A/HRC/36/31 66. Beyond the grave impact on the life of the persons concerned and their relatives, intimidation and reprisals also systematically undermine United Nations action on human rights and the confidence of partners in the Organization. I also regret that a number of concerns relating to acts of intimidation and reprisal did not receive a reply from the Governments concerned during the period under review. In other instances, Governments provided responses to the allegations but failed to address the concerns raised. 67. Patterns emerging from the cases in the present and previous reports seem to reflect a strategy by some States to prevent the activities of individuals from providing information or otherwise cooperating with the United Nations on human rights. 68. Like previous Secretaries-General, I stress that any act of intimidation or reprisal against individuals or groups seeking to cooperate or having cooperated with the United Nations in the field of human rights, or against their family members, legal representatives or others with professional or personal ties to such individuals or groups, is absolutely unacceptable. Such acts run counter to the very principles of the United Nations, and are a violation of human rights. I reiterate that States must end these acts, investigate all allegations, provide effective remedies and adopt and implement preventative measures to prevent their recurrence. 69. The United Nations has a collective responsibility to take action to respond to and prevent these acts. This responsibility is part of our Charter-based duty to promote and encourage respect for human rights - not only a normative duty, but an operational imperative for ensuring respect for human rights, sustainable development and building secure and peaceful societies. 70. The designation of the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights as the senior official to lead United Nations action in this regard was intended as a response to this collective responsibility. I therefore call upon all States, United Nations entities, bodies and mechanisms, civil society representatives and human rights defenders to cooperate fully with him. Another key objective of this designation was also to strengthen the collection of information on acts of intimidation or reprisal by encouraging all parts of the United Nations system to more regularly share information on such cases and to take appropriate measures. I encourage all stakeholders to report allegations of intimidation and reprisals for cooperating with the United Nations on human rights as they occur to ensure follow-up and action. 71. The Human Rights Council and its Presidency, the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the High Commissioner are important actors in addressing this issue. I call upon them to continue to address all cases of intimidation or acts of reprisal brought to their attention in relation to their mandates, and to coordinate their action with the designated senor official, as appropriate. 72. I call upon all States to follow up on the cases included in the present and previous reports, and to provide substantive responses where they remain outstanding. In this context, I also recommend that the Human Rights Council devote sufficient time to the discussion of the present report and to interact with the senior official designated. I also invite the President of the Council to given an oral update to the Council on the cases brought to his or her attention at each session. 15