A/HRC/8/37* Page 13 stakeholders. Peru has also designed social support programmes with considerable resources. The Crecer and Juntos projects are designed to fight extreme poverty and combat child exclusion. 49. Regarding supposed complications faced by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression who was not able to visit the country, Peru stressed that this information is simply not correct, noting that Peru did not impose any restrictions on the visit of the mandate holder. Peru has not placed any restrictions on any visit, adding that it has welcomed the visits of four special procedures in the last years. There is a request mentioned in the OHCHR compilation report in this regard, but neither the Ministry for Foreign Affairs nor the Permanent Mission has a record of this request. Peru stated that the Government is fully committed to freedom of expression and would welcome a request by this Special Rapporteur to visit the country, and is equally ready to accept requests for information. 50. Peru denied that NGOs were excluded from participating in the National Human Rights Council. It referred to the publication in the Official Gazette of Supreme Decree 008/2008 which modifies regulations, not to exclude NGO, but simply to permit Peru to design its own legal defence strategies when it has to answer to complaints of human rights violations, including those sponsored by NGOs. The State also has the right to design its own strategies. The published decree states that the National Human Rights Council maintains cooperation with the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, the Evangelical Council of Peru and other institutions with related objectives and functions, including the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos and others. Peru reiterated that the system is not exclusive, but rather inclusive. The Minister of Justice also referred to a recent message to this effect delivered during her press conference by a well-known human rights representative, Monsignor Luis Bambaren. 51. Regarding overcrowding and the health situation in the prisons, as well as trial delays, Peru referred to its discussion of these issues in the national report and in the introductory statement. Peru has recognized that the situation in the prisons is incompatible with the proper development of society, and referred again to the national plan for the development of the prison infrastructure. Regarding threats to journalists and rights of human rights defenders and witnesses to be protected, Peru emphatically denied that there is any link between threats and persecution against journalists. Rather, there is the greatest possible freedom of expression, and necessary safeguards are provided to such persons by the law and by specific governmental actions. Peru ended by stating its thanks for the other questions which it did not have the time to address, that some had been answered in the national report, and that it remained prepared to provide answers in writing. II. CONCLUSIONS AND/OR RECOMMENDATIONS 52. In the course of the discussion, the following recommendations were made to Peru: 1. To continue paying attention to promoting and protecting the human rights of vulnerable groups (Philippines), especially improving the situation of indigenous peoples (Algeria); 2. To consider applying the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as a guide to assist in policy development (Slovenia); 3. To ratify the second Optional Protocol to ICCPR (Portugal) to abolish death the penalty (United Kingdom) and to maintain the de facto moratorium on executions that has been in force since the 1970s (Italy, Philippines).