A/HRC/34/7 included an element of racial discrimination. Violations by the media of the prohibition against racial discrimination were also subject to investigation and prosecution. 90. The public authorities had designated a hate crime officer. Details were provided of the programmes and projects being implemented in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights against hate crimes, including for training on investigations and data collection. The Ministry of Education was working on reducing online hate speech. Reference was made to the important work of the Icelandic Safer Internet Centre. 91. One of the first tasks of the new interministerial human rights steering committee would be to examine the implications of ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, before a formal decision was taken. 92. Iceland was preparing to ratify the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The new Act on Foreigners had been drafted with the help of UNHCR. There was a legislative proposal to amend the citizenship act, which, if adopted, would make way for ratification of the 1954 Convention. 93. Iceland was also preparing to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. The delegation stated that, as domestic law was already in compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, there was no need for that Convention to be incorporated as a whole into domestic law. 94. Slovenia acknowledged the high human rights standards in Iceland and welcomed comprehensive information and activities on human rights education. Slovenia commended Iceland for its achievements and leading role on gender equality and women’s rights. Slovenia noted that Iceland had not yet ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. 95. Spain welcomed the commitments of Iceland on gender equality and the rights of women, including those in the future national action plan for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security. Spain also noted the recent ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 96. The State of Palestine welcomed the efforts made by Iceland to combat and address discrimination and racism, including by preparing legislative proposals on antidiscrimination. It welcomed the positive steps taken to improve education, especially through the white paper on education reform. 97. The Sudan commended the judicial reforms, in particular the adoption of legislation in 2016 to establish a court of third instance in the court system, for appeals, to enable a second hearing of the statements of witnesses and defendants. The Sudan commended the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the core conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO). 98. Sweden welcomed the recent ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, while noting civil society criticism that proposed national legislation did not live up to the Convention. Sweden appreciated the importance of raising public awareness on domestic violence but noted that only a few suspected offenders had been prosecuted since the review in 2011 and relatively lenient sentences had been passed. 12