A/HRC/10/58 page 16 The work also included the protection of victims and witnesses in several sensitive cases such as the trial of former Mayi-Mayi leader Kyungu Mutanga, known as Gédéon, in Katanga; the trial for the assassination of Serge Maheshe in South Kivu, and during the judicial investigations into a mass rape which occurred in Lieke Lesole, Oriental Province, between 21 July and 6 August 2008. IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A. Conclusions 57. The successful conclusion of the electoral process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2007 raised hopes that this vast war-torn country could enter a period of stability. However, in eastern Congo, in particular in North Kivu and in Oriental Province, where armed groups have remained active, mass-scale killings and other serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have continued to be perpetrated in impunity. In order to better prevent atrocities in the short term, the utmost priority should be given by the FARDC and MONUC to enhancing the protection of civilians by anticipating potential attacks on the basis of lessons learnt from past atrocities. Moreover, ongoing peace negotiations should aim at addressing the root causes of conflict such as illegal exploitation of natural resources and integrating mechanisms that take into account records of abuses committed by individual commanders in past conflicts. This could, inter alia take the form of a realistic vetting mechanism which effectively sanctions those with particularly worrying human rights records, better funding and training of FARDC personnel in order to create a more professional army that fulfils its constitutional role of providing security for the Congolese population, and increased efforts to combat impunity, including at the higher levels of the military hierarchy. 58. In light of the lack of progress made in the fight against impunity, the aforementioned OHCHR-led Mapping Exercise will be of critical importance to addressing the issue of accountability. The Mapping Exercise’s recommendations on transitional justice will need full political backing. The international community as a whole must employ all its leverage to ensure that justice and accountability underpin the quest for durable peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 59. Even in regions relatively free of conflict, serious human rights violations continue to be committed frequently by state agents. Many of these violations derive from the current and previous Congolese Government’s lack of progress in efficiently and transparently collecting and redistributing the country’s vast natural resources wealth, which in turn has led to practices that have become structurally embedded in many state agencies. After decades of underfunded public services, state agents such as the FARDC and the PNC regularly abuse their power to extract financial and other benefits from the civilian population. Most worrying is the climate of increasing political repression affecting the democratic space that had begun to emerge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 60. Peace, development and the emergence of democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will remain difficult to achieve unless the challenges outlined in this report are tackled as a matter of priority. Crucially, new impetus must be given to efforts to address