A/HRC/39/41 State recommended that Cuba allow human rights defenders and civil s o ciety t o eng ag e with the United Nations and its mechanisms (see A/HRC/39/16, para. 24.158). 26. The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights addressed these alleg atio ns in writing to the Government of Cuba on 11 April 2018. On 10 May 2018 the Government responded that the individuals mentioned in the letter do not merit t h e cat ego rizat io n o f ‘human rights defender’ because of the large monetary sums received for their w o rk fro m undue foreign influence intent on regime change. The Government stated that these individuals should be more appropriately called ‘foreign agents,’ and rejected categorically the allegations of reprisals. 6. Democratic Republic of the Congo 27. The United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Co n go (MONUSCO), reported that on 25 September 2017, in Lubumbashi, Haut -Katanga province, a human rights defender who had sent a letter alleging human rig h t s v io latio ns committed in Kambove territory, became a victim of threats and harassment by an Ag en ce Nationale de Renseignement (ANR) provincial agent. It is alleged that the agents fo rmally reprimanded the human rights defender for sending such a letter to MONUSCO. 28. On 28 October 2017, in Luebo, Kasai province, a United Nations team of joint human rights officers, accompanied by their MONUSCO military escort, was threatened by soldiers of the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) soldiers. FARDC soldiers and Police Nationale Congolaise agents were posted outside t h e hotel where the United Nations team stayed, presumably to monitor the team’s mo v ement and to identify persons coming to visit the team. It is alleged that two persons who want ed to speak with the United Nations team were arrested by FARDC soldiers and releas ed t he following day. A note verbale was sent by MONUSCO to the Congolese authorities addressing this particular incident. 29. On 20 December 2017, in Nyiragongo, North Kivu province, a representativ e o f a local development NGO was abducted by unknown individuals who mistreated and hit h im while asking questions. He managed to flee after nine days in captivit y. Th is in cid ent is allegedly linked to a World Bank visit in early 2017 when the NGO representative denounced the embezzlement of World Bank funds by the NGO’s coordinator and agents of the Fonds Social de la République, an institution attached to the Presidency of the Republic in charge of managing funds for development projects brought by int ernatio nal p art ners such as the World Bank. Since the World Bank’s visit, the NGO represent at ive h as b een receiving threats through anonymous calls and text messages. In a meeting in M arch 2017 with the Antenna (sub-office) of the Fonds Social de la République in North Kivu, the coordinator of the NGO and his collaborators allegedly threatened the NGO representat ive if he continued to denounce their misbehaviour, and fired him. 30. On 24 April 2018, in Kimpese, Kongo central province, a human rights d efender was allegedly threatened by a police commissioner following his advocacy for th e release of six detainees, including one child. The police commissioner, who was armed, alleg edly intimidated him publicly for sharing reports on allegations of human rights violations wit h MONUSCO. 7. Djibouti 31. In April 2018, Mr. Kadar Abdi Ibrahim, a professor, journalist and human rights defender, conducted advocacy activities in Geneva, and presented a joint NGO submiss ion prior to the universal periodic review of Djibouti. On 15 April 2018, two days after returning from Geneva, it was reported that he was briefly detained and h ad h is p asspo rt confiscated by Secret Service agents who raided his home. The Secret Service agents g ave no reason for his arrest and confiscation of his passport. Mr. Ibrahim has since been unable to leave the country. As a result, he was unable to participate in the review of Djib o u t i b y the Working Group on the universal periodic review held on 10 May 2018. Fo u r M emb er States expressed their concern to the Government of Djibouti during its examination by the universal periodic review in May 2018.6 6 24 Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Djibouti ( see A/HRC/39/10, paras. 54 (Croatia), 64 (Germany), 84 (Ireland) and 104 (T he Netherlands)). GE.18-13325