A/HRC/18/19 and lawyers has given from the beginning to the case of the former Judge Maria Luisa Afiuni Mora, who is standing trial on charges of corruption and for favouring the escape of a banker now a fugitive from justice”. According to the Government, “Ms. Afiuni disobeyed the sentence of the Supreme Court, which confirmed the judgement of the banker in detention and also incurred in a serious omission of the legal proceeding in order to facilitate the escape of the banker”. The Government is of the opinion that, in the addendum to her report, the Special Rapporteur “echoes her concern for what she considers increasing criticism or attacks against the independence of lawyers in Venezuela without substantiating this”. According to the Government, Ms. Afiuni mentions “sectors of the Latin American judiciary which point to an alleged “Afiuni effect” and refer to fear or even terror among judges without providing more details”. The Government of Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) is of the opinion that “all these are mere speculations, which lack legal rigour and are the result of an intense media campaign of international powerful interests against the administration of justice in Venezuela”. In her response during the interactive dialogue, the Special Rapporteur reiterated her concern at the detention of Judge Afiuni and asked that she be freed. 90. The Government highlighted to the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions the serious contradictions regarding the reference to the case of Judge Afiuni and her conditions of detention. The Government also reported that Ms. Afiuni was currently under house arrest for the duration of the treatment of an illness reportedly unrelated to her detention. 9. Yemen 91. With regard to the case of Amal Basha, the Chairperson of the non-governmental organization Sisters’ Arab Forum for Human Rights referred to in my previous report,40 the Committee against Torture, in its concluding observations on Yemen,41 expressed its serious concern at information of threats against, and intimidation and harassment of, members of the organization, which had coordinated an alternative joint submission to the Committee and also briefed the latter during its session. The Committee was also concerned that such threats and intimidation might be related to the peaceful activities of the organization in promoting and protecting human rights, and in particular with monitoring and documenting cases of torture. The Committee deeply regretted the fact that the State party had not replied to the letter sent by the Committee Chairperson on 3 December 2009, in which the attention of the State party was drawn to this issue. The Committee then reiterated its request to the State party, as a matter of urgency, to provide information on the measures taken to implement, especially with regard to members of the Sisters’ Arab Forum for Human Rights, articles 12, 13 and 16 of the Convention against Torture and paragraph 20 of the Committee’s final concluding observations. 92. At the time of completion of the present report, no reply had been received from the Government of Yemen. III. Conclusions and recommendations 93. As illustrated by the cases contained in the present report, intimidation and reprisals against those cooperating with the United Nations, its mechanisms and representatives in the field of human rights continue to be reported. This worrying phenomenon encompasses a wide range of manifestations, such as threats and 40 41 16 A/HRC/14/19, paras. 48-21. CAT/C/YEM/CO/2/Rev.1, para. 32.