A/HRC/11/37 472. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies welcomed the fact that Saudi Arabia had accepted most of the recommendations. It urged the State to ratify international human rights instruments, modify its legislation so as to conform to human rights standards and allow access to all special rapporteurs with pending requests for a visit. The State should abolish all legislation, measures and practices that view women as second-class citizens, enact legislation that criminalizes violence against women and withdraw its two reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Institute highlighted its concern about religious freedom in the country and discrimination against the Shiite minority. It asked the State to cease all types of corporal and inhumane punishment. 473. Amnesty International welcomed the fact that Saudi Arabia had accepted most of the recommendations. It highlighted, however, the Government’s decision to reject a number of recommendations, particularly those related to the death penalty, which is used against juvenile offenders for offences with no lethal consequences and against foreign nationals. It stated that the death penalty is applied after secret and summary trials of defendants with no legal assistance. Amnesty International called on Saudi Arabia to reconsider recommendations to establish a moratorium on all executions. It also noted that thousands of people arrested on counter-terrorism grounds were currently being held in secret detention, most without charge or trial and without access to a lawyer or to the courts. Many had allegedly been tortured or otherwise ill-treated in order to extract confessions. 474. The Arab Commission for Human Rights welcomed the acceptance of recommendations 1, 2 and 3 concerning the issue of ratification of a number of international instruments, in particular the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, and recommended the establishment of a national mechanism for prison visits and the prevention of torture. It also welcomed the acceptance of recommendation 23 on the minimum age and legal safeguards regarding corporal punishment. The Commission expressed concern at claims regarding the death penalty, and requested that all international commitments and conventions in this regard be respected. It invited the State to avoid special trials, and called upon it to send a standing invitation to special rapporteurs and to invite the High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit the country. 475. Action internationale pour la paix et le développement dans la région des Grands Lacs welcomed the efforts of Saudi Arabia to promote education and the protection of young people, establish mechanisms to combat violence in the family, and apply the law to people with disabilities. It noted the progress in promoting freedom of expression and opinion, the adoption of the law on governance, the law on the Choura advisory council, the law on criminal procedures, and the rights of children, women and migrant workers. It added that the selectivity and partiality of the International Criminal Court might explain the non-ratification of the Rome Statute by Saudi Arabia. It commended the State for the freedom of religion guaranteed to non-Muslims and the elaboration of a peace plan, backed by the Arab League, with a view to negotiating a solution to the Middle-East problem. It welcomed the commitments of Saudi Arabia to the Millennium Development Goals to assist developing countries by donating $500 million. 476. The Indian Council of South America, in a joint statement with the International Human Rights Association of American Minorities, Cercle de recherche sur les droits et les devoirs de la personne humaine, the Charitable Institute for Protecting Social Victims, the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence and Organisation pour la communication en Afrique et de promotion de la coopération économique internationale, noted the generous contributions of Saudi Arabia to developing countries and to people in need. It called on the Government to continue working towards more high-level appointments of women, and to step-up the process to allow women to realize the extent of their rights in order to overcome confusion between true Islamic sharia, customs and traditions and 130 GE.09-16766