A/HRC/37/64 23. Impunity for cases of mob justice remains a matter of concern. Mob violence against alleged thieves is usually an immediate reaction to an incident of theft and simple accusations are sufficient to incite a crowd to deadly violence, with little or no reaction by the police. Investigations are rarely carried out following these incidents, and cases are generally closed as the initial crime is considered to have been solved. 24. OHCHR also continued working on cases of killings of people accused of witchcraft. Killings related to sorcery were reportedly frequent before the 1960s, and most recently in the 1980s and the 1990s. In 2017, the number of reported human rights violations related to sorcery decreased but remained of particular concern in some remote areas of the country. The police are generally willing to investigate these cases but alleged perpetrators are rarely arrested, as the police lack resources and fear reprisals from the local population. In several instances, the police and local authorities discussed with OHCHR the possibility of support to raise awareness on sorcery allegations and preventing mob violence, which the Office will follow up on with the Ministry of Interior. 25. As part of the implementation of the recommendations of the second cycle of the universal periodic review on judicial sector reform, 2 OHCHR organized a series of meetings with the Supreme Council of Magistracy, which brought together judges, prosecutors and heads of the administrative secretariats to discuss coordination between their administrative and adjudicative functions, particularly in the context of the Law on the Organization of the Courts. During the meetings, the representatives of the Supreme Council of Magistracy and the Ministry of Justice provided guidance and answers to some of the problems faced. 26. OHCHR continued to support the improvement of case management and access to court information by expanding the criminal case database in six courts of first instance and facilitating two workshops on case registration, held in Sihanoukville in July and August and in Phnom Penh in November. OHCHR supported the inclusion of a new module to report on cases of violence against women as part of the database update. Cases are being increasingly registered in the 12 courts where the database is in place, although challenges remain to ensure that their recording is timely. 27. In October, together with the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Council of Magistracy, OHCHR conducted a regional training workshop for judges in Preah Vihear Province on follow-up to the new pretrial detention form. The workshop focused on the importance of providing legal reasoning when deciding cases on pretrial detention in line with the pretrial guidelines issued by the Ministry of Justice in 2014. The regional workshops will continue in 2018 to cover more courts. IV. Supporting prison reform 28. The General Department of Prisons extended the authorization allowing OHCHR to conduct prison visits from July to December. However, it retained the prohibition, instituted in 2016, against confidential interviews with detainees. It is essential for OHCHR to enjoy full confidential access to detainees to ensure the quality and safety of its interaction. 29. OHCHR conducted nine visits to six prisons over the reporting period, following which it presented recommendations to the prison management concerned and raised issues common to several prisons with the Ministry of Interior and the General Department of Prisons. The Office worked closely with registry officers to identify priority cases for release. 30. A “six-month campaign against illicit drugs”, launched in January and renewed in June, led to a sharp increase in the prison population. 3 In a system that was already over capacity, this has put further strain on detention facilities and has seriously affected the living conditions and health of prisoners, as well as the working environment of prison 2 3 See A/HRC/26/16, paras. 118.24, 118.79 and 118.81−118.90. The total prison population increased by around 30 per cent from December 2016 to December 2017. 5