A/HRC/13/63 page 16 58. The military justice system retains jurisdiction over most cases involving serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, but remains weak and susceptible to executive interference by military or political decision makers. The experts are pleased to note that MONUC began supporting joint investigation teams. The United Nations Joint Human Rights Office submits information to military prosecutors on human rights violations by FARDC or PNC and provides additional technical support to increase the investigative and prosecution capacity of the military justice system. 59. A project has been developed to establish “prosecution support cells”, operating in teams composed of a military prosecutor, two military and two civil investigators, and a judicial investigation expert from MONUC, in order to investigate and prosecute alleged perpetrators of serious human rights violations. The project, which is still awaiting approval by the Ministry of Defence, should form part of a wider effort to strengthen the capacity of the military justice system. Measures should be taken to guarantee that military courts are sufficiently independent to prosecute even high-level officers, including through appointment of senior military officers to the military bench. 60. No progress has been made on the experts’ recommendation that the civilian jurisdiction vis-à-vis military justice institutions should be strengthened by reassigning criminal jurisdiction over perpetrators from among the police or civilian population to civilian prosecutors and courts.20 This should be a first step in an effort gradually to transfer jurisdiction over serious human rights violations committed by members of the Armed Forces to ordinary civilian courts. For this purpose, the Government should enact the draft law on the implementation of the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court. 61. Victims rarely receive the compensation that the courts order the perpetrators of human rights violations to pay. This includes cases where the State itself is ordered to pay for violations committed by State agents. In October 2009, the Minister of Justice announced his intention to establish a fund to compensate victims of sexual violence, an initiative that has also attracted donor interest. When this report was finalized, the envisaged fund had not been established. 62. The experts reiterate the importance of transitional justice measures to address the massive violations which took place between 1993 and 2003. They recall their recommendation that joint benches, comprising national and international judges and sitting in national courts, might be an appropriate transitional justice tool that can be combined with truth-seeking initiatives.21 In this respect, they are encouraged to note that the investigative phase of the Secretary-General’s project to map major violations committed between 1993 and 2003 has been concluded. The experts hope that the timely publication of the mapping project’s findings and recommendations will provide new impetus in the quest for justice and institutional reform. 20 A/HRC/10/59, para. 92. 21 See A/HRC/10/59, para. 95.