A/HRC/14/19 transmitted to the Government of Myanmar and is pending with the regular procedure of the Working Group leading to the adoption of an Opinion. 11. Sri Lanka 40. In a letter dated 17 March 2010, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Sri Lanka, in connection with the apparent existence of a worrying and increasing trend aimed at delegitimizing the activities of human rights organizations, individual human rights defenders and journalists working in Sri Lanka. Such attacks and threats have tangibly intensified following the eleventh special session of the Human Rights Council: “The human rights situation in Sri Lanka”, held on 26 and 27 May 2009. It is reported that the Human Rights Minister commented in The Hindu newspaper (1 April 2009) that “the people who go and sit in cafeterias in the UN and lobby people in a very subjective manner putting forward those kind of sentiments (against Sri Lanka) would be inviting a very stern response from the Government of Sri Lanka”. 41. In their letter, the Special Rapporteurs expressed their concern that the media campaigns, threats and harassment of and intimidation against a number of human rights defenders and journalists, in particular Sunanda Deshapriya, may be related to their legitimate activities in defence of human rights, in particular to their international advocacy and outreach efforts. Mr. Deshapriya, a prominent journalist and human rights defender, has been living in exile in Switzerland since May 2009, due to the threats received and the ongoing denigration campaign in the media following his participation and intervention at the tenth session of the Human Rights Council in March 2009 and the eleventh special session on Sri Lanka in May 2009. He has been accused of being a “traitor” and a “liar” due to his participation in the special session. Videos containing death threats against him have been posted on a social networking site; he has received numerous threatening text messages and has been vilified in television and radio shows and in a number of editorials. 42. Mr. Deshapriya, along with 30 other human rights defenders and journalists, appeared on a list published on the Sri Lankan news website Lanka News Web on 3 March 2010, allegedly compiled by the State Intelligence Service of Sri Lanka. The list contains the names of individuals who have been engaged in “international outreach” on issues related to human rights and grades them according to their perceived importance to the intelligence services. Several human rights defenders and journalists are referred to variously as providing several local and international outlets with information on human rights issues and internally displaced persons, as international platform speakers on media/human rights, and as persons who speak on human rights and media freedom and who are involved in advocacy overseas. While the purpose of the list remains unclear, it gives rise to a serious concern about the physical and psychological integrity of the individuals contained therein. 43. The Special Rapporteurs expressed further serious concern that some of the threats may be related to the fact that the people referred to above had cooperated with the Human Rights Council and special procedure mandate holders. Given the extent of the allegations, there was an overarching concern that the threats, attacks and negative media campaign may form part of a broader attempt to delegitimize the activities of human rights defenders who are critical of actions and policies of the Government. At the thirteenth session of the Human Rights Council, during the interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the delegation of Sri Lanka expressed its firm resolve not to countenance or tolerate acts of violence or intimidation against journalists and human rights defenders. This necessarily involved taking adequate measures to investigate and punish perpetrators of any violence against those persons. Sri Lanka also observed that the very amorphous GE.10-13228 11