A/HRC/25/72 2. Non-judicial mechanisms 37. On 6 March 2013, the Transition Government established a Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission with a two-year mandate to identify the political and social forces concerned by the dialogue and reconciliation process as well as armed groups eligible to participate in that dialogue in conformity with the roadmap for the transition, register cases of human rights violations committed in Mali between the commencement of hostilities and the complete recovery of control over the country, and propose any measures likely to help the victims overcome their traumatic experiences. 38. Many persons who met with the independent expert expressed reservations about the procedure for the establishment and composition of the Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission. The procedure was criticized for being carried out unilaterally, without the participation of civil society or the victims of human rights violations and without a request for the technical assistance of partners such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, despite the Office’s presence in Mali and its recognized expertise in the field. 39. The independent expert is pleased to note that the new Government has become aware of the importance of reforming the Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission, and he welcomes the efforts by the Malian authorities to give the Commission fresh impetus. The Ministry for the National Reconciliation and Development of the Regions of the North has been mandated to define and implement a strategy of coexistence based on equity and justice. In the course of the meeting with the authorities, the independent expert drew their attention to the need for the Commission to put greater focus on the truth dimension, to place the victims at the centre of the process and to adopt a participatory approach in order to enhance the new Commission’s legitimacy. 40. On 13 December 2013, the Council of Ministers restructured the Commission, adopting bills for the establishment, organization and functioning of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. According to the communiqué of the Council of Ministers of 13 December, the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission will take into account the dimensions of truth and justice and will contribute to establishing a lasting peace by seeking truth, reconciliation and the consolidation of democratic values. III. The human rights situation A. 1. Civil and political rights Human rights violations committed by the Malian armed forces 41. In the course of the period under consideration, the independent expert received reports of human rights violations, including summary executions, enforced disappearances, rapes, looting, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment perpetrated by the Malian armed forces against the civil population in the north, mainly members of the Arab and Tuareg communities of the regions of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu. 42. On 30 September 2013, a mutiny broke out at the Kati military barracks, started by a dissident group belonging to the former Comité national pour le redressement de la démocratie et la restauration de l’État (National Committee for the rehabilitation of democracy and the restoration of the State), which included members of the junta. The mutineers demanded promotions and material benefits for the soldiers who had participated in the coup of 22 March 2012 as well as the revocation of General Sanogo’s status. The mutineers wounded a colonel whom they had abducted and threatened with their weapons. GE.14-10118 9