A/HRC/13/64 investigate all alleged cases of arbitrary detention, prosecute the perpetrators and award full compensation to the victims.4 Actions taken by the Government and the current situation 5. According to information received, the Government has not taken significant action to implement the above recommendations. At the time of writing, several branches of the executive power, security forces and judicial authorities persist in the arbitrary and illegal arrest and detention of individuals throughout the country. Individuals are also arrested for reasons that reach beyond criminal law. Human rights officers routinely find people detained for civil matters such as non-payment of debts and property disputes. UNJHRO has also observed a trend of PNC arrests of family members or close associates of alleged criminals when the perpetrator cannot be located, without any charges or evidence that the arrestee was involved. Agents of the State intelligence service (Agence nationale de renseignement – ANR), also frequently arrest people accused of common law offences that are in no way linked to State security matters. Lastly, members of security forces, including the ANR, have also been implicated in politically motivated human rights violations directed at political opponents, journalists and human rights defenders.5 6. After arrest, detainees are commonly denied the guarantees they are entitled to under Congolese law. In particular, detainees are generally not properly registered, and consequently record keeping is often incomplete or out of date. Detainees are commonly denied the right to appear before a judge within the 48-hour period required by the Constitution and this practice has led to the proliferation of hébergés, that is inmates who are detained without officially being charged. Additionally, very few cases are transferred to the offices of the Public or Military Prosecutor, and many detainees are released after paying fines that are not officially recorded. Actions taken by the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office 7. UNJHRO has taken tentative steps against arbitrary and/or illegal arrests and detentions to prompt the Government to provide the protection that detainees are entitled to under Congolese law and international human rights law. During the period under review, it visited numerous holding cells and prisons throughout the country, in several cases with national prosecutors, in order to verify the legality of detentions, and obtained the release of scores of people who had been illegally detained. After requests made by UNJHRO to judicial and police authorities that all detainees be notified of their rights and the charges pending against them, the Prosecutor General required all detaining officials to inform detainees of the charges against them. In practice, however, this requirement is seldom followed. Also, during the reporting period, UNJHRO organized several workshops and sensitization activities for the Congolese security forces to increase their respect for human rights. It should be recalled that UNJHRO and other human rights actors still do not have access to a number of detention facilities, such as the Tshatshi military camp, the headquarters of the military intelligence in Kinshasa and most ANR detention facilities throughout the country, despite instructions given to the relevant authorities by the President in July 2005. Obstacles to the implementation of existing recommendations 8. Arbitrary and illegal arrests and detentions are often part of a money-making scheme. These cases frequently do not reach the judiciary, but regularly lead to a bartered, 4 5 GE.10-10563 See footnote 1. See below part E. 5

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