A/HRC/48/28 60. The mandate holders note that, following the August 2020 communication by special procedures (LAO 3/2020), relatives of the disappeared individuals, including women, have reportedly been the subject of threats and intimidation by the army. In particular, coinciding with the publication of the communication on the special procedures’ public database in October 202046 and thereafter, there has reportedly been an escalation of violence against indigenous Hmong residing in the Phou Bia mountain forest by the Lao army. It was reported that, on 8 March 2021, Mr. Chue Youa Vang, a 63-year-old male, and a relative of two of the disappeared, was killed by a group of Laotian soldiers in the forest while attempting to escape. A disturbing photo of Mr. Vang’s body was taken by the soldiers and disseminated among the Hmong community (LAO 3/2021). 61. On 14 March 2021, authorities in Xaisomboun (Saysombun in Lao) province reportedly issued a decree, circulated via a letter sent to 26 villages in the area, forbidding all civilians, including Hmong villagers, access to the Phou Bia mountain forests in an apparent decision intended to isolate the individuals who have taken refuge in the forests from the rest of their community (LAO 3/2021). The mandate holders expressed “serious concern about what appears to be reprisals against the relatives of the disappeared in apparent retribution for having complained about their disappearance to UN Special Procedures” and that “the fear that the army is spreading among the Hmong population in the area appears to be deliberately intended to isolate these communities, many of whom are already living in militarised villages, under tight security surveillance, to severe links with their members who have fled in the forest, and with the outside world, including UN human rights protection mechanisms” (LAO 3/2021). 62. On 1 August 2021, the Government responded to the note verbale sent in connection to the present report categorically rejecting the allegations made by the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances. It reiterated that, according to the investigation of local authorities, there were no claims or reports filed related to the four missing members of the Hmong community. Moreover, the Government stated that the Xaisomboun provincial authorities had checked and confirmed that the names of the four individuals did not match any of the names of the family registration list recorded in the Ban Pha village and neighbouring villages. 15. Libya 63. During the reporting period, the Human Rights, Transitional Justice and Rule of Law Division of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) reported three incidents of intimidation or reprisals associated with UN cooperation. Names and further details are withheld due to fear of further reprisals. 64. On 29 December 2020, in Tarhuna, Murqub District, the Deterrence Agency to Combat Terrorism and Organized Crime (DACOT) reportedly arrested a survivor of human rights violations allegedly committed by the pro-Khalifa Haftar 9th Brigade militia, known as al-Kaniyat. At the time, the individual led an organization to defend fellow al-Kaniyat victims. During detention, the individual reportedly faced ill-treatment, torture and threats to their life. The release and return of the individual’s property – which al-Kaniyat had reportedly seized in 2018 and DACOT subsequently occupied – was conditioned upon ending all cooperation with the UN and withdrawal of complaints to the UN. 65. In February 2021, another human rights defender, who had survived human rights violations by a Tripoli-based armed group, reportedly received threats to his life via text message from militia leaders, accusing him of providing information to UNSMIL. On 1 February 2021, state actors arrested two men from an internally displaced person (IDP) camp in Tripoli. During interrogation, they were informed that they were arrested due to a briefing they had provided to a UN humanitarian delegation that same day. The individuals were subsequently released on 4 February 2021. 66. The UNSMIL Human Rights, Transitional Justice and Rule of Law Division has also documented how requirements imposed on civil society organizations have affected their 46 https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25491. 33