A/HRC/40/60 broken into their homes and offices. In Sri Lanka, women defenders in grass-roots areas documenting war crimes have been placed under surveillance. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, women defenders have faced severe restrictions on their activities, including limitations on funding, and have been subject to the excessive use of force when they engage in peaceful protests. Women are also often excluded from peace processes, including in post-conflict settings. Women human rights defenders on the move 73. Women defenders on the move include refugees, internal and international migrants, internally displaced persons, victims of smuggling and trafficking and the stateless (see A/HRC/37/51). They include women who have been forced into exile – temporarily or permanently – because of the risks related to their activism. Women defenders on the move face many restrictions. Those with precarious status and who live in irregular situations often fear retaliation for their activism, including arrest, detention and deportation. Women human rights defenders deprived of their liberty 74. Women in forced confinement struggle to advocate for their rights. They are at risk of mistreatment, medical negligence, isolation, inhuman and degrading treatment and torture. Women defenders have been coerced into signing confessions or have received prison sentences in absentia despite being in government custody. 75. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the situation of women defenders in Isa Town Prison for women in Bahrain, who, as noted by civil society in a joint letter of October 2018,27 were allegedly subjected to reprisals in September 2018 for the attention drawn to their situation by the United Nations and the British Parliament. According to reports, Hajar Mansoor Hasan,28 Najah Yusuf and Medina Ali were beaten harshly and kept in isolation. Following the assault, Ms. Mansoor required hospitalization. Prison authorities applied restrictions to all inmates and prison conditions deteriorated. On 14 October 2018, the three women launched a hunger strike in protest over inhumane conditions. 76. The Special Rapporteur looks forward to the forthcoming report of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice on women deprived of liberty, to be presented at the forty-first session of the Human Rights Council in June 2019. Women human rights defenders working on land and environment rights 77. Global Witness reported that 2017 was the deadliest year on record for land and environmental rights defenders. 29 Women defending their lands, territories and rights related to the environment are often at a disadvantage in their activism. They are often excluded from land ownership, community negotiations and decisions about the future of their lands. When they engage in activism, they are often criticized for neglecting their domestic duties and endangering their families. In some cases, perpetrators deliberately target women in communities as a strategy of intimidation and fear. 78. Feminist indigenous leader Berta Cáceres30 was shot and killed at her home in La Esperanza in Honduras in 2016. She had been facing sexual harassment, death threats and spurious criminal charges for her work in defending land and environmental rights. While eight men accused of her murder have been brought to trial, there are serious concerns, including among the family members, about the conduct of the trial. The Special Rapporteur continues to monitor developments in this case and urges the Government of Honduras to ensure that the trial is fair. 27 28 29 30 14 Available at http://birdbh.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Joint-letter-by-NGOs-3-BahrainiWHRDs-18-October-2018.pdf. UA BHR 4/2017. Global Witness, At what cost? (2018). AL OTH 8/2017, AL OTH 9/2017, AL HND 4/2017, AL HND 4/2016, UA HND 2/2016, UA HND 4/2013.