A/HRC/10/59 page 29 8. Strengthening state and civil society structures to promote and protect human rights 112. As soon as legislation on an independent national human rights commission is adopted, donors should provide adequate technical advice and assistance to establish the Commission and integrate it into regional and international networks of national human rights institutions. Within the commission, a human rights defenders focal point should be established whose tasks would include: investigating human rights violations against defenders; raising awareness on international and regional human rights instruments pertaining to the work of human rights defenders; ensuring that national legislation is in conformity with these instruments; making recommendations to the Government, Parliament and other state institutions with regard to the situation of human rights defenders, and following up on these recommendations; and offering legal assistance to human rights defenders. 113. Parallel to that, the Ministry of Human Rights should be empowered to identify human rights trends -in consultation with civil society- and ensure that they are taking into account in the policy-making process at the national level. Donors should consider assisting the Ministry with funding to re-establish small offices in the provinces and enable them to deal with complaints of the population against government officials regarding human rights issues. Furthermore, the Ministry should be trained by OHCHR on drafting methodology to meet in a timely manner its reporting obligations before United Nations treaty bodies. The Ministry should also translate the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in the main local languages and disseminate it within the state apparatus and civil society, and deliver awareness-raising training to the police, military and judicial officials on the role and activities of human rights defenders, including women defenders, with technical advice and assistance from OHCHR and NGOs. 114. More generally, the emergence of a confident and coordinated civil society that can only prosper in a state of democracy, rule of law and full government commitment to individual freedoms and liberties should be fostered and supported. The Government should recognize the legitimacy of the work of human rights defenders, including women defenders, and acknowledge it as human rights work. It should further remove all obstacles that impede their work, protect them from reprisals, and take proactive measures to support their work. The adoption of national and provincial laws on the protection of human rights defenders, developed in consultation with civil society and on the basis of technical advice from relevant international agencies, would be a particularly strong signal. OHCHR, MONUC, and the European Union should continue their witness protection programme and expand its ambit to human rights defenders in all provinces. 115. In addition, illegitimate restrictions on the exercise of the right to freedom of association should be lifted: when NGOs applying for registration comply with all administrative requirements, legal personality should be immediately granted to them. Furthermore, the regime of information governing the exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly (article 26 of the Constitution) should be respected without any arbitrary interference from the executive. Finally, the draft bill on the organization and