A/HRC/45/36 121. Further, it was brought to the attention of OHCHR that, during a 25 February 2020 public debate in the Thai Parliament covered by the media, a Member of Parliament presented multiple pieces of evidence from 2017 to 2019 that the online harassment against human rights defenders was organized and funded by a civilian security agency reportedly controlled by the military. 122. The case of Ms. Sirikan Charoensiri, of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, was included in the 2018 (A/HRC/39/41, para.70 and Annex I, paras. 105–106) and 2019 (A/HRC/42/30, Annex II, para. 100) reports of the Secretary-General on allegations of criminal charges linked to her participation at the Human Rights Council in September 2016 (THA 2/2017).83 It was reported that, on 26 August 2019, the charges against Ms. Charoensiri of “concealing evidence” and “non-compliance of an official order” had been dropped by the Attorney General. Additional criminal charges, such as that of sedition and false reporting, which carry a potential sentence of 7 years and 5 years, respectively, have been under police investigation since 2016. 123. On 23 July 2020, the Government responded to the note verbale sent in connection to the present report. The Government stated that both cases filed by Ms. Angkhana Neelapaijit are still under investigation, and that the Royal Thai Police has been regularly monitoring social media to check for any online harassment against her. Since 2018, no further online content directly attacking Ms. Neelapaijit has been found. According to the records of the Department of Special Investigation, Ms. Khongkachonkiet and Ms. Heemmina decided not to file criminal charges, but the relevant government agencies have accepted their request to help them identify possible online perpetrators. Meanwhile, the Government is currently revising domestic legislation in order to give better protection to human rights defenders. 124. Regarding allegations that the online harassment against human rights defenders was organized and funded by a civilian security agency reportedly controlled by the military, the Government confirmed that on 27 February 2020, the Spokesperson of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) had responded to the allegation, arguing that the allocated budget was not used for activities aimed at harassing individuals with opposing views, but for activities aimed at promoting better understanding and addressing misperception among the general public, regarding the work of relevant agencies, access to justice and human rights issues in the Southern Border Provinces. 125. Concerning the case of Ms. Charoensiri, the Government reiterated that the criminal charges against her are in no way linked to her participation at the Human Rights Council in September 2016, and provided an update that the sedition charge has been forwarded by the Samranrat Metropolitan Police Station to the Royal Thai Police Headquarters in April 2020, and will be considered in due course. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still awaiting confirmation from the Royal Thai Police on whether to proceed with the other pending charges. 25. United Arab Emirates 126. The case of Mr. Ahmed Mansoor was included in the 2019 (A/HRC/42/30, para. 79 and Annex II, paras. 103–104), 2018 (A/HRC/39/41, Annex II, para. 55), 2017 (A/HRC/36/31, para. 60 and Annex I, paras. 86–87) and 2014 (A/HRC/27/38, para. 38) reports of the Secretary-General on allegations of physical attacks, death threats, surveillance and travel ban following his collaboration with the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms and the treaty bodies. Mr. Mansoor is currently serving a ten-year sentence upheld by the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court in January 2019, which was addressed by the Spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 84 83 84 https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=33464 https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=33629. OHCHR, Press Briefing Note, Spokesperson of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (4 January 2019). 75