A/HRC/23/9 Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. It had developed a national policy on human rights and child protection. In addition, a national children’s forum and a women’s forum were being established. Burundi had also set up an independent national electoral commission to thoroughly prepare for the 2015 elections. It had developed a strategic framework to promote growth and combat poverty, a national strategy for the socioeconomic reintegration of persons affected by conflict, and a national strategy to combat food insecurity. 8. The delegation recognized, however, that Burundi was facing some challenges and impediments to the fulfilment of its human rights obligations. 9. In the knowledge that the promotion and protection of human rights went hand in hand with development, Burundi had just adopted a new strategic framework to promote growth and combat poverty that focused on economic growth and job creation. 10. Burundi already had plenty of experience it could share with other nations, given the solutions it had found for the internecine conflicts that had lasted for decades and had crippled development. Thanks to the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi of 2000, the country had been able to exorcise the demons of division and ethnic hatred. Burundi had managed to train a new army and a national police force, which had received worldwide acclaim for their performance. 11. Burundi had established several national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, namely the Ombudsman, the National Independent Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) and the National Commission on Land and Other Properties. 12. With regard to civil and political rights, the new Criminal Code had, inter alia, abolished the death penalty, raised the age of criminal responsibility from 13 to 15 years and defined rape and torture as offences. The Code punished war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, which were not subject to statutory time limits or amnesty. 13. In addition, Burundi had developed a criminal policy document to serve as a guide for judicial officials when processing case files, so as to ensure respect for defendants’ rights with a view to creating a humane criminal justice system. 14. Burundi had taken several steps to ensure that judicial services were more accessible and more evenly distributed. A policy creating itinerant judges had been established to dispense community justice, and legal advice services were offered through the courts in order to respond quickly to gross human rights violations. In addition, “focal point” judges had been appointed in civil courts to monitor cases involving gender-based violence. 15. Burundi was a State based on the rule of law and was committed to creating an accessible, independent, efficient, gender-sensitive judicial system that ensured respect for human rights. A preparatory committee for the national consultations on justice had been established to determine how best to strengthen the independence of the judiciary. 16. Burundi had continued its efforts to reduce prison overcrowding by releasing prisoners on parole and granting presidential pardons. More than 7,000 prisoners, or more than 45 per cent of the prison population, had benefited from such acts of clemency. 17. A new Code of Criminal Procedure had been drafted; it had been adopted by the National Assembly and was currently before the Senate. One of the changes in the new Code was the introduction of community service as an alternative to imprisonment. The Government was also working through the prison administration to improve prison conditions: 7 out of 11 prisons had been renovated so as to separate children from adults and women from men. 4 GE.13-12565