A/HRC/14/37 consultative meetings with the participation of the National Council for Human Rights and civil society organizations. 620. The delegation referred to several developments at the internal level. In May 2010, the Government had submitted to parliament a decision to extend the state of emergency because the antiterrorism law had not been completed. This time, the application of the law was exclusively limited to cases relating to terrorism, its funding and drug trafficking. The powers of the police were limited accordingly to fight these threats. This was a very important step before issuing the new antiterrorism bill. 621. To set the stage for the legislative elections, the Supreme Committee, an independent electoral committee, had taken all necessary measures to ensure the integrity of the elections. Measures had been taken to facilitate the monitoring of the elections by civil society. The elections of the Shura Council had also taken place in accordance with the regulations set out. 622. Numerous legislative initiatives relating to human rights had been undertaken, such as the law to combat trafficking in persons, enacted in April 2010. A law on the rights of persons with disabilities was also submitted to parliament. These initiatives were the implementation of voluntary pledges made by Egypt. 623. Regarding cooperation with human rights mechanisms, the delegation recalled the visit of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in April 2010. In addition, Egypt had submitted its periodic report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 624. The National Council for Human Rights submitted its sixth annual report, and the cabinet of Ministers had held a session to study all the recommendations made, asking each ministry to respond to the report. 625. Regarding the 25 pending recommendations, Egypt had accepted 21 of them, either partially or entirely. In reply to some queries it received from some delegations and from civil society organizations relating to recommendations 10, 11, 18, 19 and 22, Egypt partly accepted these recommendations, that is to say that it accepted part of them and rejected other parts, or it may have accepted the objective of the recommendation but could not abide by a specific form of implementation, as explained in the addendum to the report. 626. The recommendations that Egypt did not accept were not rejected in principle, but the way they were drafted had led to their rejection or non-acceptance in their entirety. This was the case of the recommendation calling on Egypt to accede to several human rights conventions at once, while Egypt was considering each convention on its own merits. Although Egypt agreed in principle, it was not in a position to accept that recommendation. Egypt could not accept a few recommendations that were not compatible with domestic law and the rejection of which did not contradict Egyptian international human rights obligations, such as the abolition of the death sentence, in accordance with the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 627. Egypt included detailed information in its addendum for all accepted or rejected recommendations. It accepted recommendations on numerous crucial issues, such as freedom of religion, freedom of expression, the withdrawal of reservations or enhancing cooperation with special procedures. 628. Egypt reiterated that the process of examining pending recommendations was a useful exercise. It valued the interactive dialogue and was keen to continue it with Member States, civil society organizations and national human rights institutions. 142 GE.12-17781