A/HRC/11/37 291. Kazakhstan appreciated Bangladesh’s consultation with civil society in the preparation of the review and encouraged continued consultation in its follow-up and implementation. Kazakhstan would appreciate Bangladesh’s consideration of acceding to the core treaties to which it was not a party. It noted progress in the field of education, particularly for girls, and steps for improving the role of women in society. It stressed the need to further strengthen the national human rights commission. Kazakhstan expected the finalization of the national document on eradication of child labour and encouraged Bangladesh to address problems faced by children. 3. General comments made by other relevant stakeholders 292. The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, in a joint statement, welcomed the recent decision of the Government to establish tribunals for the trial of those responsible under the International Crimes Act of 1973. It expressed dismay that, despite the announced policy of “zero tolerance” of extrajudicial killings, such killings had allegedly continued without any substantive efforts to investigate or take appropriate action. It reported on cases of violence against women since January 2009. It urged the Government to make concrete, measurable and time-bound commitments to address these human rights violations, including investigations into ongoing and past human rights abuses, including war crimes, extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary detention, and cases of violence against women, minorities and indigenous people, and to provide adequate reparation to victims and families. A call was made for a road map for the repeal of discriminatory laws, with particular emphasis on those affecting religious minorities, workers and persons with disabilities, as well as juvenile justice and gender-based personal laws. It strongly urged the Government to take concrete steps for the full implementation of the peace accord in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. 293. The Asian Legal Resource Centre welcomed the attention given to the human rights situation in Bangladesh thanks to the universal periodic review process. It noted grave violations during the review period. Concerning recommendations 10, 20 and 26, the Centre said that Bangladesh had promised to address the culture of impunity. It challenged Bangladesh to produce evidence of cases in which State agents had been held responsible for torture or extrajudicial killings. Bangladesh should repeal the Joint Drive Indemnity Act of 2003 and article 46 of the Constitution, which provided blanket impunity to State agents involved in violations. Concerning recommendations 11 and 25 and despite claims that the judiciary had been separated from the executive, it noted that the Government had amended its code of criminal procedure of 1898 to allow “executive magistrates” to take control of any trial they deemed fit, which, in practice, was an obstruction to judicial independence. The Centre was deeply disappointed that Bangladesh had not accepted recommendation 12 and indicated that Bangladesh must ensure visits of three special rapporteurs, as a priority, and extend invitations to all other mandates. 294. Action Canada for Population and Development requested that Bangladesh incorporate into its law enforcement training programme issues of the transgender community. Acknowledging Bangladesh’s acceptance of recommendations 6 and 7 of the universal periodic review, it requested that the Government create a special gender and sexual minority cell within the national human rights commission. With regard to recommendation 18 on vulnerable groups, it called upon Bangladesh to regard men and women attracted to the same sex living in poverty, intersex, Hijra and Kothi as special groups and bring them into safety net packages. On recommendation 23 on the setting up of a national plan of action against sexual abuse, it requested that Bangladesh take into consideration the particular vulnerabilities of intersex and “effeminate” children, the violence they faced in schools and the traumatic effects this violence had on their lives. GE.09-16766 103