A/HRC/45/49 A. Fundamental freedoms and democratic space 6. In its concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Human Rights Committee recommended the adoption of measures to ensure that any restrictions on the exercise of freedom of expression comply with the strict conditions set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to guarantee the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to prevent and eliminate all forms of excessive use of force by police and security officers (CCPR/C/COD/CO/4, paras. 42 and 44). 7. In its concluding observations on the second periodic report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Committee against Torture urged the Government to close all unofficial places of detention and to revise its legislative framework and practice to ensure that all arrests and detentions are subject to oversight by the judicial authorities (CAT/C/COD/CO/2, para. 15). It also called for the release of all persons detained for having defended their opinions or demonstrated peacefully (para. 29). 1. Current situation and action taken by the Government 8. During the reporting period, the Joint Office documented 857 human rights violations and abuses related to the restriction of democratic space, chiefly in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Tanganyika, Maniema, Kasai and Kasai Central. They occurred in the context of political tensions, at both the national and provincial levels, and of the handling of the public health emergency declared to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Notwithstanding a 16 per cent decrease over the previous reporting period (1,020 violations), the number of violations and abuses remains high. State actors − especially officers of the Congolese national police and members of the armed forces − were behind 84 per cent of the violations, the remaining 16 per cent having been committed by armed groups. The most frequently documented violations concerned the right to liberty and security of person, to freedom of opinion and expression and to physical integrity and life. The victims were primarily civilians with no particular affiliation and civil society actors. 9. Although democratic space continued to open up and several demonstrations took place without incident, some demonstrations were banned or suppressed by the authorities, and the Joint Office continued to document arrests and convictions in connection with the exercise of fundamental freedoms. It documented arbitrary arrests and other violations of the right to liberty and security of person involving at least 687 victims, including at least 28 women and 31 children, who were exercising their rights to freedom of expression or opinion, protest, and peaceful assembly or association, compared to 1,736 victims, including 95 women and 84 children, during the previous reporting period. The violations also took the form of threats towards civil society actors engaged in public monitoring of provincial-level governance. For example, the Joint Office documented threats against civil society coordinators in the provinces of Maniema and Tshopo, as well as the sentencing, on 27 March 2020, of a member of civil society to 13 months’ imprisonment for defaming the Governor of the Province of Equateur. 10. The Joint Office also documented cases of unjustified or excessive use of force by State officials during demonstrations. While that number is lower than in the previous reporting period,1 it remains significant and might be explained by abuses on the part of some local authorities and by the declaration of the public health emergency. From 30 March to 22 April 2020, the Joint Office documented human rights violations committed by police officers and members of the military police during law enforcement operations against militants of the political and religious movement Bundu Dia Kongo in Kinshasa and in the Province of Kongo Central. At least 66 people were killed and 74 injured during those incidents as a result of the unjustified or excessive use of force by police officers and military personnel. 1 GE.20-11014 During the period covered in this report, the Joint Human Rights Office documented at least 442 victims, including 39 women and 41 children, compared with at least 545 victims, including 53 women and 27 children, in the previous reporting period. 3