In June, the UN Human Rights Council established an independent international inquiry, which was opposed by the government, to investigate serious human rights violations in the Kasaï province. In July, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights announced the appointment of an international team of experts, which in September began investigating the incidents and is expected to issue its findings in June 2018. CONFLICT IN EASTERN DRC Chronic instability and conflict continued to contribute to grave human rights violations and abuses. In the Beni region, civilians were targeted and killed. On 7 October, 22 people were killed on the Mbau-Kamango road by unidentified armed men. Kidnappings increased in North Kivu; at least 100 cases were recorded in Goma city. In North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, dozens of armed groups and security forces continued to commit murder, rape, extortion, and to engage in illegal exploitation of natural resources. The conflict between the Hutu and Nande in North Kivu resulted in deaths, displacement and destruction, especially in the Rutshuru and Lubero areas. In the Tanganyika and Haut-Katanga provinces, communal violence between the Twa and the Luba continued. In Tanganyika the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) reached 500,000. Between January and September, over 5,700 Congolese fled to Zambia to escape the conflict. Despite the security situation, the authorities continued to close IDP camps around the town of Kalemie, forcing displaced people to return to their villages or to live in even worse conditions. DETENTION There was an unprecedented number of prison breakouts across the country; thousands escaped, and dozens died. On 17 May, an attack was carried out on Makala Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Centre, Kinshasa’s main prison. The attack, which the authorities blamed on the political group Amnesty International Report 2017/18 Bundu dia Congore, resulted in the escape of over 4,000 prisoners. On 11 June, 930 prisoners escaped from the Kangbayi central prison in Beni city, including dozens convicted a few months earlier for killing civilians in the Beni area. Hundreds of other detainees escaped from prisons and police detention centres in Bandundu-ville, Kasangulu, Kalemie, Matete (Kinshasa), Walikale, Dungu, Bukavu, Kabinda, Uvira, Bunia, Mwenga and Pweto. Prisons were overcrowded, and conditions remained dire, with inadequate food and drinking water, and poor health care. Dozens of prisoners died of starvation and disease. CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY In August, the Ministry of Mines validated a National Strategy to Combat Child Labour in Mining. National and international civil society groups were given the opportunity to provide feedback. The government announced that it would “progressively” implement many of their recommendations and eradicate child labour by 2025. DENMARK Kingdom of Denmark Head of state: Queen Margrethe II Head of government: Lars Løkke Rasmussen The government annulled an agreement with UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, to accept refugees for resettlement. The classification of transgender identities as a “mental disorder” was ended. REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS Denmark failed to accept any refugees for resettlement. The government annulled its standing agreement with UNHCR to receive 500 refugees annually for resettlement. From January 2018, the government, not Parliament, will decide each year if Denmark is to accept refugees for resettlement. Individuals granted subsidiary temporary protection status had to wait three years before being eligible to apply for family 147