A/HRC/7/25 page 16 after the acquittal, the chief military prosecutor of Kinshasa appealed the decision. Such a manoeuvre, which is a total violation of judicial principles, suffices to show the inherent difficulties associated with the full enjoyment and exercise of civil and political rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 54. According to a report published in January 2008 by the United Nations Human Rights Integrated Office on its special investigation into the events of March 2007 (armed clashes in Kinshasa between FARDC and the members of the close protection team of former Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, on 22 and 23 March 2007), approximately 300 people were killed during and following the clashes, including, as a result of summary executions, mainly by the Republican Guard. The report cites credible testimony relating to at least 40 summary executions, and 18 other cases were confirmed by visits to the scene of the executions and by corroborating testimony. 55. The investigation also documented more than 200 cases of arbitrary arrest and numerous incidences of intimidation and threats against individuals considered to be linked to Jean-Pierre Bemba or individuals from Equateur Province. The members of the security forces involved in these incidents have yet to be investigated or prosecuted, in spite of calls from MONUC for such action to be taken. IV. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS 56. The socio-economic situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains unstable, and is further exacerbated by the continued fighting in the east of the country between the State security forces and rebel groups. For most citizens, the exercise and enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights remain a distant dream. The 2008 budget, of US$ 3.6 billion, 19.6 per cent of which is allocated for servicing the country’s external debt, limits the Government’s ability to implement its programme in the five priority areas of employment, education, health, water and electricity and infrastructure. Many observers believe that the budget does not clearly account for revenue from the mining and oil sectors, the management of which lacks transparency. Civil society as a whole has called for a review of all mining contracts, a number of which are viewed as one-sided. Poor management of these sectors deprives the country of significant income which could otherwise be used to improve the social conditions of rightful claimants. 57. Although the right to a basic education is guaranteed by the Constitution, many children still do not have access to education. The hopes raised when the Government proposed to take full responsibility for paying the salaries of teachers, thus making primary and secondary education free of charge, vanished with the allocation of only 5 per cent of the 2008 budget to the education sector. As a result, many children of school age will continue to be denied an education for a long time to come, jeopardizing their and the country’s future. 58. To the average Congolese, the right to housing, food, a decent standard of living, indeed the full gamut of economic, social and cultural rights, are still a distant reality. At the first national forum on employment held in Kinshasa on 18-22 September 2007, it was revealed that less than 20 per cent of the working age population, estimated at 22 million, worked in the formal sector and that there was no real social security system. The protracted strikes by public