A/HRC/39/70 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 36/25 of 29 September 2017, in which the Council renewed the mandate of the Independent Expert and requested her to submit a written report to it at its thirty-ninth session. 2. It covers the period from July 2017 to June 2018, during which the Independent Expert made two visits to the Central African Republic, from 6 to 16 February and 12 to 22 June 2018. She went to Bangui, Bangassou, Bossangoa, Bria and Paoua. 3. The Independent Expert met with the President, the Prime Minister and several ministers, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs, African Integration and Central Africans Abroad, the Minister of Defence, the Minister of the Interior, Public Security and Regional Government, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, and the Minister of Social Affairs and National Reconciliation. She also met with the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and the chairs of commissions, the Special Prosecutor of the Special Criminal Court, representatives of the National Commission on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and the President and Office of the High Council for Communication. 4. The Independent Expert also held discussions with the senior management and chiefs of the various civilian, military and police components of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), the United Nations agencies, and with representatives of the diplomatic corps, including the African Union, the Group of African Ambassadors, ECCAS, the European Union Military Training Mission in the Central African Republic, the panel of facilitators of the African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation, and international humanitarian organizations. She met representatives of civil society, human rights organizations, women’s organizations and the religious council. She also met representatives of the main ex-Séléka and anti-Balaka armed groups. 5. In April 2018, the Independent Expert visited Gabon to discuss the regional dimension of the human rights situation in the Central African Republic. She held discussions with an adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, Francophonie and Regional Integration of Gabon, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), the ECCAS Assistant Secretary-General responsible for the Department of Human Integration, Peace, Security and Stability, and representatives of the diplomatic corps. 6. In June 2018, she went to New York to consult representatives of the SecretaryGeneral, the Secretariat and the specialized institutions of the United Nations, and representatives of the diplomatic corps. 7. A high-level interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic was held during the thirty-seventh session of the Human Rights Council, in the presence of representatives of the African Union and ECCAS, members of the panel of facilitators of the African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation, and a representative of Central African civil society women’s associations. The Independent Expert presented an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-eighth session and met with representatives of the diplomatic corps and of non-governmental organizations in Geneva. 8. The Independent Expert thanks the Central African authorities for their cooperation and openness to discussion, the United Nations, MINUSCA, and in particular the staff of the Human Rights Division for their support for her mandate during her visits, and all the people and associations who have shared their assessment of the human rights situation with her. GE.18-13342 3