A/HRC/RES/45/35 in armed conflict and the adoption of Act No. 20016 of 15 June 2020 on the Child Protection Code, prohibiting, inter alia, the conscription and use of children in armed forces and armed groups, and encourages the Government to promptly adopt measures to implement the law and a national child protection plan, and to consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure; 17. Urges all parties to protect and to regard as victims those children who have been released or otherwise separated from the armed forces and armed groups, and emphasizes the need to protect, release and reintegrate in a sustainable manner all children associated with the armed forces and armed groups and to implement rehabilitation and reintegration programmes that take into account the specific needs of girls, in particular those that have been victims of violence; 18. Calls upon the authorities of the Central African Republic to ensure respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the entire population, and to take all steps necessary to end the impunity of perpetrators of acts of violence by strengthening the judicial system and mechanisms intended to ensure accountability; 19. Welcomes the opening of an investigation by the International Criminal Court in September 2014, at the request of the authorities of the Central African Republic, focusing principally on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since 1 August 2012, the arrest on 17 November 2018 of Alfred Yekatom, who was surrendered to the Court by the authorities of the Central African Republic, and the arrest on 12 December 2018 by the authorities of France, pursuant to an arrest warrant issued by the Court on 7 December 2018 of Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, senior leader and national general coordinator of the antibalaka; 20. Urges neighbouring States of the Central African Republic to cooperate in the fight against insecurity, and the impunity of those responsible from armed groups, including with the national and international jurisdictions and the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission; 21. Welcomes the efforts of the authorities of the Central African Republic that led to the operationalization of the Special Criminal Court with competence in respect of serious violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and encourages the Government, with support from the international community, to continue its cooperation with the Special Prosecutor of the Court so that those responsible for international crimes, regardless of their status or their affiliation, are identified, arrested and brought to justice without delay; 22. Notes the efforts of the authorities of the Central African Republic to reestablish the effective authority of the State over the entire country by redeploying the State administration, in particular the judiciary, in the provinces with a view to ensuring stable, responsible, inclusive and transparent governance, and requests the authorities to support those efforts by ensuring that the redeployed authorities have sufficient resources; 23. Also notes the efforts made by the authorities of the Central African Republic while underscoring the urgent need to effectively redeploy judges throughout the country, to revitalize the judicial services, to implement the national strategy for the protection of victims and witnesses involved in judicial proceedings, and to establish appropriate reparation programmes to provide victims of violations and their families with material and symbolic reparation, at both the individual and the collective level; 24. Welcomes the efforts made by the authorities of the Central African Republic to hold criminal hearings in the Bangui Court of Appeal in February 2020 and to strengthen the capacities of local peace and reconciliation committees, requests them to continue to strengthen the judiciary and to combat impunity in order to contribute to stabilization and reconciliation, and stresses the urgent need to restore the administration of justice and strengthen the criminal justice system and the prison system so as to ensure that judicial authorities are effectively present throughout the country and that everyone has access to fair and impartial justice; 25. Also welcomes the continued efforts of the authorities of the Central African Republic to establish the special joint security units, in accordance with the Peace Agreement 6