A/HRC/39/41 him to 13 years in prison. The criminal indictment against Qin, which was issued by Wuhan City People’s Procurorate on 17 June 2016, states that Qin was being prosecuted due to h is promotion of engagement with United Nations human rights mechanisms, and that his “fundamental method of his [advocacy] work is based on using the Constitution and various UN human rights treaties, leading those around him to strive for human rights protectio ns, organizing them in accordance with the law, uniting various spontaneously created organizations, and coordinating the work on various fronts,” as a way to alleg ed ly fo rm a “powerful political opposition group.” 15. According to information received, Guizhou activist Mr. Mi Chongbiao and his wife, Ms. Li Kezhen have been forcibly disappeared since April 2018. They were detain ed incommunicado by State agents in May 2012 in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, after Mr. Mi posted online a complaint that he had submitted to the United Nations Hu man Rig h t s Council about rights violations that his family has suffered. Officers from Guizh o u Pu b lic Security Bureau have mainly held the elderly couple (Mr. Mi is currently 78 and M s . Li is around 67) in “black jails,” makeshift facilities used to illegally detain dissidents, activist s, and petitioners. Mr. Mi has reportedly been subjected to ill-treatment and t ort ure. M s. Li has not been involved in human rights advocacy and is being persecuted solely on the basis of her relationship to Mr. Mi. 16. On 31 July 2018 the Government responded to the allegations. Regarding the case of Ms. Wang, the Government stated that in July of 2015, she was “lawfully subjected to criminal detention on suspicion of troublemaking and inciting the subversion of State power, and was subsequently put under residential surveillan ce in acco rdance wit h t h e law.” Regarding the case of Mr. Mi Chongbiao, the Government stated that in May of 2012, he was “lawfully subjected to criminal detention on suspicion of troublemaking, which was subsequently changed to residential surveillance that was lifted in August 2012. The Government further noted that allegations of “disappearances” or “arbitrary detentions” are at odds with the facts. 17. Pertaining to Mr. Qin, the Government stated that in March of 2015, he was “lawfully subjected to criminal detention on suspicion of subverting State power; his arrest was approved by the procuratorial authorities in May of 2015, and [his case] was referred for prosecution in June of 2016.” The Government noted that the Wuhan Municipal Intermediate People’s Court held an open trial on 11 July 2018, which held that Mr. Qin had committed the crime of subverting State power and lawfully sentenced him to 13 years’ fixed-term imprisonment and three years’ deprivation of political rights. The Go v ern ment stated that, “following his release on the completion of his term of imprisonment [fo r t h at crime], and motivated by his dissatisfaction with State power and the socialis t sy stem, h e continued to engage in activities subversive of State power, advocating his ideas on subverting State power and proposing the goal, strategies an d met h o ds o f s ub vertin g it through written essays, published books and the use the Internet and foreign med ia.” Th e Government stated that to “achieve the goal of subverting State power, Mr. Qin sought o u t members, drafted regulations and established the structure of an unlawful organization th at he set up with himself as its head, and raised funds by levying membership fees, solicit in g donations and accepting financial subsidies, to be used for undertaking activities subversive of State power.” The Government did not address the allegation of reprisals. 4. Colombia 18. On 1 February 2018, five special procedures mandate holders addressed allegat ion s of death threats by paramilitary groups to Mr. Germán Graciano Posso, a memb er o f t h e Peace Community of San José del Apartadó, following his participation in the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva in 2017 (COL 1/2018). On 27 and 28 November 2017, Mr. Graciano Posso gave two speeches as a panellist at the Forum, where he denounced the incursions, aggressions, and repeated death threats from paramilitary groups against members of the Peace Community, because of their work highlighting the illicit financing of Chiquita Brands by paramilitary groups. On 29 December 2017, five paramilitaries broke into a warehouse with the intention of assassinating him. Three of the attackers managed to flee, and two were captured and handed over by the community to government authorities who reportedly released th em 24 hours after the event, whereby they continued to threaten the community in retaliat io n fo r 22 GE.18-13325