A/HRC/31/76 persons who spoke to the Independent Expert were of the view that the appointment of the President of the Commission had been made without any consultation with the armed groups, who are nonetheless parties to the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation, or civil society. The procedure for appointing commissioners remains unclear, even though letters were sent to civil society, the armed groups and religious representatives inviting them to submit the names of candidates. Given that there was no national consultation before the Commission was established, the Independent Expert considers that a communication strategy should be put in place in cooperation with the public in order to initiate a genuine awareness-raising policy. 34. The Independent Expert welcomes the holding of the international conference on the role and complementarity of the various mechanisms involved in the transitional justice process in Mali that took place from 29 June to 1 July 2015 under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Human Rights Division of MINUSMA. Several recommendations were made in the course of the conference, in particular regarding the drafting of a national strategy document on transitional justice. 35. In his previous report (A/HRC/28/83), the Independent Expert welcomed a number of initiatives, including the process of rebuilding the National Human Rights Commission so as to bring it into line with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (Paris Principles). He encourages the Government of Mali to move forward with this project because an independent, operational institution could form t he basis of an effective national human rights protection system. 36. The Independent Expert welcomes the appearance of a former head of the Islamic police of the Ansar Eddine terrorist group, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, before the International Criminal Court. He notes that this person is the first jihadi to be tried as part of an investigation by an international court. This individual is also the first suspect prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for the destruction of religious buildings and historic monuments; the Independent Expert would like to see him prosecuted for the crimes that he allegedly committed against civilians. As to an international commission of inquiry, no action has been taken by the United Nations since the Government of Mali submitted an official request in that connection to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 10 July 2014. 37. The Independent Expert welcomes the initiatives taken by civil society to fight impunity. The Independent Expert met members of Réseau Média et droits de l’homme (Media and Human Rights Network), a coalition of journalists formed a few months ago with a view to raising public awareness of human rights. Another organization, the Association des jeunes avocats du Mali (Association of Young Lawyers in Mali), has sought support from MINUSMA to enable its members to provide legal assistance to victims in the northern part of the country, where there are no lawyers. III. The human rights situation A. Civil and political rights 38. In the past seven months, the Human Rights Division has carried out special investigative missions in the four regions affected by the situations mentioned above (Timbuktu, from 13 to 17 April and from 23 to 30 April; Tin Hama, on 21 and 22 May; Fakola from 17 to 21 August; and Anéfis, on 27 August and 10 and 11 September). The purpose of these missions was to verify allegations of human rights violations by 8/18 GE.16-00837