A/HRC/11/37 that the independence of the judiciary was guaranteed by the Constitution, but that the composition of the High Judicial Council made it dependent on the executive branch and gave a political content to some judicial cases. Senegal should therefore pay attention to the recommendation made in that regard. 504. Cercle de recherche sur les droits et les devoirs de la personne humaine expressed its full support for the follow-up to the recommendations. It highlighted the fact that the President of Senegal was devoted to human rights and development in Africa. It also referred to the fact that the first President of Cameroon was buried in Senegal and the question of repatriation of his remains had led to much ill feeling in Cameroon and at the international level. It asked for more information on this issue. 505. Comité international pour le respect et l’application de la Charte africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples noted the strong institutional support for young people and to better protect women, children, the disabled and migrant workers. It welcomed Senegal’s efforts to promote freedom of association and expression, the decriminalization of press offences and the coexistence and dialogue between religions. It indicated that recent initiatives to strengthen the independence of the judiciary, the reworking of academic programmes to include education in human rights and on the fight against HIV/AIDS all showed that Senegal was taking action in human rights. 506. Action internationale pour la paix et le développement dans la région des grands lacs noted that Senegal had accepted many recommendations, including those relating to the human rights of migrants, arbitrary detention, trafficking (especially in women and children), the situation of human rights defenders, the independence of judges and the abrogation of article 80 of the penal code. It also pointed out that Senegal had been very responsible in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, namely through the improvement of the school attendance rate in primary education, the national programme for the youngest, universal access to health services for the entire population and the plan for the elderly ensuring access to certain medications free of charge. 507. Espace Afrique International stressed Senegal’s outstanding efforts in the education of girls. It noted that Senegal invested 40 per cent of its annual budget in education and this allowed the participation of citizens in all development activities. It noted the innovative and promising programmes in terms of good education accessible to all, especially to the most vulnerable. It further noted the establishment of many primary and secondary institutions and that higher education was improved, with many regional centres linked to world centres of excellence, which allowed for remote learning. It indicated that télémédecine allowed Senegal to combat maternal and infant mortality. 4. Concluding remarks of the State under review 508. Senegal thanked the delegations for their observations and recalled that Senegal had met with members of civil society before coming to the plenary session. 509. Senegal recalled its commitments to fight impunity and that it was the first country to ratify the International Criminal Court statutes. The financial arrangements were being processed in order to complete the budget and to begin the trial of the former President of Chad, Hissène Habré. 510. With regard to freedom of expression, Senegal recalled its strong commitment to guarantee this freedom and that no journalists or any other persons were currently deprived of liberty for having expressed his or her convictions. The only limitations to this freedom were posed by the freedom of others and of public security. 511. Concerning female genital mutilation, some individuals had recently been sentenced in that regard despite public opposition, in addition to sensitization activities. This should GE.09-16766 135