A/HRC/25/44 I. Introduction 1. In the present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 23/23 of 14 June 2013, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights assesses the human rights situation in Guinea in 2013 and the measures taken by the Government to implement the recommendations of international human rights mechanisms, including those made at the universal periodic review and the recommendations made in the previous report of the High Commissioner (A/HRC/22/39). The High Commissioner also reviews the activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Guinea and makes a number of recommendations addressed to the Government and the international community. II. Main political, security, economic and social developments affecting human rights 2. The holding of the legislative elections of 28 September 2013 was a crucial development, marking the end of the transition that had begun with the holding of the presidential elections of 2010. The pre-election period was dominated by the tensions and differences of opinion between the Government and the opposition, which led to demonstrations, some involving human rights violations. 3. In fact, the coalitions of the opposition parties, the Collectif des partis politiques pour la finalisation de la transition (Collectif), the Alliance pour la démocratie et le progrès (ADP) and the parties of the centre resumed demonstrations in February 2013, demanding that the technical operator responsible for revising the electoral lists and the vote of Guineans living abroad should have its contract terminated. Against a background of political impasse and lack of dialogue between the representatives of the pro-Government camp and the opposition, the appointment on 15 April 2013, at the request of the Guineans, of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa as a facilitator made it possible for political and electoral negotiations to resume in May 2013. These negotiations led to the signing of an agreement, known as the “3 July Agreement”, establishing conditions for the organization of the legislative elections, accompanied by a timeline signed by all the stakeholders. 4. In total, between February and July 2013, the violent clashes between, on the one hand, law enforcement officers and demonstrators and, on the other, the President’s sympathizers and the opposition supporters, left, according to the OHCHR office in Guinea, at least 31 demonstrators dead, including 23 shot to death, and 750 others injured, including 38 with gunshot wounds and 2 law enforcement officials dead and 27 others injured. 5. The final results of the legislative elections published on 15 November 2013 were, however, disputed by some elements of the opposition. 6. In addition to the political violence, the illegal circulation of small arms and light weapons, as well as political and ethnic extremism, continued to affect the security situation. The violent inter-communal clashes that occurred in the south-eastern Forest Region from 15 to 17 July 2013 illustrate the vulnerability of Guinea in the face of this threat. These clashes between two of the main ethnic groups in the region were surprising both in the scale of the violence and the methods used by the protagonists. During these events, at least 218 people were killed, including 73 women and 48 children, and 473 people were injured, including 142 women and 104 children. These incidents were preceded by sporadic acts of violence that occurred between villages in Haute Guinée 4 GE.14-10910