A/HRC/7/25 page 13 contribute to the proliferation of these “mediations” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the detriment of the victims’ basic rights. The practice is often accompanied by acts of intimidation and, sometimes, even punishment of the victim. On 4 September 2007, a young female rape victim was detained for three days at the police station in the village of Kalima (Maniema Province) for refusing to accept such an arrangement. Fearing that she would press charges, the rape suspect, a local trader, used his influence with the police to have the young girl arrested and charged with defamation. The victim was released only after giving US$ 20 to the police officers. 42. This police meddling goes hand in hand with the growing interference of the political and military authorities in judicial proceedings in such cases. On 19 September 2007, in Kampemba commune (Katanga Province), two rape suspects, a sergeant major of the Republican Guard and a member of the Congolese national police evaded custody as a result of manoeuvring by their father, who threatened the military investigator in charge of the case, who was of a lower rank than him, and thus obtained their release. On 12 September 2007, in response to a report about a rape, a judge at the Lubumbashi garrison military prosecutor’s office issued an arrest warrant for the suspect, a captain of the Republican Guard. The suspect’s commanding officer reportedly continues to obstruct the investigation by refusing to make the arrest. 43. That refusal is a violation not only of the Military Criminal Code but also of the acts of 2006 making sexual violence a statutory crime and relieving the prosecutor of the need to inform a suspect’s hierarchical superior of his subordinate’s arrest. The judicial authorities likewise often disregard the law. The Bukavu regional court (province of South Kivu) recently bailed a suspect accused of rape on the grounds that the parents of the parties had reportedly agreed to give the victim to the accused in marriage. Such an arrangement is not one of the criteria for granting bail and could, furthermore, be considered tantamount to the crime of forced marriage. On 23 August 2007, in two separate cases, the Bandundu regional court sentenced two individuals accused of rape and sexual assault to only four months in prison, citing significant mitigating circumstances without however stating what those circumstances were; the prosecutor chose not to appeal. 44. The attitude of the courts in the province of South Kivu towards sexual violence shows the degree of impunity that perpetrators of sexual violence continue to enjoy, and proves that the new law is not being properly applied, because judicial personnel are either unwilling to do so or are simply unfamiliar with its provisions. Between 2005 and 2007, when 14,200 rapes were reportedly recorded by health-care establishments in the province in 2005 alone, only 287 cases, or less than 1 per cent of the total, led to the filing of a complaint with the local judicial authorities. Of those complaints, 56 per cent were still at the preliminary investigation stage after a year, whereas due process would require that the prosecutor take the case to court within five months. Of the 60 cases for which the investigation has been completed, more than 80 per cent have been awaiting trial for more than two years. Lastly, although 58 guilty verdicts have been pronounced by the courts, in criminal and civil proceedings, no victim has yet received the damages awarded. In order to guarantee due legal process, some countries have established specialized bodies for certain aspects of criminal procedure, in particular prosecutions and investigations. In that regard, it might be worth considering the idea of appointing, in each prosecutor’s office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an investigating judge who would specialize in cases of sexual violence.