A/HRC/25/72 violation of children’s rights. Although in many respects the protection of children’s rights gave cause for concern even before the crisis, the occupation of the north by armed groups led to a serious deterioration in the situation of children, as well as to new serious problems, such as separation from parents, displacement, recruitment by armed groups, ideological and religious indoctrination, violence, including sexual violence, and the risk of violation of the right to life. 70. Many of the victims of recent attacks by armed groups in the north, in particular in Tessalit, Kidal, Timbuktu and Gao, were children. Numerous cases of sexual violence against children were reported, mainly in northern Mali. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported 767 children separated from their parents and 77 children injured by explosives abandoned during military clashes, sometimes in schools. 71. The recruitment of children by armed groups has resulted in a considerable number of arrests of minors since the beginning of the crisis. The independent expert welcomes the signing by the Government and the Special Representative of the United Nations SecretaryGeneral, on 1 July 2013, of the protocol for the release, transfer and protection of children associated with armed forces and groups. A request has been made to the authorities to examine the case of children arrested prior to the signing of the protocol. Ten children associated with armed groups are still in detention, including five adolescents detained at Gendarmerie Camp 1, in Bamako. 72. In October 2013, five children associated with armed groups were returned to their families after spending time in transit centres supported by UNICEF until their parents were found. E. Prison conditions 73. The independent expert has closely followed the cases of persons, usually members of the Tuareg and Arab communities, arrested in the context of the crisis in northern Mali by Malian armed forces. He visited the places of detention where these persons are held, including the Bamako central prison and the Gendarmerie Camp 1 detention centre in Bamako. The Human Rights Division of MINUSMA also regularly visits detainees around the country to gather information on detention conditions and on the progress of the legal proceedings instituted against them. 74. As of 2 December 2013, the Human Rights Division, through its regular visits to detention centres in the country, had registered the names of 400 persons arrested since 2012 in connection with the conflict in northern Mali. Human rights teams collected information enabling them to determine the situation of 332 persons: 138 had been released, 185 were detained in Bamako, 3 were detained in Gao and 6 had died in detention; it had not been possible to establish the whereabouts of 68 detainees. 75. Of the 138 released detainees, 3 received a presidential pardon. The period between September and October 2013 witnessed the largest number of releases of detainees, both by the Malian authorities and MNLA. All told, the Malian authorities released 93 detainees, and MNLA released 30 detainees from various detention centres in Kidal. 76. The independent expert is closely following the release of members of armed groups in the context of the implementation of the Ouagadougou Preliminary Agreement signed in June 2013. MNLA and HCUA communicated to the mediator a list of 120 names of their members and sympathizers to be released in order to facilitate the peace negotiations. As of 2 December 2013, 38 persons on that list had been released; 1 of the persons concerned by those measures had died in prison. 14 GE.14-10118