A/HRC/10/29 452. Cercle de recherche sur les droits et les devoirs de la personne humaine noted the State’s rapid modernization, and welcomed the Government’s commitment to improving the human rights situation by sharing its experiences and seeking to draw on the best practices of the international community. It supported the recommendation made by Canada to uphold the freedom of expression of non-governmental organizations by amending the laws limiting it and repealing punitive sanctions. (d) Concluding remarks of the State under review 453. The delegation of the United Arab Emirates thanked the members of the Council for their appreciation as well as their criticism. All comments would help the State to improve further its human rights record, which had been commended by many speakers. Through the review, the State had gained more awareness about the importance of capacity-building and the involvement of civil society. With regard to the review mechanism, the United Arab Emirates noted that it was essential to build a credible and constructive process without merging human rights with pure political matters. 8. Israel 454. The review of Israel was held on 4 December 2008 in conformity with all the relevant provisions contained in Council resolution 5/1, and was based on the national report submitted by Israel in accordance with the annex to Council resolution 5/1, paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/3/ISR/1); the compilation prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/3/ISR/2); and the summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/3/ISR/3). 455. At the 29th meeting, on 19 March 2009, the Council considered the outcome of the review on Israel (see section C below). 456. The outcome of the review on Israel comprises the report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (A/HRC/10/76), the views of Israel concerning the recommendations and/or conclusions, its voluntary commitments and replies presented before the adoption of the outcome by the plenary to questions or issues that were not sufficiently addressed during the interactive dialogue in the Working Group. (a) Views expressed by the State under review on the recommendations and/or conclusions as well as on its voluntary commitments and on the outcome 457. The Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations at Geneva indicated that Israel took its participation in the universal periodic review very seriously, as an opportunity for genuine introspection and frank discussions within the Israeli system, despite their reservations about some aspects of the Council’s work. 458. Israel thanked all delegations that had engaged in the dialogue in good faith and had shared constructive comments, providing concrete suggestions and ideas. Israel had also appreciated the positive and supportive response received from numerous States throughout the process. 459. Israel had given careful consideration to the recommendations. Certain recommendations reflected the challenges that Israel had already identified and was in the process of addressing, while others highlighted aspects that would require more detailed consideration. 460. Israel agreed to adopt recommendation 14, regarding the investigation of allegations of violence and killings allegedly committed by the police. Israel also agreed to adopt recommendation 18 regarding the law on polygamy, and had recently reinstructed the Qaddi’s of the sharia courts to refer every suspected case of polygamy to the police. It had 158 GE.09-17451