A/HRC/15/60 existing capacity and international obligations of Belarus, which had followed the rationale of accepting a maximum number of recommendations with the expectation of receiving relevant assistance from international organizations. As a result, Belarus had accepted 75 recommendations of 93, which constituted 70 per cent of all recommendations made. 639. Belarus intended to develop an inter-agency plan of action for the implementation of accepted recommendations made during the review, which would give the Government the opportunity to expand its efforts to promote and protect human rights. 640. The delegation clarified its position regarding the recommendations that Belarus did not accept at this stage. The abolition of the death penalty did not fall within the competence of the Government, as the decision on the application of the death penalty sentences was adopted through national referendum, which, like in other counties, had the highest legal power. In addition, the abolition of the death penalty was not a requirement of international law. At the same time, the Government, following the trend in Europe to abolish the death penalty, continued its efforts to mould public opinion in favour of abolition and cooperated actively with international and regional organizations. An event on the abolition of the death penalty was organized in Minsk under the auspices of the Council of Europe during plenary session of the Human Rights Council, and was attended by representatives of the Government, parliament and civil society. 641. A recommendation was made that Belarus should ratify a number of international human rights treaties. In this respect, the delegation highlighted the fact that Belarus was party to almost all core international human rights treaties. Nevertheless, the Government intended to continue to adhere to the conventions, the provisions of which would complement and strengthen national legislation and could be implemented with available resources at the national level. As an example, the delegation mentioned the acceptance of the recommendation that Belarus accede to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The domestic procedure for accession to the Convention had been completed even before the report was approved by the Council. The issue of ratification of other instruments would be considered further at a later stage. 642. Belarus attached great importance to the issues of mass-media activities, democratic elections and freedom of association. National legislation was fully consistent with the international obligations of Belarus, in particular with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. A new media law, drafted with the consultative assistance of OSCE, entered into force in 2009 and was aimed at further strengthening media freedom. The electoral code of Belarus was amended in 2010 by taking into account OSCE recommendations to ensure more transparency in the electoral system and strengthen the guarantees of fair elections. It was still too early to draw any conclusions about the effectiveness of those laws. 643. The delegation considered insufficiently justified the proposal to revise legislation concerning non-governmental organizations. A total of 2,274 non-governmental organizations carried out their activities in Belarus, and 68 more organizations had been registered in the first half of 2010. These figures clearly proved that there were no legal obstacles to the registration and full functioning of non-governmental organizations in Belarus. The rate of development of civil society in Belarus was at least not slower than in other countries. 644. The recommendations made during the review that could not currently be accepted by Belarus would remain under the consideration of the Government during the next review. In this respect, the fact that a number of recommendations had been rejected did not mean that they would not be implemented. 178 GE.11-17043