A/HRC/48/28 2019, 2018 and 2017 reports of the Secretary-General101 on allegations of the disbarment of three of the lawyers and suspension of one by the Court of Appeal at the request from the Public Prosecutor following their cooperation with the Committee against Torture during the consideration of a special report on Burundi in July 2016 (CAT/C/BDI/CO/2/Add.1, paras. 33 and 34). 13. The lawyers had been previously accused of participating in an insurrectional movement and attempted coup d’état and have been living in exile due to fears of being targeted. According to information received by OHCHR, on 2 February 2021, the Supreme Court’s verdict of 23 June 2020 was made public. Mr. Niyongere, Mr. Bashirahishize, and Mr. Nshimirimana were part of a group of twelve individuals sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for participating in a revolutionary/insurrectional movement and for attempted coup d’état. The judgement, following a trial where the defendants were absent and had no legal representation, also ordered the defendants to pay financial compensation, which included the seizure of financial assets of their families. 102 To date, the lawyers have not obtained a copy of the judgement, making it difficult to challenge it. Moreover, the claimants’ attempt to appeal the judgement from abroad has been dismissed. 5. Cameroon 14. The case of civil society organization Organic Farming for Gorillas Cameroon (OFFGO) was included in the 2020 report of the Secretary-General 103 on allegations of reprisals following a communication by special procedures (CMR 3/2019). 104 Allegations included the expulsion from the country of Mr. Jan Joris Capelle, a Belgian national and co-founder of the organization, threats against traditional chief, Mr. Prince Vincent Awazi, and death threats and attacks against Mr. Elvis Brown Luma Mukuna, the organization’s lawyer, and his relatives (CMR 5/2019). 15. According to information received by OHCHR, on 26 June 2020, men in military outfits raided OFFGO’s offices located in Tudig’s Chiefdom Palace, destroying equipment and confiscating documents. As of May 2021, the motive of the raid remains unknown and confiscated documents have not been returned. The case of Mr. Brown Luma Mukuma was documented in the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in 2021 to the Human Rights Council on death threats and killings of human rights defenders (A/HRC/46/35, para. 76), which noted continued threats and physical attacks against his relatives, including as a warning against him to stop his human rights activities. 16. Further, Mr. Brown Luma Mukuma and Mr. Capelle received numerous death threats via telephone between October and December 2020 following their public submission to the Special Rapporteur.105 A group of individuals in civilian clothes reportedly monitored Mr. Brown Luma Mukuma’s house during the holidays in December 2020. These and other incidents have regularly been reported to the National Commission on Human Rights of Cameroon. 6. China 17. The case of human rights lawyer Ms. Li Yuhan, who had engaged with UN human rights mechanisms and whose detention was considered arbitrary by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention,106 was included in the 2020 and 2019 reports of the Secretary-General.107 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 A/HRC/45/36, Annex II, para. 10; A/HRC/42/30, Annex II, paras. 13–14; A/HRC/39/41, Annex II, paras. 12–13; A/HRC/36/31, para. 24, Annex I, paras. 11–15. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26879&LangID=E. A/HRC/45/36, para. 53, Annex I paras. 21-23. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=34800. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Defenders/CFI_killings/submissions/civil-societies/csooffgo-eng-y.doc. Opinion No. 62/2018 adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its eighty-second session, concerning Wang Quanzhang, Jiang Tianyong and Li Yuhan (China), 20–24 August 2018. A/HRC/45/36, Annex II, para. 14; A/HRC/42/30, para. 45 and Annex I, paras. 13, 15. 51