A/HRC/36/64 37. Regrettably, the funding provided by institutional donors has fallen far short of that required to meet humanitarian needs, despite advocacy on the part of humanitarian organizations, MINUSCA and the United Nations specialized agencies. By late May 2017, the humanitarian response plan was funded at only 27.8 per cent. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), all the warning signs are present, yet the quality and scope of the humanitarian response is being reduced. Access to communities in need, already affected by the security situation, risks being further limited if humanitarian partners cease operations or if logistical resources, such as air transport services, are cut back for lack of funds. 38. The Independent Expert joins humanitarian actors in calling on the international community to mobilize to avert the impending humanitarian crisis, the consequences of which in the future will be far more costly if nothing is done. Humanitarian actors have, moreover, continued to operate in a highly volatile security environment. On 5 May 2017, OCHA announced that four humanitarian organizations had decided to suspend their activities temporarily in the prefecture of Ouham in the light of the threats they faced. More than 300 incidents in 2016 and more than 1,667 security incidents involving humanitarian workers have been recorded since the beginning of the year. 2 Furthermore, 72 per cent of health-care facilities have been damaged or destroyed by violence and looting, and healthcare facilities in the vast majority of cases depend on humanitarian assistance. 3 III. Human rights situation 39. The period was marked by an increase in human rights violations and abuses linked to the upsurge in fighting and to attacks by the various armed groups. Most of the abuses were perpetrated by ex-Séléka and anti-Balaka armed groups; they included killings, acts of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, sexual violence, abductions, deprivation of liberty and arbitrary arrest, extortion and looting, recruitment and exploitation of children, the occupation of schools and health centres and attacks on them, and denial of humanitarian assistance. In this context, vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, face even greater challenges in terms of access to food, sanitation and medical assistance. 40. The Independent Expert also finds it regrettable that the national security forces commonly have recourse to prolonged and unlawful pretrial detention and that conditions of detention remain very poor. 41. The Independent Expert welcomes the adoption and promulgation on 20 April 2017 of the Act establishing the National Commission on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. She encourages the Government to bring it into operation with the technical support of the Human Rights Division of MINUSCA and to ensure that the criteria of professionalism, integrity and gender balance are respected in the selection of commissioners. A. Abuses attributed to armed groups 42. The period was marked by a significant increase, from November 2016, in human rights abuses perpetrated by armed groups.4 Between July 2016 and June 2017, the Human Rights Division of MINUSCA recorded 1,976 cases of violations and abuses, which left 3,423 victims (2,120 men, 327 women, 189 boys and 116 girls, and 113 children and 558 adults who were not identified). 2 3 4 GE.17-12914 Identified by the International NGO Safety Organization; see www.ngosafety.org/country/central_african_republic. See www.msf.fr/actualite/dossiers/republique-centrafricaine-crise-silencieuse. In 2015, MINUSCA reported 1,278 human rights violations, which left 1,786 victims (see A/HRC/33/63, para. 36). 7