CCPR/C/131/D/2772/2016 the Covenant. In addition, the Government was to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the violation of his rights with a view to determining responsibility and ensuring that any offence committed was punished. 6 2.16 Since then, the author has regularly followed up on the national procedures that have been initiated. On 30 October 2015, he sent a letter to the National Human Rights Commission requesting it to take action in respect of his case so that he might obtain justice and reparation. With regard to the criminal proceedings pending before the District Court, D.C. has employed a series of “delaying tactics” to prevent the author from being tried within a reasonable period of time or released unconditionally. Despite the author’s diligence and insistence, the slowness of the judicial proceedings is preventing the private prosecution brought against D.C. and H.K. from following its normal course. The financial situation of the author and his family remains extremely precarious. The family is struggling to survive on the money that it makes from its small business selling flour and manioc. 2.17 Lastly, the author states that: (a) all available measures have been taken to exhaust domestic remedies; (b) these remedies have been unreasonably prolonged, since an investigation into the allegations of torture made against an officer of the National Intelligence Agency in December 2014 and set out in his complaint to Bukavu general prosecution service was not opened until after he had submitted a complaint to Bukavu Tribunal de Grande Instance on 27 February 2015, and since he was released on bail only after having submitted three requests and having spent six months in detention, despite the clear substantive and procedural errors made in the course of his arrest and detention; (c) the remedies have proven to be ineffective, as no action was taken to follow up on his first criminal complaint, submitted in December 2014, and the private prosecution has stalled at first instance because the preliminary objections are still being considered almost 12 months after they were first raised; and (d) it is dangerous for the author to make use of domestic remedies in view of the acts of intimidation and threats that prompted him and his family to move out of their neighbourhood in August 2015. The complaint 3.1 The author claims a violation by the State party of articles 7, 9 and 10, read alone and in conjunction with article 2 (3), and articles 14 (3) (b) and (g), 17 and 23 of the Covenant. 3.2 Firstly, the author was subjected to extremely severe ill-treatment that caused him great suffering and that continues to affect his health to this day. These acts of torture were committed by H.K., an officer of the National Intelligence Agency, with a view to extracting confessions from the author during his arbitrary detention at the Agency’s premises from 17 December 2014 to 14 January 2015, in violation of article 7 of the Covenant. 3.3 Secondly, the author asserts that he was held in poor conditions for the duration of his detention from 17 December 2014 to 6 June 2015. These conditions, which included his being held in solitary confinement for a long period, being forced to occupy a tiny cell at the premises of the National Intelligence Agency in which he was unable to move and had to remain in the same position at all times, being denied contact with his family and lawyer, being denied medical assistance, and having threats made against him, undermined the author’s dignity and physical and moral integrity, and constitute a violation of articles 7 and 10 of the Covenant. 3.4 Despite the author’s having, on numerous occasions, reported acts of torture and illtreatment to various authorities (firstly, the authorities of the National Intelligence Agency; secondly, the authorities of Bukavu central prison; and lastly, the courts, to which he has submitted two criminal complaints and several requests for release on bail) no investigation was initiated until March 2015, approximately three months after he made his first allegations. Despite the author’s efforts, the legal proceedings initiated remain stalled at first instance and no significant investigative measures have yet been taken. Indeed, the Congolese authorities have held up the proceedings by failing to respect the legal deadlines and not punishing the defendants for their delaying tactics. The author considers that the State party has failed to 6 GE.21-09615 See A/HRC/WGAD/2015/25. 5