A/HRC/41/41/Add.1 Certain Senior Commanders of the Armed Forces”, which was promulgated on 25 July 2018, provides amnesty for any acts committed in the discharge of their duty between July 2013 and January 2016. This gave particular cause for apprehension to the Special Rapporteur as such amnesty would cover grave human rights abuses committed during the dispersals of sit-ins in Raba’a al-Adaweya in Cairo and Nahda Square in Giza, which resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Egypt for its response dated 25 October 2018, which clarifies that judicial proceedings may indeed be taken against officers covered by the amnesty law with the permission of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, however he expresses his concern over the potential lack of impartiality that the Supreme Council may have. The Special Rapporteur notes that a climate of impunity in the face of human rights abuses, including violations against the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, must not be fostered, as allowing this to happen may have ramifications not only with regards to a shrinking of civic space, but, also in some cases, on the loss of human life. 107. The Special Rapporteur expressed his grave concern over the excessive use of force by Israeli Security forces during demonstrations between 30 March and 31 December 2018 near the Gaza fence. Between these dates, at least 180 Palestinians were killed by Israeli Security forces while participating in protests, including Mr. Tahreer Mahmoud S’aed Wahba, an 18 year old deaf person who was shot in the head and died from his injuries 22 days later, and Mr. Fadi Hasan Soliman Abu Selmi, a 29 year old person with disabilities who had previously lost his legs in a separate incident, who was allegedly shot in the chest while praying and died immediately (ISR 1/2019). He furthermore expressed his serious concerns over a punitive policy instituted by the Israeli military Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which denied Gaza residents who were injured while participating in protests from accessing life-saving medical treatment in the West Bank (ISR 10/2018). Mr. Yousef Al-Kronz, a media and journalist student who was reporting on the protests was shot in both of his legs, while Mr. Mohammed Al-‘Ajouri, a high school student, was shot in one leg. Both were in immediate danger of losing their legs and were referred to Ramallah for treatment to save their limbs, however their request for transfer was denied by COGAT, who stated that its refusal was due to their participation in protests. Mr. Al-Kronz was eventually permitted to leave Gaza for treatment following a Supreme Court decision, however, due to the delay in receiving treatment, he lost one of his legs. Mr. Al-‘Ajouri’s leg unfortunately could not be saved as he was not permitted to travel to the West Bank for adequate treatment. 108. Between 2014 and 2017, Messrs. Ali al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon, Abdullah alZaher, Mujtaba al-Sweikat, Salman Qureish and Abdulkarim al-Hawaj were arrested and sentenced to death for their participation in Arab Spring protests (SAU 13/2018). All six individuals were allegedly under the age of 18 at the time of their arrest, and were reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment in detention. It is reported that no investigations were carried out by authorities into these allegations. It is with deep concern that the Special Rapporteur has since received allegations that Messrs. Mujtaba al-Sweikat, Salman Qureish and Abdulkarim al-Hawaj were executed on 23 April 2019 allegedly for actions taken in the exercise of their right to freedom of peaceful assembly. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Saudi Arabia for its replies dated 21 November 2018 and 11 January 2019, however he regrets that the Government’s responses were limited to providing information on Mr. Qureish and Mr. Al-Sweikat. The Special Rapporteur takes note of the fact that the Government refutes that Mr. Qureish was a minor at the time of his arrest, but equally takes note of the fact that no such refutation was made with regards to the age of Mr. Al-Sweikat. The Special Rapporteur further notes that unfortunately the response did not address his concerns expressed with regards to violations of international human rights law, including the rights to life and to freedom of peaceful assembly. Freedom of association 109. The Special Rapporteur sent communications on freedom of association in the region to Algeria, Israel and Tunisia (2), among others during the reporting period. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Tunisia for its reply to both of the communications sent, received on 15 March 2019. He urges the Governments of Algeria and Israel to provide replies to the communications sent. 21