A/HRC/21/12 17. The Philippines has adopted a landmark domestic law to address crimes against international humanitarian law, genocide and other crimes against humanity. 18. The Philippines has also amended its Migrant Workers’ Act and Labour Code to better protect its Filipino migrants overseas and strengthen adherence of host governments to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and lift the restrictive provisions against night work for women. 19. There has been a general improvement in gender-sensitive handling of cases relating to violence against women and children. There are over 27,000 violence against women (VAW) desks in villages throughout the country, over and above the 1,868 women and children protection desks in police stations nationwide, staffed by 3,240 female police personnel. Women and children protection units in regional and district government hospitals are being upgraded to better serve victims of rape and domestic violence. The Supreme Court has trained over 2,000 judges and court personnel on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and gender sensitivity. 20. The Philippines has adopted its 2nd National Plan of Action for Children (20112016) and is implementing the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act of 2006 in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 21. The protection cluster of the Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council conducts rapid assessment and family tracing of separated, unaccompanied, missing, reintegrated or dead children, and provides child-friendly spaces, mental health and psycho-social support and debriefing activities in times of emergencies. 22. Concerted interagency actions have resulted in a dramatic decrease in reported incidents of extrajudicial killings and torture in the Philippines. Task Force Usig, a special unit under the Philippine National Police, along with independent stakeholders and international partners have independently verified that incidents of extrajudicial killings have clearly declined. 23. The Department of Justice has issued its Operational Guidelines on EvidenceGathering, Investigation and Case Build-Up for cases of political and media-related killings. The Philippines has also partnered with the international community in capacitybuilding and forensic training for prosecutors in evidence-gathering and case build-up, which has helped to increase the number of convictions in cases of extrajudicial killings. The European Union-Philippines Justice Support Programme is an example of such a partnership. 24. Human rights offices in both the Armed Forces and the National Police play an important role in fostering a culture of human rights in the security sector. Members of the security forces are regularly trained on human rights and international humanitarian law. These responsibilities are embodied in the Internal Peace and Security Plan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which was the product of multi-stakeholder consultations. 25. In order to enhance the exercise of the right to freedom of expression, the Philippine Supreme Court has adopted a policy whereby libel convictions should be punished only with a fine. There is also a pending bill to decriminalize libel. 26. In compliance with its obligations, the Philippines is in the process of constituting a multi-stakeholder national preventive mechanism, to be led by the independent Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines. 27. The Anti-Torture Act provides for the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines to investigate torture complaints and assist in the prosecution of these complaints. 5