A/HRC/22/39 commission of inquiry having found reasonable grounds for the presumption of individual criminal responsibility. On 13 September 2012, the judges indicted Colonel Abdoulaye Chérif Diaby, Minister of Health at the time of the events, whose possible direct criminal responsibility was mentioned in the report of the international commission of inquiry. 28. Thus, six individuals have been indicted in relation to this case since 2010; in addition, a request for judicial assistance has been issued for a hearing of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara (president of Guinea at the time of the events) and an international arrest warrant issued for Lieutenant Aboubacar Sidiki Diakite (aide-de-camp and head of the presidential guard at the time of the events). The judges also continued to hear statements from victims, some 250 people since the start of the proceedings. 29. However, the investigations launched in 2010 have been relatively slow. The courts have faced various challenges in the form of a lack of financial, logistical and even security resources, difficulties in making proper investigations and the need to provide a response to victims within a reasonable period. 30. Since 1 December 2012, the courts have had the services of an expert legal consultant to advise them primarily on the protection of victims and witnesses, the establishment of appropriate relations with civil society, judicial cooperation and the preparation of a communication strategy. The expert was brought in thanks to technical assistance from the Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict,5 and works in cooperation with OHCHR. Moreover, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court made his third visit to Guinea in April 2012. The Court stated that, although the national investigation into the human rights violations committed on 28 September 2009 had produced some results, it needed to be completed. Accordingly, the preliminary examination of Guinea begun by the Court on 14 October 2009 remains open and Guinea continues to monitor the progress of investigations. 31. In addition to these investigations, on 29 May 2012, the Conakry prosecuting authority filed two applications to investigate human rights violations committed in 2007 and 2010,6 after two actions for damages were brought by 65 victims, the Guinean Organization for Human Rights and the International Federation for Human Rights. These applications should shed light on the events, establish responsibility and provide reparation to victims. 32. The slowness of decision-making in these cases underscores the difficulties the justice system faces in combating impunity, especially with respect to human rights violations committed by members of the security forces in the course of their duties. Although a few judicial investigations have been launched,7 impunity persists, not only owing to a dysfunctional justice system but also because some members of the security forces are refusing to obey a summons by the investigating judge.8 Accordingly, OHCHR continues its technical cooperation programme and recommends that the high command of 5 6 7 8 GE.13-10258 Established in 2009 by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, pursuant to Security Council resolution 1888 (2009), to assist national authorities in strengthening the rule of law and resolving matters of sexual violence in conflict. In January and February 2007, unions and civil society organized demonstrations across the country for greater purchasing power and the establishment of the rule of law. Their suppression by security forces reportedly resulted in several hundred dead and injured. The events of October 2010 related to allegations that members of the presidential guard of the interim president for the transition period were arrested and tortured by order of senior military officers. Indictment of a sergeant and seven gendarmes for acts of torture causing the death of a student in Kindia in February. Refusal to obey a summons following the suspicious death on 15 February of a person arrested and detained incommunicado at No. 2 platoon of the Hamdallaye gendarmerie in Conakry. 9