A/HRC/13/72 40. A series of procedural practices by defence lawyers in legal proceedings have been considered as dilatory and unjustified and a number of private lawyers of military personnel are illegally presenting themselves as officials of the Ministry of Defense and/or the socalled Military Defense (DEMIL) to pressure witnesses into changing their testimonies. These activities openly violate the policies of the military high command and the Ministry of Defense, and should be rejected and duly sanctioned. 41. The military jurisdiction continued to hand over cases of human rights violations to the ordinary justice system.14 However, the fact that there are 249 jurisdictional disputes yet to be resolved regarding alleged extrajudicial executions demonstrates that these efforts need to be reinforced to ensure that such disputes do not become a systematic practice to unnecessarily delay judicial proceedings. Military jurisdiction should be limited exclusively to cases of service-related offences, as clearly stipulated in the revised Military Criminal Code. 42. In 2009, there was also evidence of serious shortcomings in the protection of the families of victims, witnesses, prosecutors and judges. OHCHR-Colombia registered death threats, a killing and an assassination attempt against two relatives of victims. Threats were received even by active members of security forces who cooperated with the justice process. Together with attempts to discredit or delay judicial proceedings, this could constitute a pattern of harassment to prevent the processes from moving forward. The Government should adopt measures to increase the protection of witnesses, families of victims, and judicial officials, publicly legitimize their work and counteract any actions that promote impunity. F. Sexual violence 43. Statistics on cases of sexual violence, including those committed in the context of the internal armed conflict, continue to be incomplete and fragmented. According to the National Institute of Legal Medicine, the number of registered cases of sexual violence, occurring in different contexts including the internal armed conflict, increased from 12,732 in 2000 to 21,202 in 2008. It is of particular concern that in almost 86 per cent of these cases the victims were girls, most of whom were between 10 and 14 years (31.5 per cent). Several efforts are under way to address sexual violence and it is imperative to properly assist victims, encourage the pressing of charges and ensure effective reporting and investigation of cases. 44. In 2009, OHCHR-Colombia received an alarming amount of information on cases of sexual violence against women and girls that were attributed to members of FARC-EP and the illegal armed groups that emerged after the paramilitary demobilization. The latter were accused of committing acts of sexual violence and creating networks of prostitution, human trafficking, and sexual slavery, occasionally with the acquiescence and even collaboration of some members of the National Police, particularly in Medellín. OHCHR-Colombia was informed of cases of rape in Tolima and recruitment by FARC-EP of women and girls in Antioquia, who were also victims of forced contraception. 45. Of particular concern are several cases where the alleged perpetrators are members of security forces in Antioquia, Arauca, Bogotá, Bolivar, Cesar, Chocó and Guaviare. In the majority of these cases, the victims were girls. In some cases, military and legal authorities have implemented adequate measures, such as public recognition of wrong-doing and expediting investigations, but, in other cases, members of security forces contributed to the 14 10 By November 2009, 251 cases have been handed over to the ordinary justice system. GE.10-11819