A/HRC/36/31 24. Thailand 57. In June 2016, grant recipients of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, human rights defenders Pornpen Khongkachonkiet and Somchai Homlaor of the Cross-Cultural Foundation and Anchana Heemmina of the Duay Jai Group, became the object of a legal complaint filed by the Royal Thai Army operating in the Southern Border Provinces. The abovementioned persons had published a report, in February 2016, on cases of torture and ill-treatment in the Deep South documented in 2014-2015, funded in part by the United Nations Voluntary Fund. They were consequently accused of publishing false information on torture and ill-treatment committed by military officials. On 11 February 2016, the spokesperson of the Royal Thai Army in the region issued a public statement, accusing the organization of bias and of using outdated information to seek funding. Special procedure mandate holders shared their concerns with the Government of Thailand about the allegations (see A/HRC/34/75, para. 11, THA 6/2016). 25. Turkey 58. On 23 January 2017, special procedure mandate holders raised concerns with the Government of Turkey with regard to allegations of reprisals against Osman Isci, an academic researcher and human rights defender, who was suspended from his research position at Agri Ibrahim Cecen University by emergency decree for his cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression during the mandate holder’s official visit to Turkey in November 2016 (see A/HRC/35/44, para. 12, TUR 1/2017). In January 2016, Osman Isci, together with more than 180 other academic and university researchers, signed a “peace petition”, which was published by Academics for Peace. Many of the academics have since been dismissed, suspended or forced to resign, and all of them continue to be subjected to administrative and judicial investigations (see A/HRC/33/32, para. 10, TUR 3/2016). 26. Turkmenistan 59. On 15 July 2016, the Human Rights Committee raised allegations of intimidation and reprisals concerning Navruz Tahirovich Nasyrlayev (CCPR/C/117/D/2219/2012), who claimed in a submission of 3 September 2012 that the State party, Turkmenistan, had violated his rights under articles 7, 14(7) and 18(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights through his repeated prosecution, conviction and imprisonment as a conscientious objector. The Committee noted with concern that, subsequent to Mr. Nasyrlayev’s submission of a communication thereon, and according to the information provided by Mr. Nasyrlayev himself, on 24 January 2013 his family home was raided by the police, and family members and guests had been subjected to mistreatment. The Committee also noted that the State party had not provided any information to the contrary following the call from the Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures, dated 8 February 2013, to abstain from acts of pressure, intimidation or reprisal against the author of the communication and his relatives. The Committee also recalled that any act of pressure, intimidation or reprisal against a person who had submitted a communication or his or her relatives constituted a breach of the State party’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to cooperate with the Committee in good faith in the implementation of the provisions of the Covenant. 27. United Arab Emirates 60. On 27 March 2017, six special procedure mandate holders raised its concerns with the Government of the United Arab Emirates with regard to allegations of the arrest, secret detention and risk of enforced disappearance of Ahmed Mansoor, a prominent human rights defender and blogger, as intimidation and act of reprisal for his collaboration with the Human Rights Council, the special procedures, the universal periodic review mechanism and the treaty bodies (see A/HRC/36/25, para. 13, ARE 1/2017). Several mandate holders have issued a press release on this case.8 8 See OHCHR, “UN rights experts urge UAE: “Immediately release human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor”, press release, 28 March 2017. 13