A/HRC/57/60 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 12/2, expressed its concern over continued reports of intimidation and reprisals against individuals and groups seeking to cooperate or having cooperated with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights. The Council condemned all acts of intimidation and reprisal committed by Governments and non-State actors against such individuals and groups and invited the Secretary-General to report annually on alleged reprisals, including recommendations on how to address the issue. The present report is the fifteenth report submitted pursuant to resolution 12/2.1 II. Activities in response to acts of intimidation and reprisal 2. Forms of reprisal and retaliation for ongoing or past cooperation and intimidation designed to discourage future participation or cooperation with a wide range of United Nations entities at Headquarters and in the field continued throughout the reporting period. Incidents or trends were addressed within the United Nations system by the Secretariat, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and United Nations field offices and peace operations, and intergovernmental organs, such as the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Human Rights Council and its special procedure mandate holders, human rights treaty bodies and other mechanisms, such as the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and the Governing Body of the International Labour Office and its Committee on Freedom of Association also addressed incidents of reprisal during the period. 3. The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, the senior United Nations official designated by the Secretary-General to lead system-wide efforts to address intimidation and reprisals, continued engagement with Member States, United Nations entities, civil society and other stakeholders to raise awareness of and concern about such trends and incidents. 4. The General Assembly and the Human Rights Council addressed acts of intimidation and reprisal for cooperation with the United Nations in several country and thematic resolutions.2 In October 2023, the Council, in its resolution 54/24 noted with concern the gender dimension and the specificity and severity of acts of reprisal against women, in particular for cooperation with the Security Council, and the targeting of representatives of Indigenous Peoples during their participation in United Nations meetings. Welcoming positive developments and good practices, it encouraged all United Nations entities to strengthen efforts to prevent and address acts of intimidation or reprisal. 5. On 17 October 2023, 80 Member States and the European Union delivered a cross-regional statement on reprisals to the Third Committee, recognizing the crucial role of civil society and human rights defenders in the work of the United Nations and the central responsibility of the United Nations in addressing reprisals, and expressing concerns about the global patterns identified by the Secretary-General.3 6. The Presidency of the Human Rights Council received allegations of intimidation and reprisals concerning five States, two of which were members of the Council at the time of the alleged incidents. Successive Presidents of the Council continued the practice of addressing the allegations with the Permanent Representatives of the countries concerned. 1 2 3 2 See previous reports at https://www.ohchr.org/en/reprisals/annual-reports-reprisals-cooperation-un. See, for example, General Assembly resolutions 77/227 and 77/228; and Human Rights Council resolutions 53/26, 54/1, 54/12, 54/20, 54/23 and 55/27. See https://www.ireland.ie/en/un/newyork/news-and-speeches/news-archive/our-joint-statement-onreprisals/; and https://press.un.org/en/2023/gashc4385.doc.htm. GE.24-14259