A/HRC/32/52 the Paris Principles, which focus on the independence and the participatory nature of national human rights institutions. In order to properly carry out their work, such institutions should not be under the de jure or de facto supervision of any other State authority. IV. The human rights situation 38. During the period covered by this report, the Human Rights Division of UNOCI documented 67 human rights violations, including 16 violations of the right to life, 31 violations of the right to physical integrity and 14 violations of the right to liberty and security of person. The region with the largest number of human rights violations is the one served by the Division’s office in Bondoukou, which recorded 16 human rights violations during the reporting period. The main perpetrators were the Forces Républicaines de Côte d’Ivoire (FRCI), which were responsible for 21 of the violations documented by the Division, followed by the dozos (14 violations) and the gendarmerie (5 violations). 39. During the same period, the Human Rights Division of UNOCI documented 11 violations of children’s human rights, including 3 violations of the right to life, 6 violations of the right to physical integrity and 2 violations of the right to liberty and security of person. Most of these violations were committed in Bondoukou by members of FRCI. 40. With regard to sexual violence, the Human Rights Division of UNOCI documented 75 cases of rape, including 14 cases of gang rape and 7 of attempted rape. In most instances, the victims were women or girls. Seven of the rapes were committed by State agents. Twenty-six of the alleged perpetrators were being held in pretrial detention, while 14, including three FRCI members, had been convicted of indecent assault and given sentences of between 1 month and 10 years’ imprisonment. 41. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict visited Côte d’Ivoire from 25 to 27 May 2016 and held a meeting with the Independent Expert. Her visit was intended to increase the visibility of the efforts undertaken by Côte d’Ivoire to strengthen its justice system and to implement its national strategy to combat gender-based violence. V. Justice and national reconciliation 42. The Ministry of Justice is proposing reforms in the justice system and the prison services and is preparing amendments of the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Civil Code. Magistrates, members of the Bar Association and academics meet regularly to work on those proposals. The discussions concerning these reforms will soon be opened up to other stakeholders that may have useful contributions to make. The Ministry of Justice has already received initial drafts of the corresponding texts. The Independent Expert wishes to draw attention to the need to ensure that the proposed amendments include the introduction of a definition of rape in the Criminal Code, which is unusual in that it sets out penalties for the offence but does not define it (art. 354), allowing judges to apply their own definition. The Independent Expert considers that offences should be defined by the legislature rather than the judiciary and notes that this would be more in keeping with the principle of legality set out in article 21 of the Constitution of Côte d’Ivoire. 43. The introduction of a definition of rape in the Criminal Code presents a good opportunity for the adoption of modern wording that incorporates the advances made in comparative law in terms of how the offence is understood and categorized. In addition, it GE.16-10958 11