A/HRC/39/42 47. The procedure for the implementation of the human rights due diligence policy in relation to United Nations country team support for Congolese security forces entered into force on 5 June 2017. C. Sexual violence 48. The Human Rights Committee urged the Democratic Republic of the Congo to take all necessary measures to ensure that all cases of sexual violence were investigated and that the perpetrators were brought to justice and punished if found guilty. It also recommended physical and psychological support for victims and steps to facilitate their access to legal services (see CCPR/C/COD/CO/4, para. 20). The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called upon the State to prosecute all acts of violence against women, punish perpetrators and set up a comprehensive care system for victims (see CEDAW/C/COD/CO/6-7, para. 22). 49. During the universal periodic review of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it was recommended to the Government, among other actions, that it try all perpetrators of sexual violence, regardless of rank; that it take adequate measures to reduce and eradicate sexual and gender-based violence, including by improving the training of the security forces, and that it provide adequate redress for victims (see A/HRC/27/5, para. 134.60, 134.68, 134.85 and 134.116). 1. Current situation and action taken by the Government 50. During the period under review, some progress has been made in countering impunity for sexual violence, including by classifying certain rape cases as war crimes and crimes against humanity. 51. The Military Court of South Kivu heard several cases that are illustrative of this approach. On 13 December 2017, a provincial deputy and 11 of his co-accused were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, including for a crime against humanity involving rape, in a case where dozens of children had been abducted and raped in Kavumu between 2013 and 2016. 12 Furthermore, on 27 January 2018, the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Operational Military Court formally charged the former commander of the armed group Nduma Defence of Congo, Ntabo Ntaberi, alias “Sheka”, who had been indicted, among other offences, for masterminding the mass rape of at least 387 women and girls in Walikale (North Kivu) in 2010, on 15 counts, including war crimes involving rape and sexual slavery. 52. In November 2017, the Senate Select Committee on Sexual Violence began work on a bill on reparations for victims of such violence, which seeks to clarify the funding sources and allocation criteria for such reparations. 53. In November 2017, the Supreme Council of the Judiciary and the Inspectorate General of Judicial and Prison Services, with the support of the Joint Human Rights Office, developed evaluation criteria for the prosecution and investigation of sexual violence. The Inspectorate General is now using this instrument to evaluate the work conducted by the judicial services in this area. 54. Nonetheless, sexual violence continues to be perpetrated on a wide scale both by the defence and security forces and by armed groups. During the reporting period, more than 572 women, 243 girls and 28 men were victims of conflict-related sexual violence, 13 marking a significant increase over the previous reporting period. 55. Combatants from the various armed groups and militias were responsible for 74 per cent of these instances of sexual violence, and more than one fourth of them were 12 13 GE.18-13336 The decision was contested and the case was being heard on appeal at the time of finalizing the present report. These figures are derived from the monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements on conflictrelated sexual violence, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1888 (2009). 9