A/HRC/42/32 decrease in the number of cases documented from February 2019 onwards. The number of victims is 2,328, the majority of whom are people with no known affiliation and members of civil society organizations, followed by members and supporters of political parties, especially up to December 2018. The high figure is due to the numerous mass arrests made during the dispersal of election-related demonstrations, especially between December 2018 and January 2019. 14. After the transfer of power, the Joint Office observed a degree of opening up of democratic space. In his inaugural address, President Tshisekedi made a strong commitment to improve the human rights situation. In particular, he announced that the Ministry of Justice would be responsible for identifying all political prisoners with a view to their release, and cited the promotion of the media and the fight against impunity as priorities. In March 2019, the President and the Ministry of Justice adopted individual and collective pardon measures. The authorities indicated that 700 prisoners would benefit from the measures. A significant number of political prisoners were subsequently released, including Jean-Claude Mambo, Gérard Mulumba (also known as Giacomo), Franck Diongo and Firmin Yangambi. The High Commissioner welcomes these releases and encourages the judiciary to release all remaining political prisoners. 15. Since February 2019, several public demonstrations and rallies at which political and/or social demands have been made have taken place throughout the country without the intervention of the security forces. However, some demonstrations were suppressed by the police authorities, notably following the promulgation of blanket bans on demonstrations by local authorities such as the ban imposed by the Governor of Haut-Uélé on 4 April 2019. These policies are intrinsically disproportionate, as they are adopted without any consideration of the specific circumstances of each proposed meeting. 16. Overall, the Joint Office noted an improvement in press freedom, including the reopening of radio stations that had been closed. However, it has documented cases of intimidation and harassment of journalists by members of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, members of the Congolese national police, political and administrative authorities and armed groups, with 79 victims of violations between January and May 2019. 17. The new authorities have undertaken to put an end to incommunicado detention. On 26 March 2019, the President of the National Council for Oversight of the Agreement and the Electoral Process stated that all isolation cells of the National Intelligence Agency had been closed. However, the Joint Office is not in a position to confirm this information. 18. In June 2018, the joint investigation commission on human rights violations and abuses related to the demonstrations of 31 December 2017 and 21 January 2018 (CEM3121) and the joint investigation commission on the events of 19 September and 19 December 2016 (CEM-1919) submitted their respective reports to the Minister of Justice and the Military Prosecutor’s Office. Since then, medical assistance has been provided to the victims, but the High Commissioner finds it regrettable that no legal action has been taken on the documented violations. 19. The High Commissioner finds regrettable the lack of progress on the various bills under consideration relating to the exercise of fundamental freedoms and aimed at ensuring the protection of human rights defenders and other civil society actors in the exercise of their legitimate activities. These include the bill on the protection and accountability of human rights defenders, the bill on non-profit associations and public service institutions, the bill on measures to uphold the right to demonstrate and the bill on access to information. 2. Action taken by the Joint Human Rights Office 20. The Joint Office has continued its documentation work and has followed up on alleged violations of human rights committed during the electoral process. 21. The Joint Office has continued to monitor the situation of political prisoners and to carry out its regular advocacy work, calling on the authorities to release persons arbitrarily arrested or illegally detained. It has also conducted an intensive advocacy campaign at GE.19-13875 5