CCPR/C/131/D/2772/2016 the author applied to Bukavu Tribunal de Grande Instance for permission to bring a private prosecution against H.K. and D.C. for torture and arbitrary arrest and detention. The opening hearing in this case took place on 19 March 2015. H.K. did not attend the hearing, while D.C. appeared, accompanied by two lawyers. The Court declared that it had competence to try the two defendants and that the defendant H.K. had failed to appear. At this hearing, the defence lawyers raised preliminary objections, including one relating to the need to obtain prior authorization from the director of the National Intelligence Agency in order for proceedings to be brought against the Agency’s officers, such as H.K. 3 On 30 July 2015, the Court dismissed all the objections raised and referred the case for a public hearing, to be held on 13 August 2015. During this hearing, D.C. appealed the interlocutory decision issued by the Tribunal de Grande Instance. On 7 February 2016, the Court of Appeal received the pleadings of the parties in relation to the appeal and reserved judgment on the case. In July 2017, the Court of Appeal dismissed the objection raised by D.C. and remitted the case to the Tribunal de Grande Instance. Since then, the case is still ongoing. 2.12 The author remained in pretrial detention at Bukavu central prison until 6 June 2015, when a second request for his release on bail, submitted by his lawyer on 3 June 2015, was finally granted. On 29 June 2015, the author was admitted to the Panzi General Hospital to undergo medical examinations and receive comprehensive care. He was attended to by a forensic doctor who specialized in surgery. The medical report, which is dated 3 July 2015, refers to “a general state of anxiety; ... on the chest: linear, parallel abrasions on the posterior side of the torso ... deformation and curvature of the forearm at the medullary cavity, limited pronation and supination”. The report also identifies “an old fracture of two bones in the right forearm and the sequelae of blows and injuries related to ill-treatment in detention, ‘torture’, see the marks on the back made by a strap”. It also states that “the assessment of the harm ... indicates a temporary inability to work for 60 days; a permanent partial disability of 25 per cent; a significant level of pain and suffering (suffering endured) 6/7; and slight disfigurement 3/7”.4 2.13 Although the author has been released, the complaint against D.C. is still pending and the threats against the author have not stopped. On several occasions, attempts have been made to intimidate or directly attack the author and his family in the street, at the police station or at their home.5 On each occasion, the violence was carried out by members of D.C.’s family, with the aim of intimidating the author and obtaining the money that he was alleged to have stolen. 2.14 On 15 July 2015, the author was again arrested at his home, without a warrant, before being questioned and detained for several hours. On this occasion, the author was accused of having burgled D.C.’s house, but the authorities soon realized that, at the time of the alleged burglary, the author was still in detention at Bukavu central prison and that the charges were therefore unfounded. He was released a few hours after his arrest. 2.15 On 2 March 2015, the NGO TRIAL International sent a request for urgent action on the author’s behalf to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment so that the special procedure mandate holders in question could take steps to demand the author’s immediate and unconditional release. On 8 May 2015, TRIAL International submitted an individual petition concerning the author’s detention to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. On 3 September 2015, the Working Group rendered an opinion in favour of the author, finding the author’s arrests and detention to be arbitrary and determining that the violence that he had suffered at the premises of the National Intelligence Agency constituted torture. In its conclusions, the Working Group recommended that the Government of the State party take all the necessary measures to provide redress for the serious material and moral damage suffered by the author, including comprehensive compensation as defined in article 9 (5) of 3 4 5 4 This rule is contained in article 25 of Decree-Law No. 003-2003 of 11 January 2003 on the establishment and organization of the National Intelligence Agency. A copy of the medical report appears in the case file. These incidents include an occasion when, around one month after he had been released on bail, the author was arrested and threatened at his home by officers of the criminal investigation police acting under the orders of Colonel T. GE.21-09615