A/HRC/12/43 page 17 the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and is nearly a year late in submitting the next report due to the Committee against Torture. 65. The Government has established, with the assistance of the United Nations, an inter-ministerial network of human rights focal points responsible for the elaboration of reports to treaty bodies. A project is currently being implemented within BINUB to help the Government prepare most of its overdue reports and under which a training programme was organized in early July 2009 for the focal points. The project will support the research, field visits, and other preparatory work necessary to facilitate the preparation, within one year, of reports due to the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Committee against Torture, as well as on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. IX. CONCLUSIONS 66. The progress made in recent years in the consolidation of peace has brought about conditions in which it is possible today to address the human rights challenges in Burundi. A major challenge on the national agenda is the organization of free, fair and peaceful elections in 2010, in which the rights of Burundians to choose their representatives should be exercised. This presupposes that Burundians are able to enjoy their fundamental freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, to discuss their options in a climate free from intimidation, and to ensure that their choice is an informed one. It also presupposes that the national institutions responsible for the peaceful resolution of any conflicts that may arise are able to perform this function in strict accordance with the law. 67. As illustrated, however, the trends observed are not reassuring. The vibrant press in Burundi is subject to a growing trend to stifle, through criminal procedures, certain kinds of criticism that should be the subject of open discussion - and, if warranted, investigation - in a truly democratic society. While individuals are generally free to associate themselves with other like-minded persons, those united in a political movement have reported frequent obstruction and interference. Even as the overall security situation is improving, there are growing reports of targeted violence and the emergence of new forms of organized intimidation that, if left unchecked, may undermine the credibility of the elections. 68. Impunity remains prevalent. Justice, not granted in courts, tends to be claimed in the streets. Courts faced with women and children subjected to sexual violence are often distant psychologically and physically, costly, unaware of the national and international legal norms that they must apply, and ultimately unable to execute the judgements they render. The gravest violations of human rights in Burundi’s history remain unaccounted for; nine years after the Arusha Agreement, the transitional justice mechanisms have yet to be established.