A/HRC/31/76 I. Introduction 1. This report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 28/31, adopted on 27 March 2015, in which the Council renewed the mandate of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali for one year with a view to assisting the Government of Mali in its efforts to promote and protect human rights and requested him to submit a report to the Council at its thirty -first session. 2. In this report, which covers the period from 1 May to 29 December 2015, the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali, Suliman Baldo, gives an account of his fifth visit to Mali, from 10 to 19 October 2015. The report is based on information collected from government authorities, United Nations bodies operating in the country, national and international organizations dealing with humanitarian issues and human rights, as well as on the testimonies of associations and families of victims of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. 3. The Independent Expert wishes to thank the Government of Mali for facilitating his stay in the country and granting him access to all the national and local officials that he asked to meet. During his fifth visit, as with the previous visits, the Independent Expert met with high-ranking officials, including the President of the Republic, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Keeper of the Seals, and the Minister of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs. 4. The Independent Expert met the Secretary-General of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission and the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission. He visited Bamako Prison. 5. The Independent Expert held talks with representatives of civil soci ety, associations of victims in northern Mali and a youth association, representatives of the Platform and the Coordination of movements of armed groups, the diplomatic corps and United Nations bodies. 6. The Independent Expert wishes to thank Mongi Hamdi, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), Koen Davidse, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for political affairs, and the staff of the Human Rights Division of MINUSMA. The technical and logistical support from the United Nations system in Mali was essential for facilitating and ensuring the success of the Independent Expert’s fifth visit. II. General situation in the country A. The political situation 7. Since the Independent Expert’s fourth visit, in March 2015, key political developments suggest that it is likely that the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali will be effectively implemented and that the human rights situation in the country will improve. 8. On 20 June 2015, the Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad (CMA) signed in Bamako the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation, which had been approved on 15 May by pro-Government groups and the international mediation. On 5 June in Algiers, CMA had undertaken to ratify the Agreement after signing two documents with the Government: one relating to guarantees for enforcing provisions concerning the inclusion, as a matter of priority, of most of the comb atants of political-military GE.16-00837 3/18