A/HRC/57/60 anonymity. Such risks often extended to the close relatives of those who had cooperated or sought to cooperate with the United Nations. 119. Self-censorship and the choice not to cooperate with the United Nations, as well as the choice to do so under conditions of anonymity due to fear of reprisals, continued. The choice not to cooperate poses methodological challenges for the documentation of allegations and is likely underidentified and underreported. In several new instances, individuals and groups declined to communicate or meet with or submit information to the United Nations and, in other cases, they requested closed-door or confidential spaces in order to cooperate. 120. Alleged victims of reprisals requested anonymous reporting in half of the Member States with new cases compared with two thirds the previous year. Nonetheless, the overall number of individuals requesting anonymous reporting was significantly higher. A total of 120 victims, including women and young people, consented to report and have their cases documented and verified by OHCHR, under the condition that their identities and the details of their cases not be included in the report. They represent 75 per cent of the total new victims this year. 121. The online and offline surveillance of those who cooperate or attempt to cooperate with the United Nations remains a concern. Surveillance was reported in one third of the Member States included in the present report, compared with half the previous year. 122. Of the Member States included in the report, 45 per cent continued to apply laws and regulations concerning civil society, counter-terrorism and national security that had the effect of deterring or hindering cooperation with the United Nations, and some amended existing laws or enacted new ones that further increased restrictions. Dissolutions and deregistrations of civil society organizations continued to be documented during the reporting period, which imposed additional obstacles to civil society’s engagement with the United Nations. 123. In the overwhelming majority of Member States included in the report (almost 80 per cent, mostly in annex II), victims of intimidation and reprisals for their cooperation with the United Nations and their human rights work are either facing legal charges, on trial or serving prison sentences. Of these, human rights defenders and civil society actors in six Member States included in the report continued to serve lengthy prison sentences on terrorism or national security charges. 124. As noted in past reports, cases and situations included over the years in the reports and featured in annex II are more than isolated incidents. Recurrent allegations of repeated incidents of reprisals may appear to signal patterns, and several such cases or situations are illustrated in the present report. In addition, when multiple United Nations actors raise concerns about the same cases or situations during a reporting period, it often points to the severity and widespread nature of the incidents of reprisal in the Member States concerned. 125. Victims of intimidation and reprisals have been subjected to serious human rights violations, including kidnapping or enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment and even killings, for their cooperation with the United Nations. Most of the allegations of the reprisals documented during the reporting period relate to cooperation with human rights mechanisms or peace operations. 126. Those at heightened risk included human rights defenders, activists and journalists, as well as victims of human rights violations, witnesses and their relatives, lawyers and trade unionists. Women and Indigenous Peoples have continued to be exposed to a heightened risk of reprisals when they engaged with the Organization. 127. I remain concerned about the gender dimension of reprisals, and reports indicating the specificity and severity of acts of reprisal against women, in particular for cooperation with the Security Council and peace operations mandated by the Council. I note with concern that an increase in women peacebuilders’ participation in global peace processes has resulted in more attacks against them. As we unequivocally 16 GE.24-14259

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