A/HRC/4/96 page 5 Introduction 1. In its resolution 1734 (2006), the Security Council requested the extension of UNIOSIL for a further period of 12 months, beginning on 1 January 2007. The Council mandated UNIOSIL, inter alia, to assist the Government of Sierra Leone in implementing the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), developing a national plan of action for human rights, and establishing the National Human Rights Commission. I. THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN SIERRA LEONE A. The right to life and security of the person 2. There has been no report of extrajudicial execution, or persistent and pervasive patterns of gross human rights violations, except for female genital mutilation, which remains widespread throughout the country and to which the Government’s response is at best ambivalent in that it has neither condemned the practice nor has it put in place any legal enforcement mechanism to end or curtail it. 3. As reported previously, Sierra Leone still maintains the death penalty in its statutory laws in spite of the recommendation of the TRC to abolish it (E/CN.4/2006/106, para. 5). The Government led by Ahmed Tejan Kabbah has consistently maintained that it will only resort to executions for the most serious crimes, and this was reflected in its White Paper issued in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report. By the end of 2006, there were 22 persons on death row - 21 adult males and 1 adult female. B. Political rights 4. The overall political situation in the country is stable and there is an increasing trend towards respect for political rights albeit some isolated violations. Preparation for the 2007 elections started unfolding in 2006. The National Elections Commission (NEC) was constituted, the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) established and over 28 political parties registered. However, as the major political parties embarked on awareness-raising programmes around the country, a number of isolated cases of harassment, intimidation and threats had been initially registered against some political parties and their members. Supporters of the People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) and the All People’s Congress (APC) in Nongowa chiefdom, Kenema District and in Mattru Jong, Bonthe District, complained of frequent threats and intimidations from supporters of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) in general, and chiefs of section in particular, but with the increasing presence of officers of National Elections Commission (NEC), the frequency of these incidents had decreased by the end of 2006. 5. There were also a number of reports of civil unrest such as strikes and riots which, in some cases, resulted in death and/or destruction of property. For instance, on 9 February 2006, during a student strike in Port Loko, one student was shot by the local police and died as a result of his injuries. A police station in Mile 91 was burnt down by students, after a clash with the police. On 27 February 2006, the junior and intermediate staff of Port Loko Teachers College (PLTC) joined the staff of other institutions nationwide on a strike to request a 40 per cent salary increase. On 9 March 2006, an inter-secondary school competition in Freetown ended in