A/HRC/36/54 have been instituted against alleged perpetrators of human rights violations. The commissions of inquiry established by the Attorney General in the wake of the events of April 2015, the killing of nine persons in the Ngagara neighbourhood on 13 October 2015 and the events of 11 December 2015 did not act with impartiality, as demonstrated by their reports, which the Commission examined. 62. The Commission noted long delays in judicial proceedings, the holding of some sensitive trials on prison premises, which deterred observers from attending, and summary trials conducted pursuant to the “expedited” procedure, applicable to those allegedly caught in the act. By way of example, 1 police officer, 7 military personnel and 12 civilians who had been arrested in connection with the attack on the military camp at Mukoni (Muyinga Province) on the night of 23-24 January 2017 were tried without a lawyer on 26 January. The Muyinga provincial court sentenced them to heavy prison terms without regard to their claims that they had been tortured while in detention, to the point where some of the defendants were unable to stand during the trial. 63. The judiciary’s lack of independence, which has long been observed in Burundi, has aggravated the impunity prevailing in the country. In August 2013, the first National Forum on the Justice System, the report of which has never been made public, emphasized the executive branch’s influence over the National Judicial Service Commission, which is chaired by the Head of State and composed mainly of members appointed by the Government. The executive branch’s ascendancy over the judicial branch is also apparent in the appointment of judges and the fact that they may be transferred, which runs counter to the principle of the irremovability of judges. The Ministry of Justice controls the promotion of judges and may propose their suspension or dismissal. 64. The Commission also noted the lack of independence of the national institutions for monitoring the authorities’ actions in the field of human rights, namely the Independent National Human Rights Commission 26 and the Ombudsman, ever since the leaders and certain members of those institutions were replaced in 2015 and 2016. III. International crimes A. Crimes against humanity 1. Constituent elements of crimes 65. Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Rome Statute defines crimes against humanity as acts “committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack”. Article 7, paragraph 2 (a), further stipulates that “‘attack directed against any civilian population’ means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts […] against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack”. In the light of the information obtained, the Commission has reasonable grounds to believe that an attack against the civilian population has been taking place in Burundi since April 2015. That attack has consisted in the multiple commission of acts covered by the Rome Statute 27 against a largely civilian population consisting in particular of opponents of the Government or persons perceived as such. 28 The fact that members of the security forces are among the victims in no way changes that categorization. 29 26 27 28 29 GE.17-13865 In November 2016, the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions recommended that the Independent National Human Rights Commission should be downgraded to “B” status. The final decision is to be taken in 2017. See part II of the present report. See part II.A of the present report. In The Prosecutor v. Clément Kayishema and Obed Ruzindana, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ruled that the presence of certain non-civilians within the targeted population did not change the civilian character of that population. 13