A/HRC/35/43 the committee is mandated to coordinate the Government’s efforts to prevent and respond to such violence. 37. On 11 July, UNOCI and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a joint report on rape and the punishment of rape in Côte d’Ivoire. This report presents an analysis of the main patterns identified in respect of the rapes and attempted rapes committed in Côte d’Ivoire between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2015, the status of legal proceedings against alleged perpetrators of rape and attempted rape during this period and the obstacles to prosecuting perpetrators. The Government’s response has been swift and constructive. On 13 July 2016, two days after the publication of the report, the Minister of Justice issued a circular on the prosecution of rape to all those working in the justice system under his authority. In the circular, he requested that they stop reclassifying cases of rape as indecent assault and asked the judicial authorities to ensure that investigations were undertaken, including in cases where out-of-court settlements had been agreed on between the parties or the complaint had been withdrawn. The Independent Expert welcomes these positive developments and hopes that all those working in the criminal justice system will respond to them constructively. 38. A number of new constitutional provisions, adopted in November 2016 and mentioned later in this report, address the challenge of ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The new provisions also address the need to establish, at the national level, one or several visiting bodies responsible for preventing torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to act as the national preventive mechanism. In that connection, the Independent Expert welcomes the fact that the Ombudsman of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire took the initiative to organize a seminar at which African mediators could consider the problem of torture and participate more fully in the fight against that practice in Africa. The seminar took place from 27 February to 1 March 2017. 39. During his visit in January, the Independent Expert was able to meet representatives of human rights organizations, the unfailing vitality of which he noted. These organizations, which all work closely with the National Human Rights Commission of Côte d’Ivoire, focus their efforts on the protection and promotion of women’s and children’s rights, in particular the fight against early marriage and the exploitation of girls in domestic work, the registration of births, girls’ literacy levels and a higher level of representation of women in decision-making and local government. The Independent Expert also welcomes the efforts made to protect the rights of persons with albinism and to combat discrimination in access to education and employment. Concerns over networks of migrant smugglers based in Côte d’Ivoire also raise a number of questions about civil society and reflect the need for further investigation into the causes of migration and trafficking in persons and migrants. V. Transitional justice and national reconciliation A. Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission 40. The Independent Expert welcomes the publication, in October 2016, of the report of the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission and encourages activities to raise awareness of its content at a national level. The report, which was two years overdue, summarizes the root causes of the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, highlighting the issue of land ownership, shortcomings in the democratic process, the lack of justice and security, poverty, gender inequality, the poor functioning of the education system and the failings of the media. Alongside more general observations, the fourth part of the report contains specific recommendations on each of the root causes of the crisis and the criteria governing reparation. 41. At a political level, the report contained the following recommendations: (a) days of remembrance and forgiveness should be held, on which persons who know that they bear some responsibility, including moral responsibility, for the occurrence of the main crises, and who are willing to do so, can ask the nation for forgiveness; (b) dialogue days, initiated GE.17-08076 9