A/HRC/33/36 Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office facilitated the participation of the Rapporteur of the Commission in the twenty-ninth session of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, held in Geneva. 2. Other national mechanisms 73. Considerable efforts are needed to make the human rights liaison bodies operational and effective. The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has undertaken to reactivate the national human rights liaison institution in 2016, including by appointing six new members of its permanent secretariat. However, by the time this report was drafted, no significant change in the secretariat had been observed. The same holds true for provincial and local institutions. 74. The unit for the protection of human rights defenders, established by ministerial order in 2011 within the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, is still not operational, having not received budgetary resources. IV. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 75. During the reporting period, the human rights situation was marked by a gradual shrinkage of the democratic space, together with a steady increase in attacks on fundamental freedoms. The intervention of State agents in suppressing political opponents and other civil society actors — including through the excessive use of force against demonstrators, arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detentions without judicial supervision, threats and other intimidation — is particularly worrying with the approach of an important electoral period. In the eastern part of the country, the conflict continues to have a heavy impact on the human rights situation. 76. Some encouraging progress has been seen, particularly in the legislative arena, in the fight against impunity. Nevertheless, structural problems in the judiciary, particularly its lack of independence when dealing with cases against political opponents and civil society actors and cases involving high-ranking officials, have engendered a low rate of prosecution for human rights violations. B. Recommendations 77. The High Commissioner hereby recommends to the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: (a) To guarantee the protection of the fundamental freedoms of all persons, including political opponents, journalists and other civil society actors; and to ensure that any restrictions on these freedoms comply with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality; (b) To ensure that effective impartial, independent and prompt investigations are carried out, that those responsible for violations or abuses of human rights are systematically brought before the courts and that the victims, including victims in cases of sexual violence, receive due reparation without delay; (c) To set up judicial mechanisms and possibly other transitional justice mechanisms to combat impunity regarding violations or past and present abuses; and 16 GE.16-13984