A/HRC/39/24 48. During the discussion, participants noted that in some countries victims felt unable to report human rights violations, and thus the absence of complaints could be an early warning sign. In the context of Sustainable Development Goal 16, the proportion of crimes reported and the rate of sentencing should be examined both with numerical indicators and qualitative indicators. Furthermore, a human rights-based dialogue was needed between those who collected the data and those who used it. E. Prevention in practice at the local and regional levels 49. The Chief of the Asia-Pacific Section of OHCHR moderated the session focusing on prevention in practice at the local and regional levels. The panellists were Raju Chapagai, head of the Juri Nepal civil society organization in Kathmandu; Budi Tjahjono, AsiaPacific programme coordinator at Franciscans International; and Yves de Matteis, President of the Human Rights Commission of the Geneva Parliament and project manager for the bureau for the integration of foreigners of the State of Geneva. 50. Mr. Chapagai shared his experiences of using strategic litigation to combat impunity in Nepal. Civil society organizations and victims’ groups had used strategic litigation to challenge laws, policies and attitudes of the authorities favouring impunity. He referred to several examples of litigation — including to hold the Government accountable for developing a system of vetting, to outlaw amnesties for serious crimes, and to prevent the arbitrary withdrawal of criminal prosecutions. With regard to the latter, the court had established a list of exempted cases not permissible for withdrawal and the Government had subsequently revised its policy guidelines and procedures. Furthermore, strategic litigation had yielded court decisions that had secured the criminalization of serious violations, including enforced disappearance and torture. 51. He noted a key message emerging from recent domestic jurisprudence, namely that the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms must not displace the role of the criminal justice system, but that they should complement each other. Civil society organizations had initiated and supported several habeas corpus petitions to protect people from arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. Furthermore, their regular visits to places of detention and their monitoring at the grass-roots level had reduced incidents of torture and other human rights violations. 52. Mr. Tjahjono provided an example of mining operations and their negative impact on the rights of indigenous peoples. He stated that an open pit copper and gold mining project had been accompanied by threats, arrests, killings, displacement, lack of consultations, and failure to secure free, prior and informed consent. The project had been symbolic for advocacy in terms of the importance of dialogue between affected communities and local government. Human rights impact assessments had been undertaken by academics, who had found that the project would have an adverse impact on the indigenous peoples concerned. 53. He emphasized the importance of linking local human rights advocacy with the international level, such as treaty bodies, the universal periodic review and special procedures. With regard to the latter, he referred to the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. He noted that local populations sometimes felt left behind, and that advocacy tactics had not been inclusive enough. In addition, there was an implementation gap of international norms and standards, as oftentimes national governments did not abide by the requirement of free, prior and informed consent by indigenous peoples, in order to take advantage of lucrative mining projects. 54. From the local level, Mr. de Matteis relayed his experience as President of the Human Rights Commission of the Geneva Parliament. The Commission could choose to address virtually any subject without being specifically summoned to do so by the Geneva Parliament. The Commission had, for example, addressed prejudice and discrimination in schools, by commissioning a related study based on interviews with teachers, adult professionals, students and pupils. The focus had initially only been on preventing racism and religious intolerance, however the commissioners had decided to also include 12