A/HRC/17/50 that several of those responsible for such violations had been arrested and that the military prosecutor's office had begun an investigation. Such was said to be true of an FDN commander believed to have physically abused, and ordered others to physically abuse, an individual forcibly removed from a police station in Bwiza commune on the morning of 15 July 2010. The individual concerned had gone to the police station in response to a summons sent to him by an officer of the judicial police regarding the theft of a motorcycle belonging to the commander in question. 46. Several people said to the independent expert that most of the victims of illtreatment or torture were frightened of reporting the abuses they claimed to have suffered or to file complaints with the competent courts. Their fears were said to be due to threats and intimidation from police and security service officers. The independent expert reminded the Prosecutor-General at the Supreme Court that the judicial authorities were obligated to investigate torture allegations promptly, even in the absence of a complaint filed by victims. Victims must be able to trust the justice system. They must be assured, in particular, that measures will be taken to protect them. Failure to prosecute those alleged to be responsible for acts of torture or ill-treatment can only contribute to the establishment of a climate of impunity, which in turn can only encourage such acts. 3. Violations of freedom of expression and assembly 47. According to reports received by the independent expert, several cases of violations of the freedom of expression of journalists and human rights defenders were recorded in Burundi during the period under consideration. Violations took the form, in particular, of anonymous phone calls, wrongful summonses, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. The authorities state that effective freedom of expression is guaranteed in the country, pointing to the existence of a large number of radio stations and newspapers in Bujumbura. They stress, however, that freedom of expression must be exercised within the proper limits and that it carries with it certain responsibilities on the part of journalists and human rights defenders. They claim that certain journalists and human rights defenders are in fact members of the opposition. 48. Some media outlets and human rights NGOs are for their part convinced that the Government seeks to muzzle and silence criticism. They quote as an example the withdrawal on 18 May 2010 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the work permit of the Human Rights Watch researcher Neel Ghoshal. That decision is said to have been taken following the publication, on 14 May 2010, of a report concerning certain lapses in the prevention of crimes with political connotations and appropriate investigations in Burundi. On 20 May 2010, 11 national and international NGOs issued, by way of protest, a communiqué in which they stated that this measure was a form of intimidation against human rights defenders and called on the Government to take into account the report of Human Rights Watch and to apply its recommendations in order to prevent and punish human rights violations with political connotations. 49. Against this background, on 26 March 2010 two national NGOs, the Observatory to Combat Economic Corruption and Malpractice ((OLUCOME) and the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Prisoners (APRODH) issued a joint statement to the effect that their respective presidents, Gabriel Rufyiri and Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, had received death threats. 50. Member parties of the Alliance des démocrates pour le changement au Burundi (ADC-Ikibiri) have also reported threats and obstacles to the exercise of the right of assembly. On 15 November 2007, the independent expert met a delegation from the Alliance who handed him a memorandum listing alleged human rights violations, in particular arrests followed by detention, violations of the right of assembly and illtreatment. The Minister of the Interior is said to have written to all the political parties GE.11-13751 (EXT) 13