A/HRC/34/43 E. Fight against impunity 31. Despite the notable efforts made by the Government to reform the justice and security sectors, impunity remains a major challenge. In his previous report, the High Commissioner reported that many criminal cases involving law enforcement officials remained pending before the courts. At the time of the present report’s publication, no progress had been recorded in those cases. Despite regular summonses, the three gendarmes mentioned in cases involving violations of the right to life and acts of torture continue to refuse to appear before the courts, claiming that their superiors have not authorized them to do so. 32. In April, following the dissemination on social networks of images depicting acts of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment inflicted by officers of Crime Squad No. 8, located in the Kakimbo forest in the commune of Ratoma, Conakry, on a young man suspected of involvement in an armed attack, the Ministry of Security and Civil Protection suspended the 12 officers concerned, among whom were both gendarmes and police officers. Human rights defence associations have lodged a complaint with the courts on behalf of the victim and have brought civil actions. 33. The Judicial Investigation Directorate of the gendarmerie received a request for judicial assistance from the prosecutor’s office at the Dixinn court of first instance; it began to question the alleged perpetrators of these human rights violations, but then brought proceedings to a halt without explanation. A criminal investigation officer questioned by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights claimed that the proceedings were halted on the instructions of the authorities, without providing more details. The Ministry of Security and Civil Protection lifted the suspension of the alleged perpetrators of these acts of torture, thus allowing them to resume their duties. However, the complaints remain pending before the courts. 34. In the days that followed the events of June 2016 involving the commander of the infantry camp in the prefecture of Mali, the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces relieved the officer of his duties. The Labé court of first instance and the military court opened a judicial investigation. The Minister of Justice attended the scene to determine the facts. The country office deployed a team on the ground and reported on these events to the competent authorities and recommended a number of measures. However, to date, the legal proceedings remain pending before the courts, and the victims are still awaiting justice. 35. Other major cases of mass human rights violations are yet to be dealt with. The case relating to the events of 28 September 2009, during which more than 150 persons were killed and more than 100 women raped, remains pending before the courts. Despite the notable progress made in the investigations, particularly the charging of 14 persons, including Captain Moussa Dadis Camara and General Mamadouba Toto Camara, the President and Vice-President of the junta in power at the time of the events, and the willingness of the Guinean authorities at all levels to cooperate with the international community, particularly the International Criminal Court, the victims are yet to obtain justice. Moreover, some of those charged with crimes against humanity by the courts continue to occupy positions of significant responsibility. For example, in March, the Head of State appointed a general who had been charged in relation to this case to the post of Governor of Conakry. According to the judicial authorities, the trial could not go ahead in 2016 because two key individuals could not be questioned. 36. Victims’ associations commemorated the seventh anniversary of the events of September 2009 in the hope that in 2017 a fair trial will be held that leads to the sentencing of the perpetrators of these crimes and to reparations for violations suffered. Furthermore, 4 of the 14 persons charged are in pretrial detention, 2 of them since 2010, thus constituting arbitrary detention under the Code of Criminal Procedure, which fixes the maximum GE.17-00658 7