A/HRC/39/70 critical condition of refugee women in the subregion and the low level of assistance provided to them. 75. The Independent Expert recalls the importance of involving all refugees in the peace and security process in the Central African Republic. She underscores the importance of a national policy on returns based on the needs of displaced persons and refugees being taken into account in a transitional justice roadmap as a guarantee of non-recurrence. V. Transitional justice 76. Transitional justice includes a range of processes and mechanisms implemented by society to try to confront the plethora of acts of violence committed in the past in order to establish responsibilities, hand down justice and enable reconciliation. During her visits, the Independent Expert learned of the Government’s intention to develop a transitional justice strategy that would use judicial mechanisms, such as the Special Criminal Court, and nonjudicial mechanisms, such as the Truth, Justice, Compensation and Reconciliation Commission, and guarantees of non-recurrence, including institutional reforms and compensation measures. The Expert has invited international partners to support this. 77. The purpose of the Independent Expert’s missions was to explain the complementarity of each pillar of transitional justice and the need to coordinate their implementation in order to reassure donors, gain their backing for a clearer roadmap and enable simultaneous funding of complementary actions. A. Overview 78. The conflicts in the Central African Republic were to a great extent stimulated by impunity, poor governance, poverty, regional disparities and inequalities of treatment. The conclusions of the Bangui Forum on National Reconciliation and the National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan now represent the two key constituents of a transitional justice and reconciliation strategy. They are generally uncontested and are defended by all stakeholders, which suggests that their implementation should reduce the social divide and address the expectations of the population. The Independent Expert encouraged the Government to take stock and to report on activities that had taken place or to speed up their implementation. 79. Only by putting in place all the pillars of transitional justice 5 in a coordinated fashion can the causes of conflicts be tackled and peace guaranteed. The Mapping Project Report 6 published in May 2017 proposed a phased introduction, first implementing transitional justice components such as prosecutions and vetting programmes. Analysing the actions planned in the Central African Republic for each pillar, the Independent Expert noted that progress had indeed been made in the judicial field and with security-related institutional reforms. She now recommends that these efforts be consolidated and supplemented by actions under the right to truth and right to compensation pillars. 80. With regard to combatting impunity, the Independent Expert noted the assize court decisions of January 2018, which were appreciated by most Central Africans, and the holding of the criminal session of July 2018. She is, however, concerned about the breaches observed in the protection of victims and witnesses taking part in judicial proceedings. She welcomed the imminent opening of the Special Criminal Court investigations following the adoption of the procedural and evidentiary regulations, and encouraged donors to provide 5 6 GE.18-13342 The four pillars of transitional justice are the right to truth, combatting impunity, the right to justice and guarantees of non-recurrence, including institutional reforms and the right to compensation. United Nations, Report of the Mapping Project documenting serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of the Central African Republic between January 2003 and December 2015. Available from https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/CF/Mapping20032015/2017CAR_Mapping_Report_EN.pdf. 13