A/HRC/24/33 was also recommended that the Government should implement fully its “zero tolerance” policy and investigate, arrest and prosecute FARDC members responsible for such killings.5 2. Action taken by the Government and current situation 11. Violations to the right to life continued to be widely reported since the previous report of the High Commissioner. The extensive killings targeting civilians 6, which were committed between April and September 2012 by various armed groups in Southern Masisi, North Kivu, for instance, were among the most serious witnessed in the past two years in the country. In other parts of Masisi territory, the Joint Human Rights Office documented more than 130 killings and other human rights violations by armed groups, mainly Raïa Mutomboki and Nyatura combatants, during the period from 15 August 2012 to 10 January 2013. The killings were linked to the security vacuum created in the area following the redeployment of FARDC troops to Rutshuru to fight M23. 12. The disproportionate use of force by FARDC soldiers, members of the Republican Guard and agents of the Congolese National Police (PNC) during an operation against some 300 Mai-Mai Kata Katanga in March 2013 in Lubumbashi resulted in the killing of at least three civilians and more than 18 Mai-Mai, some shot at close range, as well as many others injured. Appropriate and laudable action was taken by Congolese authorities in some of these cases documented by OHCHR, such as in the Mitwaba case, where the perpetrators were arrested and referred to the military justice. In other cases, such as in the Ilema case, no serious action was taken. 3. Action taken by the Joint Human Rights Office 13. The Joint Human Rights Office continued to conduct monitoring and investigation missions to the most volatile areas and reported on the most urgent concerns. Four reports were subsequently published, with a particular focus on issues relating to serious human rights violations committed in Southern Masisi;7 death in detention;8 elections-related human rights violations in Kinshasa;9 and human rights violations perpetrated by FARDC and M23 in North and South Kivu from 15 November to 2 December 2012. On these cases and previous ones, OHCHR in the Democratic Republic of the Congo met with provincial and, where necessary, national authorities to encourage them to take appropriate measures. 5 6 7 8 9 6 A/HRC/14/24/Add.3, para. 109. See the report of the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office on human rights violations perpetrated by armed groups during attacks on villages in Ufamandu I and II, Nyamaboko I and II, and Kibabi groupements, Masisi territory, North Kivu province, between April and September 2012, 14 November 2012. In the report, the Office confirmed the arbitrary execution of at least 264 people, of whom 246 were killed by combatants from Raïa Mutomboki and Mai-Mai Kifuafua, and 18 were killed by combatants of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and Nyatura, between April and September 2012 in Ufamandu I and II, Nyamaboko I and II and Kibabi groupements, in Masisi territory, North Kivu province. See ibid. Report of the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (MONUSCO-OHCHR) on deaths in detention centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, March 2013 (available from http://monusco.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=yCX3VNesgPg%3D&tabid=10662&langua ge=en-US). Report of the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office on serious human rights violations committed by members of the Congolese defense and security forces in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 26 November and 25 December 2011, March 2012 (available from www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ZR/ReportDRC_26Nov_25Dec2011_en.pdf).