A/HRC/16/27 origin and ensure the traceability of minerals so as to update its monitoring systems and increase its share of revenue from mining. Tax collection also remains inadequate. State officials do not have the means to cover the entire territory and their low salaries make them susceptible to corruption. The Government is also confronted by a lack of security in the provinces of the east, where most of the exploitation of natural resources is concentrated. E. Situation of journalists, human rights defenders, victims and witnesses 38. A number of recommendations have been made in the past, including that State institutions should encourage the democratic process and that the State should respect its international obligations related to freedom of expression and freedom of the press. During her visit in May 2009, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders also recommended that the Government should adopt laws on the protection of human rights defenders, respect the regime of notification governing the right to peaceful assembly and grant legal personality to NGOs that met the administrative requirements.23 Actions taken by the Government and the current situation 39. In my last report on this subject, I drew a very bleak picture of the situation of journalists, human rights defenders, victims and witnesses. The situation has barely improved in the period under review. In fact it is getting worse. The most telling recent case was the murder of Mr. Floribert Chebeya Bahizire.24 On 2 June 2010, a day after he had been summoned to the office of the Inspector-General of Police in Kinshasa, his body was found in his car. The chauffeur who was with him is still missing. The trial in the case opened on 12 November 2010 at the Gombe military court in Kinshasa. Of the eight police officers charged with murder, kidnapping, misappropriation of munitions, conspiracy and terrorism, five — all of whom were being held in Makala prison in Kinshasa — appeared before the court. The other three are still on the run and will be tried in absentia. The hearings resume on 3 December 2010, giving the defendants time to prepare their defence. 40. During the universal periodic review,25 the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo undertook to adopt an effective legal framework for the protection of human rights activists in line with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (General Assembly resolution 53/144). Despite this undertaking, however, at the time of writing no bill or proposal for a national law has been put forward, and cases of violence, harassment and threats against human rights defenders continue to be observed. My Office is ready to provide the Government with all the technical assistance it needs to implement a suitable legal framework. 41. Journalists’ working conditions have deteriorated in the last few months and could get even worse as the presidential and parliamentary elections draw near in 2011. Journalists covering supposedly sensitive events or issues such as the exploitation of natural resources or public procurement are at greatest risk of threats, intimidation and other violations of their rights. 42. Within the framework of the universal periodic review,26 the Congolese Government pledged to take further steps to create an environment conducive to the freedom and independence of the media. Some progress has been made. In the period under review, new 23 24 25 26 12 See footnote 1. See High Commissioner’s press release of 3 June 2010. A/HRC/13/8, para. 94, recommendation No. 106. Ibid. GE.11-10197