,27 who in 2008 had given testimony on the modus operandi of the “false
positives” and who had been forced to leave the protection programme of the Attorney
General’s Office because the latter refused to include members of his family in the
programme, despite requests by OHCHR Colombia, new information received indicates
that, in December 2012, several people stopped Mr. Ortiz Jimenez in the centre of the city
of Barranquilla and attempted to abduct him. Further, on 13 May 2013, while Mr. Ortiz
Jimenez was driving to a store in Barranquilla, he was reportedly approached by two people
who threatened his daughter and nephew. The National Protection Unit undertook a risk
study on his situation at the end of 2012, concluding that the risk was “extraordinary”.
Since mid-January 2013, the Unit has provided him with a bulletproof vest, a
communications device and a transportation allowance. The police also carry out patrols
around his home.
2.
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
41.
Further to the information included in my previous report,28 Maryam Bahrman, a
women’s rights activist and member of the One Million Signatures campaign, was tried by
the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz on 15 September 2012. In December, Ms. Bahrman was
sentenced to a suspended prison term of eight months on charges of propaganda against the
State, but was acquitted of the charges of “insulting the leader” and “the founder of the
Islamic Republic of Iran”. On 20 May 2013, she was fined for having defamed the
President and other State officials and for having spread misinformation about the system
of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Her arrest and prosecution appear to have been linked to
25
26
27
28
12
A/HRC/22/67, p. 147.
See A/HRC/24/21.
A/HRC/21/18, paras. 25-27.
Ibid., para. 28.