A/HRC/6/14 page 19 62. The authorities announced that, as of 5 October, it had detained 533 monks, of whom 398 were released after sorting out what they called real monks from bogus ones. Twenty-one monks are reportedly detained in Insein prison. Reliable sources believe, however, that many more were detained or disappeared. Many young monks who used to study Buddhist literature have not dared to come back to Yangon, as the monasteries are still under surveillance by the authorities and vacant ones have been occupied by USDA members who immediately became trustees after the crackdown. There have been surprise checks in monasteries subjected to scrutiny by local authorities. On 29 November, monks assisting HIV/AIDS patients were forced by the military to leave the Maggin Monastery which was sealed off by the authorities. V. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE AND ITS AGENTS 63. The State and its agents had several opportunities to engage in a dialogue with the peaceful protesters to seek a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Instead of considering the best available options to contain the protests and despite several international appeals, the State and its agents chose to implement a repressive action. The State and its agents should have sought to identify and address the underlying causes of the peaceful demonstrations before using force to disperse the protesters. As a last resort, the use of force should have not exceeded the limits defined by internationally agreed standards for policing demonstrations. 64. Whereas it is difficult to clearly identify at this stage of the inquiry the chain of command that led to the tragic events of September and October 2007, the Special Rapporteur found that the Government had knowledge that severe human rights abuses would be likely to take place and failed to prevent these abuses by not using all available options and not exercising restraint in policing the demonstrations. He further found that the crackdown on demonstrations was not a policing but a military response. The Special Rapporteur noted that the excessive use of force, including lethal force was unnecessary and disproportionate. He also found that a ruthless campaign of reprisals took place, targeting monks, nuns, political activists, human rights defenders and other individuals who organized or participated in the peaceful demonstrations, as well as their family members. 65. In its announcement No. 1/2007 of 4 October 2007, the SPDC Information Committee stressed that the politicization by political parties and other organizations of the demands made by the monks created unrest.5 The view that the peaceful demonstrations of last August and September are at the origin of the unrest is difficult to accept in the light of the sequence of events. It seems more accurate to say that a state of violent disturbance and disorder erupted as the result of the use of excessive force by the State and its agents. It is recognized that serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law entail individual criminal responsibility. Since it failed to prevent these grave violations, it is now the responsibility of the Government to thoroughly investigate these grave violations of human rights, prosecute those responsible for their perpetration and, if their guilt is established, punish them. 5 New Light of Myanmar, 5 October 2007.