A/HRC/42/30
treatment and punishment. In response, the Government provided information on the
conditions of detention and remedies available to Ms. Al-Hathloul.98 On 5 April 2019, the
Government submitted additional information, stating that she had committed offences
related to national security and cybercrimes and is detained in the General Directorate of
Investigation (Al-Mabahith) with rights to medical treatment, legal representation,
communications and visits. The Government stated that the investigation into her case has
been conducted and concluded.
94.
On 25 June 2018, three special procedures mandate holders addressed the situation
of Mr. Abdulrasheed Al-Faqih and Ms. Radhia Al-Mutawake of the Mwatana Organization
for Human Rights (see also Yemen), including reported arbitrary detentions during attempts
to fly from Seiyun airport, in apparent reprisal for their cooperation with UN human rights
mechanisms (YEM 4/2018; SAU 8/2018 and A/HRC/40/60/Add.1, para. 638). In 2017, Ms.
Al-Mutawakel was the first Yemeni woman to present a briefing at the UN Security
Council and Mr. Al-Faqih had actively participated in Human Rights Council sessions in
2017. The detention and confiscation of their passports at Seiyun airport by military police
were reportedly based on orders received from the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, and
caused them to not be able to travel (YEM 4/2018; SAU 8/2018). On 28 June 2018, the
Government responded stating that Saudi Arabia is not concerned with these cases since
they are in the territories of Yemen. 99
95.
In March 2019, Mr. Yahya Al-Assiri, director of the Saudi human rights
organization AlQST, which reports on the human rights situation of detainees and
activists in Saudi Arabia, delivered a statement on behalf of the International Federation
for Human Rights (FIDH) during the UPR adoption of Saudi Arabia, and spoke as a
panellist at a side event on Saudi Arabia organised by the World Organization Against
Torture (OMCT). As a result of his engagement, Al-Assiri reportedly received threats on
social media. Some of the women human rights defenders detained in 2018 100 were
reportedly interrogated about Mr. Al-Assiri, including explicitly regarding his
engagement with the UN Human Rights Council.
30.
Sri Lanka
96.
A February 2019 OHCHR report notes that harassment or surveillance of human
rights defenders and of victims of human rights violations continue. In 2018, rights
defenders reported being questioned by the authorities after travelling to attend sessions of
the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/40/23, para 55). Representatives of civil society have
also reported being monitored, under surveillance, or intimidated, including receiving death
threats, by different groups while participating in sessions of the Council. A former NGO
worker was visited by armed men who questioned him about his activities in support of
visits by diplomats and United Nations officials, including the High Commissioner for
Human Rights in 2013 (para. 55). The OHCHR report further notes that such cases suggest
that informal and often extra-legal intelligence gathering activities have not ceased.
97.
On 2 August 2018 five special procedures mandate holders noted with concern
allegations of harassment, including online attacks, of Ms. Sandya Ekneligoda in reprisal
for her efforts to seek the truth about the fate and whereabouts of her husband (LKA
2/2018; A/HRC/40/60/Add.1, para. 414), disappeared journalist Mr. Prageeth Ekneligoda,
whose case was registered by the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances on 3 February 2010 (case number 10002838). Ms. Ekneligoda has been the
target of threats, intimidation and online attacks by supporters of the Buddhist monk leader
of the group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Mr. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera. He reportedly
stormed the court room during a hearing on Mr. Ekneligoda’s disappearance and threatened
98
99
100
38
9 October 2018 and 3 December 2018.
Response from Government:
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=34154.
OHCHR, “Saudi Arabia must immediately free women human rights defenders held in crackdown,
say UN experts,” (27 June 2018).
GE.19-15332