A/HRC/14/41 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 11/10, the Human Rights Council decided to establish the mandate of the independent expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan. It requested the mandate holder to engage with the newly created human rights forums in the Sudan as well as the human rights sections of the African Union, the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) and the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), and to report to the Council at its fourteenth session. 2. In resolution 11/10, the Council also decided that the independent expert would assume the mandate and responsibilities of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan as previously set out in Council resolutions 6/34, 6/35, 7/16 and 9/17. 3. On 2 October 2009, the Council, at its twelfth session, appointed Mohamed Chande Othman as independent expert. On 30 December 2009, the Government of the Sudan agreed to the independent expert’s request to visit the Sudan. 4. The present report covers the period from 18 June 2009 to 30 April 2010. In line with the code of conduct for special procedures mandate holders of the Council (resolutions 5/2 and 1/11), a draft of the present report was shared with the Government of the Sudan in order to provide it with an opportunity to comment on the observations and findings of the independent expert. 5. The report is based on information made available to the independent expert, as well as information received during his visit to the Sudan from 23 January to 11 February 2010. 6. The independent expert wishes to thank the Government of National Unity, the Government of South Sudan, UNMIS, UNAMID and the United Nations agencies in the Sudan for their cooperation and the invaluable assistance provided. A word of appreciation must also be extended to members of the diplomatic community in Khartoum with whom the independent expert was able to exchange views on the human rights situation in the Sudan. II. General human rights situation 7. The Government has made notable progress in institutional and legislative reform in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Interim National Constitution of 2005, including the passage of new laws, such as the Child Act, the Press and Printed Materials Act, the Southern Sudan Referendum Act, the Popular Consultation for Blue Nile and South Kordofan States Act and the Abyei Referendum Act. However, a number of laws still exist with provisions that frustrate the full realization of human rights. 8. Some concrete steps have also been taken by the Government to implement the recommendations of the Group of Experts on Darfur, including by ensuring the deployment of more police personnel in Darfur. In collaboration with the United Nations and other international partners, the police, prosecutors, prison staff and other law enforcement agencies have received training and awareness-raising on human rights and international humanitarian law through the assistance of a technical cooperation project funded by the Government of Switzerland. 9. South Sudan continues to be plagued by increasing tribal violence, with attendant loss of life, especially among women and children. Tensions between ethnic groups, competition over resources, resistance to disarmament and occasional acts of indiscipline by armed State agents, such as members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) are the most common causes of the violence in the South. Also underlying the violence is GE.10-13648 3