A/HRC/37/40 22. The Syrian Arab Republic further stated that Israel continued to conduct arbitrary arrests of Syrian residents of the occupied Syrian Golan and to detain them in prisons, where they are subject to ill-treatment, in violation of their civil and political rights and other basic freedoms. It stated that Syrian residents of the occupied Syrian Golan are subject to sham trials, such as the trial of Sidqi Al-Miqt, who was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment in May 2017 because of his anti-occupation stance and his work in disclosing Israeli support to terrorist groups, including the Nusrah Front, 1 in the occupied Syrian Golan. It also stated that, in April 2017, Israel prevented Mr. Al-Miqt’s family from visiting him, following a decision to suspend family visits to all detainees on hunger strike. 23. The Syrian Arab Republic provided information on arrests carried out by Israel on 3 November 2017 against Syrian residents of the occupied Syrian Golan, including in the villages of Majdal Shams and Qinia, following protests by residents of the terrorist attack carried out by the Nusrah Front against the Syrian village of Hadr, in which they said Israel had been involved. It added that Israel had facilitated the passage of Nusrah Front elements to attack the village. 24. In conclusion, the Syrian Arab Republic stressed that the Israeli decision to conduct local elections in 2018 in the occupied Syrian Golan, in violation of Syrian sovereignty and relevant Security Council resolutions, in particular resolution 497 (1981), constitutes a flagrant violation of the political rights of the Syrian population of the occupied Syrian Golan. It stated that residents of the occupied Syrian Golan reject the Israeli decision to hold the elections. 25. In a note verbale dated 21 December 2017, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation stated that it did not recognize any of the legislative or administrative measures or actions taken by Israel in the occupied Syrian Golan that contradicted Security Council resolution 242 (1967). 26. On 22 December 2017, the Permanent Mission of Cuba addressed a note verbale to OHCHR, in which it reiterated the importance of the efforts made by the United Nations to end the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan, and requested the international community not to recognize any of the legislative or administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, as referred to in Human Rights Council resolution 34/27. 27. Cuba stated that the acquisition of territory by force was a violation of international law and reiterated that steps taken or that could be taken by Israel to modify the legal status, physical character, demographic composition and institutional structure of the occupied Syrian Golan should be considered null and void. 28. Cuba called upon Israel to withdraw immediately from the Syrian Golan to the lines that existed on 4 June 1967, in compliance with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). It also emphasized that Israel should renounce its “unrestrained attempts” to take over the occupied Syrian Golan. According to Cuba, foreign occupation, policies of expansion and aggression, the creation of settlements and the acquisition of territory by force were practices that violated international instruments and norms and had a negative impact on the human rights of the Syrian people, in particular those living in the occupied Syrian Golan. 29. Cuba rejected Israeli practices aimed at controlling and exploiting the natural resources of the occupied Syrian Golan, which, in its view, constitute a violation of the resolutions adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly concerning the sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan. 1 On 30 May 2013, the Nusrah Front was designated a terrorist group pursuant to Security Council resolution 1267 (1999). In July 2016, the Nusrah Front announced it was changing its name to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (Front for the Conquest of the Levant). In January 2017, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham announced that it was merging with other smaller armed groups to form an alliance known as Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (Organization for the Liberation of the Levant). 5