Case No Country Mandate(s) Summary of the allegation transmitted Reply KAZ 2/2013 22/03/2013 Kazakhstan JUA Human rights defenders; Independence of judges and lawyers; Torture; 27/05/2013 Alleged imminent risk to the physical and psychological integrity of a human rights defender, who was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment after proceedings that did not comply with the international standards of fair trial, access to legal assistance, freedom from torture and arbitrary detention. According to the information received, the sentence of 12 years imprisonment and confiscation of his property against human rights defender Mr. Vadim Kuramshin was first upheld in a hearing on 14 February 2013, and again in a cassation appeal on 20 March 2013. The same court also reportedly upheld an interim ruling to strip one of his defence lawyers, Ms. Raziya Nurmasheva, of her license to practice law, allegedly on dubious legal grounds, and to undertake disciplinary actions against his second defence lawyer, Mr. Alimbayev. Mr. Kuramshin has worked for a long time as a defender of the rights of prisoners denouncing instances of torture and other ill-treatment and harsh conditions in detention centres in North Kazakhstan province. NPL 1/2013 22/03/2013 Nepal JUA Disappearances; Freedom of expression; Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Human rights defenders; Torture; Truth, justice, reparation & guarantees on non-rec; Alleged threats of violence widely published in mass media and official harassment of human rights defenders and an alleged physical attack against a human rights defender. According to the information received, Ms. Mandira Sharma and Messrs. Subodh Pyakhurel, Kanak Mani Dixit, Sushil Pyakhurel, Charan Prasai and Kapil Shrestha, all members of the “Accountability Watch Committee” (AWC), have been the subject of stigmatising remarks in newspapers, online news portals and on radio stations. These reports have also included calls for ‘people’s action’ against them, understood in the Nepalese context to imply violent attacks. All these media are reportedly affiliated with a Maoist political party currently in government. It is alleged that the threats have been motivated by AWC efforts in securing the arrest in Britain of an army colonel now being investigated for torture incidents in Nepal in 2005 as well as the arrest of Maoist cadres for the murder of a journalist in 2004. Additionally, Ms. Mandira Sharma has received messages indicated that an investigation has been opened against the organization, “Advocacy Forum”, of which she is the head, potentially putting its human rights activities at risk. Furthermore, Mr.Yadav Prasad Bastola, the executive director of the “Human Rights Alliance”, was allegedly attacked by six unidentified masked persons on 28 February 2013 while walking home. A/HRC/24/21 22 Date Type