A/HRC/36/31 was stressed that allegations of reprisals remained a cause of great concern and referred in particular to a press statement issued by special procedure mandate holders in November 2016 in which they urged the Government to end its harassment of Raheleh Rahemipor. The mandate holders referred in particular to the fact that Ms. Rahemipor was the sister of Hossein Rahemipor, whose case was under review by the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances and to the continued harassment of Ms. Rahemipor, including the incidents during which she was questioned repeatedly in August 2016 by the relevant authorities about the complaint sent to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (see A/HRC/34/75, para. 10, IRN 23/2016 and IRN 29/2016; and A/HRC/35/44, para. 12, IRN 3/2017). 44. In June 2016, the Working Group had reviewed the case of the alleged enforced disappearance of Mr. Rahemipor and transmitted it to the Government. It was reported that following the transmission of the case of Mr. Rahemipor to the Government by the Working Group, Ms. Rahemipor was contacted several times by phone at which time she was instructed to turn herself in. She was charged with a range of national security offences, including “propaganda against the regime,” “participation in unlawful assemblies,” and “membership of Rah-e Kargar.” At the time of the finalization of the present report, no response had been received from the Government to any of the three communications. 11. Israel 45. In his report submitted to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fourth session (A/HRC/34/70), the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 highlighted an increasingly virulent environment for human rights defenders working on issues related to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including those addressing issues in United Nations forums. He reported that following a statement made in October 2016 to the Security Council, the Director-General of B’Tselem, Hagai ElAd, together with Lara Friedman of Americans for Peace Now, was publicly condemned by high-level Israeli officials. One Member of Parliament called for the revocation of his citizenship. Mr. El-Ad had warned of the expansion of settlements and the deteriorating situation of human rights for Palestinians. 46. The above-mentioned report followed a joint press statement issued on 16 December 2016 by the Special Rapporteur and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, in which they expressed their concern for human rights activists working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory who had been subject to “harassment and threats while seeking to promote accountability and engage with the International Criminal Court.” d Nada Kiswanson, a human rights lawyer in The Hague, where she represents Al-Haq, an organization that documents violations of Palestinians’ rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory regardless of the identity of the perpetrator, is alleged to have been subjected to death threats and accusations linked to her work before the International Criminal Court (see A/HRC/34/70, para 44). 12. Mauritania 47. On 11 October 2016, seven special procedure mandate holders expressed their concern about grave violations in Mauritania of the judicial process, including allegations of torture, following the arrest, arbitrary detention and sentencing to prison of 13 members of Initiative pour la résurgence de la mouvement abolitionniste (IRA). The mandate holders also expressed their concern about the possible link between those acts and the members having cooperated with the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights during his visit to the country in May 2016 (A/HRC/34/75, para. 10, MRT 2/2016). 48. The members of IRA were arrested between June and July 2016, and were accused of armed gathering, use of violence towards law enforcement agents, insurrection and membership in a non-recognized organization. Following trials, which violated fair trial and d OHCHR, “Human rights defenders under growing legal pressure in the OPT,” 16 December 2016. 23

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