September 24, 2025
On September 24, 2025, the United Nations (UN) Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights (ASG), presented the annual report of the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) on intimidation and reprisals against those cooperating with the UN. The report highlights allegations of acts of intimidation and reprisals committed from May 2024 to April 2025, as well as updates on cases from previous reports. In April, MENA Rights Group submitted a contribution to the UNSG.
Reprisals are acts of intimidation, harassment or retaliation against individuals or groups for cooperating with the UN. The annual report includes both newly documented cases from the reporting period and follow-up information on situations previously highlighted, such as changes in detention conditions, judicial or administrative measures, or recurring patterns of intimidation.
The UNSG report warns that “more than half of the States reviewed continue to enforce or adopt laws on civil society, counter-terrorism and national security that have the effect of deterring or obstructing cooperation with the United Nations”. In some cases, new or amended legislation has further tightened restrictions on NGOs, complicating their registration and operations, and creating additional obstacles to meaningful civil society engagement with the UN. This trend is particularly pronounced in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where more than 6 out of 10 cases of reprisals are linked to counter-terrorism or security measures.
Algeria
The 2025 report provides updates on a number of cases initially highlighted in earlier reprisals report, such as Algerian journalist Mustapha Bendjama, who was questioned in court about a technical cooperation mission conducted by the Office of the UN High-Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2022. In late 2024, Bendjama was arrested and prosecuted for allegedly harming national interest and spreading biased information via social media.
The report also provides updates on human rights defender Ahmed Manseri and Malik Riahi, who had been targeted following their meetings with the former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in 2023. While Manseri left the country in June 2024, Riahi continues to face prosecution.
The annual report further follows up on the cases of human rights defenders Kaddour Chouicha and Jamila Loukil, who had been cited in previous UNSG reports, as they were prevented from travelling to Geneva in 2022. Despite their acquittal from terrorism charges, the Public Prosecutor lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court in 2025. The report also reflects Chouicha’s efforts to obtain the recognition of the unlawfulness of his travel ban, despite denial from state authorities.
Bahrain
The ASG’s report highlights a new case of reprisals in Bahrain: Ali al-Hajee, a human rights defender and former political prisoner, was interrogated about social media posts, including one on his meeting with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in 2024. He was then detained for allegedly spreading false news using social media.
The ASG continued to monitor the cases of activists Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Abduljalil al-Singace and Hassan Mushaima, who remain detained and suffered from severe ill-treatment, including denial of medical care. Previous reprisals reports described allegations of arbitrary arrest, torture, and long prison sentences on trumped-up terrorism charges.
Egypt
In Egypt, new cases included that of Hossam Bahgat from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), faced reprisals. Shortly before Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review in 2025, he was arrested and charged with serious terrorism-related offenses, reportedly linked to EIPR’s engagement with UN mechanisms. Though released on bail and able to attend the session in Geneva, the case remains open, continuing a pattern of judicial harassment against him and EIPR staff. In addition, investigative journalist and human rights defender Basma Mostafa faced persistent harassment and intimidation while living in exile. In the context of her participation in an advocacy program in Geneva and meetings with UN human rights mechanisms and the OHCHR, she was followed, threatened, and targeted with cyberattacks.
The UNSG also included follow-up information on the cases of human rights defenders Ahmed Shawky Amasha, who has appeared in every reprisals report since 2017 and continues to be detained in pre-trial detention, and Ebrahim Metwally, arrested in 2017 on his way to Geneva to meet with the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance, who is prevented from family visits and suffers from ill-treatment in detention.
Iraq
In Iraq, the OHCHR documented several incidents of intimidation against civil society actors for their cooperation with UN mechanisms, though no names nor details were included due to fear of further reprisals.
Israel/Palestine
With regard to reprisals committed in Palestine by Israel, the ASG also continued to monitor the situation of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al-Haq, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defense for Children International – Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, which were designated as “terrorist organisations” by Israel in 2021. The report highlighted ongoing challenges related to their banking transactions, noting that de-risking measures by banks, intermediary institutions, and donors have had a serious impact.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi human rights activists have been repeatedly mentioned in the UNSG reports. Such was the case of human rights defender Mohammed al-Qahtani, who appeared nine times. Arbitrarily detained from 2013 to 2025, he continues to be subjected to a 10-year travel ban.
The 2024 report also featured the case of women’s rights defender Loujain al-Hathloul, who was detained and tortured following her engagement with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 2018. Released from prison in 2021, she remains subjected to a travel ban despite its expiration on November 12, 2023.
Updates on the cases of human rights defenders Essa al-Nukheifi and Fawzan al-Harbi were also included. The report highlights that al-Nukheifi, arbitrarily detained in 2017, was released on January 7, 2025, but remains under a six-year travel ban, while al-Harbi continues to be subjected to a ten-year travel ban since his release in 2023 after completing a ten-year prison term.
United Arab Emirates
The ASG report provides updates on three emblematic cases in connection with the mass trial of 84 individuals, known as the UAE84. It records that Mohamed al-Mansoori was retried in this case and sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2024. The report also updates the case of prominent human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, noting that he too was retried in the UAE84 proceedings and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. Finally, the report highlights the continuing situation of Ahmad Ali Mekkaoui, who has remained without any family contact since 2021, raising deep concerns about his isolation.
Yemen
The case of Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, included in previous reports because of reprisals following engagement with the UN Security Council and human rights mechanisms, was again included. In April 2025, local authorities in Taiz issued a directive banning Mwatana’s activities, followed by social media messages calling for the arrest of its Chairperson, Radhya al-Mutawakel, if she entered the city, and urging legal action against anyone cooperating with her or the organisation. In addition, 31 incidents against Mwatana staff were documented, mostly attributed to the Houthis, aimed at obstructing their monitoring and legal support work.
Conclusion
MENA Rights Group will keep monitoring acts of reprisals across the MENA. We fear that if reprisals, as they are taking place across the region, are not addressed by states, this situation will only reinforce the climate of self-censorship prevailing in the region.
If you would like to report acts of reprisals and intimidation against individuals and groups engaging with the UN, do not hesitate to contact us so that we can alert the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and the OHCHR.
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