A/HRC/30/29 A/HRC/29/37/Add.2, paras. 80-81).4 Despite assurances received from the Government that none of the individuals cooperating with the mandate holders would be threatened, harassed or punished, it was reported that some of the individuals no longer residing in the Gambia were after the visit being pursued by the authorities. Even though it was difficult to verify this information, the Special Rapporteur on torture received information concerning one such case that he considered credible.With regard to the report of the Special Rapporteur on summary or arbitrary executions, the Government expressed its dismay at the “biased manner” in which the report had been presented, stating that the allegations that it contained were unsubstantiated and lacked merit (A/HRC/29/37/Add.6, para. 1). 7. Honduras 21. On 5 May 2015, a number of special procedure mandate holders raised allegations of acts of intimidation against members of Plataforma EPU, a network of 51 civil society organizations, for their engagement with the universal periodic review process of Honduras prior to its review on 8 May 2015 (A/HRC/30/27, case HND 1/2015). On 6 and 7 April 2015, government officials reportedly publicly warned the national and international community of a smear campaign initiated by certain non-governmental organizations meant to taint the image of the country in the context of its review. On 9 April, the National Commissioner for Human Rights reportedly warned that certain groups might use events to pursue their own interests, referring specifically to the information submitted by nongovernmental organizations for the review of Honduras. The media allegedly repeated these stigmatizing declarations for several days, including on 10 April, when they alleged that certain groups intended to sabotage the review of Honduras. On 13 April, in a public statement, a parliamentarian reportedly implied that these organizations received payments for discrediting the country (ibid.). At the moment of finalization of the present report, no response had been received from the Government. 8. Islamic Republic of Iran 22. On 11 June 2014, a number of special procedure mandate holders expressed grave concerns at allegations of reprisals against Omid Behrouzi, Behnam Ebrahimzadeh, Mohammad Sadiq Kabudvand, Sa’id Matinpour, Hossein Ronaghi-Maleki and Abdolfattah Soltani, all human rights defenders, detained in Evin prison, owing to the engagement of some of them with the United Nations human rights mechanisms (A/HRC/28/85, case IRN 9/2014). On 17 April 2014, during an inspection of detainees’ personal effects in ward 350 of Evin prison, the six men, together with other detainees, were reportedly severely beaten by prison guards and security agents and transferred to solitary confinement for a period ranging from several days to two months. On 22 April 2014, the Speaker of the National Security Committee of Parliament reportedly justified the raid by attributing it in part to “a series of fabricated and unfounded reports” that had been passed on from inside Evin prison to “defiant elements such as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran” (ibid.). At the time of finalization of the present report, no response had been received from the Government. 23. On 15 July 2014, a number of special procedure mandate holders, referred to allegations of reprisals against Hadi Esmaeilzadeh, a human rights lawyer and former member of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, which was forcibly closed in December 2008 (A/HRC/28/85, case IRN 12/2014). On 31 May 2014, the Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Mr. Esmaeilzadeh to three years in prison for his involvement with the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, and to an additional year of imprisonment for having 4 8 See also OHCHR, “The Gambia: UN human rights team prevented from completing torture and killing investigations”, 7 November 2014