A/HRC/38/31 107. The violence in Kasaï has awakened latent ethnic tensions and, since the beginning of 2017, the conflict has taken on an ethnic dimension, particularly in Kamonia territory. The team is of the view that the abuses committed by the Bana Mura militia against members of the Luba ethnic group may be characterized as persecution on political and ethnic grounds constituting crimes against humanity. 108. The team considers that there is an urgent need for a militia disarmament policy and a reconciliation process so as to forestall a new wave of violence and to enable the return of internally displaced persons and refugees. 109. Impunity remains a very serious problem, given the scale and gravity of the crimes in question. While a few judicial proceedings have been initiated and some decisions handed down, the efforts made to date are clearly insufficient to provide a satisfactory response to the victims in view of the nature of the crimes. Rigorous and extensive work remains to be done by the judicial authorities to ensure that the perpetrators of the crimes linked to the wave of violence are brought to justice and that the rights of the very numerous victims are effectively restored. While it is primarily the responsibility of the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to try the perpetrators of international crimes, the team recalls that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, which is already investigating the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has expressed concern about the acts of violence committed in Kasaï and has indicated that she will continue to monitor the situation closely. B. Recommendations 110. The international team of experts recognizes the urgent need to begin combating impunity forthwith by punishing the most serious crimes committed by all those involved in the crisis. However, in order to prevent the violence from recurring, bring justice to the victims and foster reconciliation, punishment for the most serious crimes will not, alone, be sufficient. 111. The team recommends that the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo take the following steps: (a) Engage in an inclusive process of transitional justice aimed at establishing the truth, identifying the root causes of the crisis and providing redress to victims, in order to ensure reconciliation; (b) Honour their international commitments and enforce existing laws; (c) Strengthen the capacity of Kasaï military prosecutors’ offices to investigate, prosecute and try perpetrators, including the highest-ranking officials, for the many international crimes committed in Kasaï since 2016, by: (i) Increasing the human and logistical resources of military prosecutors’ offices; (ii) Ensuring that the officers in charge of the prosecutors’ offices have at least the same rank as the operational officers who may be held criminally liable; (iii) Applying a prosecution strategy so as to ensure that the perpetrators of crimes from all the parties involved in the violence are brought to justice; (d) Ensure that specialized personnel are assigned the specific task of investigating and prosecuting crimes of sexual violence; (e) Enforce the application of judicial protection measures for victims of crimes of sexual violence and, by providing legal assistance, encourage them to lodge complaints and to testify before the courts; 18 GE.18-10936