A/HRC/10/59 page 2 Summary The Human Rights Council in its resolutions 7/20 and S-8/1 invited the seven thematic special procedures, including the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the Special Rapporteur the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, in addition to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, submitting the present report to make recommendations on how best to assist technically the Democratic Republic of the Congo in addressing the situation of human rights, with a view to obtaining tangible improvements on the ground, taking also into account the needs formulated by the Government. The Council also underlined the need to urgently examine the current human rights situation in the east of the country, in particular as it regards violence against women. The seven thematic special procedures find that the general human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains a cause of serious concern and has further deteriorated since the adoption of resolution 7/20 by the Council. In the east of the country in particular, systematic and gross violations of the human rights of civilians and grave breaches of international humanitarian law are taking place. The authors specifically highlight concerns relating to forced and arbitrary displacement, the effect of the humanitarian crisis on economic, social and cultural rights, violence against women and girls, the situation of human rights defenders and the impact of armed conflict on children in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Impunity, the existence of non-state armed actors, the present state of the security and justice sectors, the illegal exploitation of natural resources, the political instrumentalization of ethnic cleavages and the lack of equality between men and women are identified as root causes of human rights concerns. Based on their assessment of the situation, the seven thematic special procedures formulate eight priority objectives and identify technical assistance needs in this regard: 1. Fighting impunity and strengthening the law enforcement and justice sectors; 2. Reforming the security sector; 3. Preventing the (re-)recruitment of children by armed groups and socially reintegrating children associated with armed groups; 4. Protecting women’s rights and ensuring gender equality; 5. Addressing economic root causes of human rights violations; 6. Protecting the rights of the displaced and minorities; 7. Providing access to health care, especially for marginalized groups; 8. Strengthening state and civil society structures to protect and promote human rights.