A/HRC/19/72 session: “It may seem unseemly to preen in front of the people by showing off statistics on decisions handed down during the year when that people has been deeply wounded by a particularly bloody post-election crisis which it attributes to a court decision.” 29. The independent expert also noted that the violence following the second round of the presidential elections of November 2010 had damaged 17 of 34 courthouses. Twentytwo of 33 prisons were also damaged and looted. On 17 October 2011, the President signed decrees 2011-298 and 2011-299 pertaining to the appointment of 75 judges to the 3 appeals courts and 195 to the country’s 9 higher courts and its 25 lower courts. On 4 November 2011, at the ceremonial opening of the new court session, the President announced that budgetary funding for the judicial system would rise by 2 per cent to 3 per cent and be accompanied by a lump sum of 225 billion CFA francs over a five-year period. 30. The independent expert commends the work done by UNOCI, with donor support, to renovate and furnish the 17 courthouses affected by the crisis. Of the 34 jurisdictions, 32 are now operational, although 25 of the courthouses are not yet properly equipped. In September and October 2011 6 prisons were renovated, bringing the number of working prisons to 10 out of 33. 31. On 24 June 2011 the Government established the Special Investigative Unit at Abidjan’s court of first instance. It has a renewable 12-month mandate to investigate events that occurred in the country on or after 4 December 2010. 32. With regard to legal proceedings under way, the Abidjan public prosecutor informed the independent expert that more than 5,000 individuals had already been questioned, including 78 for financial offences and plundering, and more than 830 persons in the country’s western part. In addition to investigating financial offences that had harmed the State and international organizations, he has initiated an investigation into crimes against State security and certain violent crimes, including the kidnapping of the director of the Novotel Hotel (in connection with which 22 people have been arrested and imprisoned) and the assassination of Colonel Dosso. He added that he had not yet launched an investigation into crimes against the physical integrity and assets of individuals. 33. In response to the independent expert’s question about the detention of the personal physicians of the Gbagbo couple, prosecutor Kouadio said that former president Gbagbo’s doctor was charged with “breach of state security”, and that Ms. Gbagbo’s doctor was caring for her, at her request and for humanitarian reasons. The independent expert especially commends the prosecutor for his candour and for making himself available. The prosecutor acted on his request to have Mr. Gbagbo’s physician transferred from his place of detention at Compagnie territoriale de Korhogo quarters to the Abidjan Detention and Correction Centre. The physician was later provisionally released, along with two journalists imprisoned on the same charges. 34. When asked about the sentiment of victor’s justice apparently felt by some inside and outside the country, prosecutor Kouadio said: “I will, if I am able to, send investigation teams back to the west to look into crimes that were allegedly committed there during the post-election crisis.” The prosecutor described some difficulties with ongoing investigations, including a lack of expertise in forensic science. 35. The military prosecutor has also launched investigations into crimes and other offences committed during the post-election period by officers and members of the armed forces and the police when the former Forces de Défense et de Securité were in control. 36. While Côte d’Ivoire is not a party to the Rome Statute, on 18 April 2003 the Government of then-President Laurent Gbagbo recognized the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over acts committed on the country’s territory since 19 September 2002. President Alassane Ouattara confirmed acceptance of the Court’s 8 GE.12-10060