CAT/C/BIH/CO/6 (d) Prompt, effective and impartial investigations are conducted into allegations of ill-treatment, reprisals and intimidations against victims and witnesses, and that the highest standard of protection is provided to witnesses and their families throughout criminal proceedings, including by extending the application of the 2014 Law on the Witness Protection Programme to all domestic courts. Redress for victims of war crimes, including sexual violence 18. While acknowledging the State party’s efforts to establish a national reparation mechanism since 2012, the Committee is seriously concerned at the prolonged delay in adopting the draft National Strategy on Transitional Justice, the draft Law on the Protection of Victims of Torture and Civil Victims of War and the Programme for Survivors of Conflict-related Sexual Violence. The Committee regrets that the absence of a national reparation mechanism forces victims of war crimes, especially survivors of war-time sexual violence, to go through complex and lengthy proceedings at the entity levels to obtain limited assistance, including social welfare benefits. The Committee is concerned at reports that certain provisions in the pre-draft Law on the Protection of Victims of War-time Torture of Republika Srpska potentially exclude many victims of non-Serb ethnicity from exercising their rights to compensation (art. 14). 19. The Committee, recalling its general comment No. 3 (2013) on the implementation of article 14 of the Convention, urges the State party to take all the necessary measures to enable victims of torture and ill-treatment, including victims of war-time sexual violence, to exercise their right to redress. In particular, it should take steps to: (a) Establish an effective reparation scheme at the national level to provide all forms of redress to victims of war crimes, including sexual violence, in particular by expediting the adoption of the draft National Strategy on Transitional Justice and the Programme for Survivors of Conflict-related Sexual Violence; (b) Develop and adopt a framework law that clearly defines criteria for obtaining the status of victims of war crimes, including sexual violence, and sets out the specific rights and entitlements guaranteed to victims throughout the State party; (c) Ensure that the authorities at the entity level remove restrictive and discriminatory provisions from their legislation and policies relating to redress for civilian victims of war, including survivors of war-time sexual violence; (d) Compile data, disaggregated by age, sex and ethnicity, on the number of victims in order to fully assess their needs and to provide holistic rehabilitation services to victims without discrimination on account of their place of residence. Ombudsman and establishment of a national preventive mechanism 20. The Committee, like Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, is concerned about the Ombudsman’s limited mandate for promoting human rights, the lack of independence resulting from the Parliamentary Assembly’s authority to appoint and dismiss the Ombudsman, and the insufficient funds following significant budget cuts. The Committee is also concerned at the prolonged delay in adopting amendments to the Law on the Ombudsperson for Human Rights and the failure to establish a national preventive mechanism. It regrets the lack of explanation by the State party about the extremely low number of staff assigned to the Department for the Protection of Detained and Imprisoned Persons (art. 2). 21. The State party should take all the necessary measures to: (a) Expedite the adoption of the draft amendments to the Law on the Ombudsperson for Human Rights; (b) Ensure that: (i) the Ombudsman has sufficient financial and human resources to fully carry out its mandate in an effective and independent manner, in full conformity with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles); (ii) the 5