A/HRC/10/58 page 12 shots. A few days later, 28 police officers, led by the local PNC Deputy Commander, conducted a raid on the village. The PNC officers raped 19 women, including six children, and looted homes in the village. 38. There have, however, been some encouraging developments, in the form of the numerous public commitments made by the authorities, beginning in November 2007, to fight impunity for sexual violence. In addition, on 18 February 2008, in Lifumba Waka, Equateur province, the Mbandaka Military Tribunal convicted six police officers for mass rape and other crimes committed in the area between 17 and 19 March 2006. While some progress has thus been noted in the prosecution of junior officials suspected of having committed acts of sexual violence, fighting impunity at higher levels of the police and military hierarchy remains a challenge. D. Arbitrary arrests, torture and appalling detention conditions 39. Arbitrary arrests are frequent occurrences in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FARDC continues to arrest people without the legal power to do so. Likewise, PNC officers arrest and detain persons for civil matters such as non-payment of debts and property disputes, in disregard of Article 11 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which DRC is a party, which stipulates that no one shall be arrested solely for their inability to carry out a contractual obligation. When unable to locate the alleged perpetrator of a criminal offence, the PNC regularly arrests family members or others who are not involved in, or entirely unaware of, the affair in question. Conversely, a large percentage of the relatively few perpetrators of sexual violence who are arrested are released through the intervention of local authorities or by corrupt police officers who encourage the families of victims to engage in out-of-court settlements, which are expressly forbidden by the new laws governing cases of sexual violence. 40. Upon their arrest, detainees are commonly denied the guarantees to which they are entitled under Congolese law. Firstly, they are generally not properly registered: record-keeping is often incomplete or outdated. There is a reluctance to uphold the new Procès-verbal de saisie des prévenus (PVSP), a document issued by the Prosecutor General stipulating that detainees should be informed of their rights and of the charges imputed to them. In addition, detainees are commonly denied the right to be brought before a judge within the 48-hour time period stipulated by the Congolese constitution, which has led to the proliferation of hébergés, inmates who are detained solely on the basis of the PVSP. This is true both for detentions carried out by both the PNC and the ANR. In the case of the ANR, very few cases are transferred to the offices of the Public or Military Prosecutor, and most detainees are released after paying fines that are not officially recorded. 41. Under these circumstances, it is unsurprising that there are many more remand inmates than convicts in Congolese prisons. It is estimated that more than 80% of inmates are on remand or awaiting trial. According to figures obtained in June 2008, approximately 75% of the 4,000 inmates at the CPRK (built to accommodate 1,000 inmates) are in pre-trial detention. Long-term pre-trial detention undermines the rule of law and the protection of fundamental human rights, including the rights of the victim to seek redress and the right to presumption of innocence enshrined in the Congolese constitution and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This situation is attributable to the dysfunctional state of the criminal justice system and is also a contributing factor in recurring disturbances and escapes.