A/HRC/33/19 not subject to appeal, and was sentenced to three years in prison (see A/HRC/31/55/Add.1, para. 563). He reiterated that international law provides for a right to unhindered access to and communication with international bodies on matters of human rights and fundamental freedoms (ibid.). 7. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 45. Reference has been made in each of my previous reports since 2010 to the case of Judge María Lourdes Afiuni Mora, who had become the subject of reprisals in the form of arbitrary detention when she ordered the conditional release of Eligio Cedeño, after the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in its opinion No. 10/2009, had considered his detention arbitrary (see A/HRC/14/19, paras. 45-47, A/HRC/18/19, paras. 87-90, A/HRC/21/18, paras. 68-69, A/HRC/24/29 and Corr.1, paras. 46-48, A/HRC/27/38, para. 46, and A/HRC/30/29, annex, para. 7). In its concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Human Rights Committee expressed particular concern over her situation, including at claims that she was subjected to ill-treatment and sexual assault during her detention and that those claims were not promptly investigated (see CCPR/C/VEN/CO/4, para. 15). The High Commissioner, in his statement of 12 November 2015 at the special meeting of the Human Rights Council on the occasion of the visit of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, also referred to the case of Judge Afiuni and urged the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to comply with the recommendations of the international human rights bodies.10 The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in its 2015 annual report, also reiterated its concern over the continued detention under house arrest of Judge Afiuni and again called upon the Government to release her immediately and provide her with effective and adequate reparations (see A/HRC/33/50, para. 22). V. Conclusions and recommendations 46. Continuing intimidation and reprisals against individuals and groups who seek to cooperate, are cooperating or have cooperated with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights remain of grave concern. Every such act chips away a small piece of the work accomplished by the United Nations in the field of human rights. Such acts not only devastate the lives of the individuals concerned, and their families, but also have a deterrent effect that may undermine future cooperation. 47. The cases included in the present and in previous reports show that acts of intimidation and reprisal continue to range from harassment, intimidation, arbitrary arrest and detention, including incommunicado and solitary confinement, travel bans, charges and sentencing, sometimes to lengthy prison terms, acts of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including physical attacks and sexual abuse, denial of access to medical attention in detention, to, in extreme cases, death. 48. Patterns emerging from those cases seem to indicate that, if initial warning signs are ignored, acts of intimidation and reprisal are likely to become more severe over time, not only targeting individuals or groups engaging with the United Nations in the field of human rights directly, but also their families, legal representation, organizations and anyone else linked to them. For that reason I reiterate that all such 10 OHCHR, “Statement by the High Commissioner at the special meeting of the Human Rights Council on the occasion of the visit of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”. 15