A/HRC/33/19 of, protection against and accountability for reprisals and intimidation related to cooperation with the United Nations in the field of human rights, and added that he was pleased to note that States from all regions had now expressed their support for the prompt implementation of the resolution. 5. In his concluding statement at the end of the thirtieth session of the Human Rights Council, after the appointment of three new special procedure mandate holders, the President of the Council once again reminded States that individuals and groups should be encouraged to cooperate with the special procedures mechanism and that reprisals against those who did so were unacceptable. Furthermore, on 7 December 2015, during the Council’s organizational session, he expressed his conviction that “it was, is and will continue to be in our common interest to promote a culture of non-reprisals”. 6. In his closing remarks to the thirty-first session of the Human Rights Council, on 26 March 2016, the President stated that during the session he had received allegations of intimidation and reprisals and that all such acts were unacceptable and must end. 7. On 13 June 2016, during the opening of the thirty-second session of the Human Rights Council, the President of the Council stated that acts of intimidation and reprisal were taking different shapes and that social media, including Twitter, which were widely used by participants of the Council, may also be misused. In that regard, he referred to allegations that during the thirty-first session of the Council, a member of a national delegation had misused social media “to deliver a message that can be construed as a serious threat against an NGO representative attending the session”. The President had discussed the matter with the relevant Permanent Representative, who, after conducting a prompt investigation, acknowledged that the act had been committed by a representative of the State, albeit not in a professional capacity, and reported that an administrative reprimand had been issued. The President reiterated that such acts were completely unacceptable and should be denounced in the strongest terms. He called on everyone to be extremely vigilant in all cases of potential reprisals and stressed that “social media should be used to promote and protect human rights and not the opposite”. 8. Several States and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also delivered statements on the issue of reprisals, during the general debate on human rights bodies and mechanisms (agenda item 5) at the thirtieth session of the Human Rights Council, during which they condemned all such acts and asked for a coordinated response. Ghana, speaking on behalf of a group of 65 States, expressed deep concern at continued reprisals and urged all States to prevent and refrain from committing such acts. The group welcomed the increased attention devoted to the issue and stressed that it was high time for the SecretaryGeneral to appoint the United Nations focal point on reprisals. Ghana also welcomed the fact that the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights had extended the scope of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa to include reprisals, and encouraged other regional human rights bodies to take a similar approach. During the same debate, a representative of the Council of Europe mentioned that acts of reprisal for cooperating with that body had also been reported and that one of the suggested actions put forward by stakeholders would be for the Council of Europe to establish an alert mechanism to address cases of reprisal. 9. As at June 2016, eight out of the ten human rights treaty bodies had adopted the Guidelines against Intimidation or Reprisals, known as the “San José Guidelines”. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had not yet adopted the Guidelines. In September 2015, in addition to adopting the San José Guidelines, the Committee against Torture had adopted its own policy on the receipt and handling of allegations of reprisals (CAT/C/55/2). In November 2015, the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment had decided to revise its policy on reprisals in the light 4