A/HRC/36/64
Court would be handling cases involving sexual violence. The interministerial decree
establishing the committee for the selection of national criminal investigation officers was
signed on 23 February 2017. The committee has published the terms of reference for
criminal investigation officers and set 2 June 2017 as the deadline for applications, after
which shortlisting and interviews will be carried out; the new recruits are expected to take
up their posts in July 2017. A security plan has been drawn up by MINUSCA, including a
global security strategy for Special Criminal Court premises, as well as for key Court
personnel and their residences.
83.
Several stages remain before the Court can begin its work, including the renovation
of the Court building itself, the resolution of the question of payments to court-appointed
lawyers, the recruitment of additional judges, and the recruitment and training of criminal
investigation officers.
B.
Non-judicial mechanisms and reconciliation
84.
Pursuant to the National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan, on 21 December 2016
the President of the Republic announced the creation of local peace and reconciliation
committees. The Independent Expert was able to meet with the members of the committee
for the third district of Bangui (PK5), which is working to reconcile the different
communities, prevent disputes and actively promote social cohesion, despite lacking the
necessary resources. The international partners must support this government initiative,
under which 12 local peace and reconciliation committees have been set up to date and a
further 14 are planned for the various prefectures, as well as the initiatives of the Interfaith
Peace Platform and the actions taken by the traditional chiefs.
85.
The Government has taken a number of measures to integrate the Muslim
community, including granting Muslim holidays official status. However, more must be
done to improve the representation of the Muslim minority in the parliament and in all
public bodies.
86.
The Government and the international community must also provide specific
support to a great many civil society actors working on innovative initiatives in the fields of
prevention, reconciliation, social cohesion, and promotion and protection of human rights.
The Independent Expert encourages those organizations to continue their efforts and to
expand the scope of their activities to areas outside the capital.
87.
The role of the National Committee for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide, War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and All Other Forms of
Discrimination is to identify root causes and warning signs and contribute to the
strengthening of the reconciliation process by setting up peace forums and other initiatives.
The Independent Expert has encouraged the Committee to publicize its work, composition
and road map and to raise awareness of violence prevention among all sections of society.
88.
The Réseau de journalistes pour les droits de l’homme (Network of Journalists for
Human Rights) and its web of regional correspondents and thematic experts organize a
large number of innovative journalistic and outreach activities, with the aim of informing
the population of progress made in establishing the Special Criminal Court, access to
justice and the role of victims in the four pillars of transitional justice, as well as keeping
refugees and displaced persons informed of current events in the Central African Republic.
These initiatives should receive greater technical, financial and logistical support in order to
improve coverage across the country; in particular, there is a need for donations of
telecommunications and transport equipment.
89.
The report of the Mapping Project, which includes a list of serious violations of
human rights and international humanitarian law committed between 1 January 2003 and
31 December 2015, was officially presented on 30 May 2017. The Security Council
referred to the project in its resolution 2301 (2016) as being one of the priority tasks of
MINUSCA under its human rights promotion and protection mandate. The project was also
tasked with listing the existing transitional justice mechanisms, putting forward a strategy
for the possible establishment of processes with regard to truth-seeking, reparation and
GE.17-12914
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