A/HRC/31/57/Add.1 461. The Rapporteur reminds the Government that intimidation and coercion, as described in article 1 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, including serious and credible threats, as well as death threats, to the physical integrity of the victim or of a third person can amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or to torture. Furthermore, the Rapporteur would like to draw the Government’s attention to paragraph l of Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23, which “[c]ondemns all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including through intimidation, which are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever and can thus never be justified.” The Rapporteur welcomes the detailed information received and looks forward to the outcome of the investigation. Saudi Arabia (a) JUA 22/1/2015 Case No. SAU 1/2015 State Reply: 26/01/2015 Allegations concerning the situation of Mr. Raef Badawi, a blogger and free speech activist, who was publicly flogged on January 9, 2015 and would continue to receive 50 lashes a week until his sentence of 1,000 lashes is carried out. Mr. Badawi was convicted of apostasy and insulting Islam. 462. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Saudi Arabia for its reply, dated 1/26/2015, to the present communication. 463. The Rapporteur takes note of the information provided by the Government that Mr. Badawi was tried and convicted by an independent judiciary following Saudi Law. However, the Government of Saudi Arabia does not, in its reply, outline any measures taken to protect the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Badawi and the Rapporteur hence finds that the Government does not sufficiently address the concerns, legal obligations, and questions raised in the initial communication which prompts him to infer that the Government fails to fully and expeditiously cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13. 464. The Rapporteur recalls that any form of corporal punishment constitutes torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment in violation of customary international law, and that the flogging of Mr. Badawi, because of its severity, undoubtedly constitutes torture under the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) to which Saudi Arabia acceded on 23 September 1997. 465. The Rapporteur concludes that there is substance in the allegations presented in the initial communication and that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by having carried out Mr. Badawi’s corporal punishment and by continuing to do so, has violated Mr. Badawi’s right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as provided for in articles 1 and 16 of the CAT. (b) JUA 12/06/2015 Case No. SAU 3/2015 State Reply: 17/06/2015 Allegations concerning the imminent resumption of public flogging of Mr. Raef Badawi, a blogger and free speech activist, after his sentence for apostasy and insulting Islam having been upheld by the Supreme Court. 466. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Saudi Arabia for its reply, date 17 June 2015, to the present communication. 467. The Special Rapporteur takes note of the information provided by the Government that Mr. Badawi was tried and sentenced by an independent judiciary following Saudi Law. However, the Government of Saudi Arabia does not, in its reply, outline any measures taken to protect the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Badawi. It has since come 79