A/HRC/30/30 backlog of appeals pending for more than five years has been considerably reduced, especially in Phnom Penh. Work has also progressed on appeals pending for more than four years. OHCHR, with the cooperation of the relevant judges and prosecutors, was moreover able to secure the release of eight prisoners found to be held in arbitrary detention. 35. OHCHR sought to raise the level of awareness of international norms and standards on the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment by co-organizing 14 briefings, held from January to June 2015, for law enforcement personnel at the provincial and district levels with the offices of the provincial Chief Prosecutor in five north-eastern provinces. At each briefing, visits were conducted to provincial and district police stations, where the processes of police custody and registry were reviewed. The briefings were also held on rights upon arrest and the use of force and policing during demonstrations. In all, approximately 640 participants from the police, gendarmerie and civilian apparatus, including 49 women, participated in these lively discussions, which helped to dispel many common misunderstandings about the issues of torture and ill-treatment, the processes of police custody and registry, rights upon arrest, the use of force and policing during demonstrations. 36. No progress was achieved during the period under review towards the establishment of an independent national preventive mechanism against torture, in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, to which Cambodia is a party. Following past advocacy by OHCHR, as well as by the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture during its visit in December 2013, the Government of Cambodia acknowledged the shortcomings of the current governmental mechanism, but did not actually commit to establishing an national preventive mechanism compliant with the Optional Protocol. This position was reaffirmed by the Government when, in June 2014, in its response to the recommendations made during from its second universal periodic review, it noted - rather than accepted - nearly all the recommendations pertaining to the mechanism. 37. OHCHR continued to serve as the donor partner facilitator of the Technical Working Group on Legal and Judicial Reform, one of 19 sectoral technical working groups by which the Government and donor partners coordinate international assistance. Following the adoption of the three fundamental laws on the judiciary (the Law on the Statute of Judges and Prosecutors, the Law on the Organization of the Court Organs and the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Supreme Council of Magistracy) in May 2014, OHCHR worked closely with the Ministry of Justice, which serves as the governmental Chair of the Technical Working Group, to establish joint monitoring indicators on judicial reform that set out quantifiable measures for improvement in certain key areas. IV. Protecting economic and social rights 38. The Economic and Social Rights Programme of OHCHR in Cambodia continued to focus primarily on land and housing rights issues, with the understanding that adequate housing is a precondition for the enjoyment of many other economic and social rights, including the rights to work, health and education. Through the Programme, OHCHR works to promote and protect the rights to adequate housing and to an adequate standard of living, to prevent forced evictions and to promote security of tenure and a better understanding of the role of business in respecting human rights. 39. The Government’s land titling programmes have advanced steadily. According to government figures, as at December 2014, approximately 3,840,000 land titles had been delivered under ongoing processes of systematic land registration (2.62 million titles), sporadic land registration (610,000 titles) and Directive No. 001 campaign (606,661 titles) (see A/HRC/27/43, para. 34). With regard to the number of titles awarded, the Directive No. 9