A/HRC/12/44 page 15 IV. HUMAN RIGHTS IN PUNTLAND 64. In Puntland, elections took place peacefully at the beginning of 2009. A new President and Government took office; they are committed to establishing multiparty democracy through a new constitution within two years. Members of the Puntland parliament endorsed, on 29 June 2009, a new law on political parties under which 66 members of parliament were to be appointed by the President, while only three political parties were allowed to compete in the presidential elections. 65. Although life in Puntland is relatively peaceful, given its proximity to the violence and chaos of south and central Somalia, with the serious efforts made by the Puntland Government to maintain law and order, albeit with many shortfalls, there are still many concerns in the field of human rights, particularly with regard to the application of traditional forms of justice that are often in conflict with universal principles of human rights. In spite of the impressive dynamism of legal aid programmes and civil society organizations, there have been some recent instances of murder trials under the Puntland judicial system which fell short of the standards expected of a fair and equitable trial. However, this, the independent expert was informed, was not due to the lack of political will on the part of the authorities, but to the capacity of the judiciary system and the coexistence of many conflicting laws, particularly customary law, sharia law and formal modern law. 66. In discussing the above matters with the authorities, the independent expert was informed that, while the Government of Puntland was trying to avoid the application of traditional Xeer law in cases of serious crime, by bringing them before the ordinary judiciary, the latter did not have the capacity to ensure a fair trial and the technical means to prove a case beyond reasonable doubt. Alleged perpetrators thus continue to be sentenced to death. According to civil society sources, courts in Puntland bring murder cases to justice quickly and issue a first judgement soon thereafter, especially if eyewitnesses are available or alleged perpetrators confess, to prevent inter-clan fighting. In accordance with Xeer law, the family of the victim has the right to kill a family member of the alleged perpetrator. The victim’s family often renounces this right if a death sentence against the alleged perpetrator has been issued. This might have been the case in two recent murder trials. 67. On 5 August 2009, the Minister for Information was assassinated by unknown gunmen in Galkayo, a trade town that links Puntland to the south-central regions. The Minister had been appointed by the President of Puntland to facilitate talks between stakeholders and leading figures of the Mudug region in view of the formation of the regional administration. According to reports from the region, the murder was a sub-clan’s revenge crime rather than a politically motivated killing. 68. During the independent expert’s visit to Puntland, he requested that the Minister for Justice organize a visit for the independent expert and his colleagues from UNPOS and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to the central prison of Garowe. The independent expert had the impression that the conditions at the detention centre were terribly bad, more because of lack of the capacity to hold large number of prisoners than intentional abuse. Subsequently, he recommended that the UNPOS Human Rights Unit organize training sessions for the penitentiary officials on the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners to raise their awareness of relevant standards.