A/HRC/44/6/Add.1 promotion and protection of human rights of certain groups such as the National Commission on Advancement of Women, Mothers-Children (NCAWMC), the National Committee for Persons with Disabilities and the Elderly, the National Steering Committee on Anti-Human Trafficking, and the National Assembly with its complaint mechanism. Recommendation No. 43 10. The Lao PDR cannot support it due to its unclear nature. Recommendation No. 44 11. The Lao PDR will maintain the existing mechanisms, namely, the National Committee on Human Rights to follow-up and report on the implementation of human rights Recommendations. Recommendation No. 46 12. Despite not having a comprehensive law on anti-discrimination, the Constitution and relevant laws prohibit any discrimination irrespective of their gender, ethnicity, religion or belief, and social strata. Most notably, such provisions are clearly stipulated in the Law on Gender Equality, Law on Education, Law on Medical Treatment, among others. Regarding the LGBTI, the reasons have been provided in para. 13 below. Recommendation No. 47 13. The Constitution of the Lao PDR stipulates that Lao citizens are equal before the law irrespective of their ethnicity and gender. Lao citizens, both men and women, enjoy equal rights in the political, economic, cultural, social and family spheres, including the rights to elect and to stand as a candidate at the elections, and the rights to participate in public affairs. Therefore, the Lao PDR cannot support the Recommendation No. 47 as the Lao laws do not acknowledge any other gender identity other than female and male. Recommendation No. 56 14. The Lao PDR does not have the plan to develop an action plan for implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights within the next 4 years. In the meantime, the Lao PDR will focus on strengthening the existing legal measures on the promotion and protection of human rights in relation to obligation of the private sectors, while also continuing to raise awareness on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for both government and private sectors. Recommendations No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68 and 69 15. The Lao PDR cannot support these recommendations as they are against the provisions of the Penal Code, which has newly been codified through extensive consultations, including the special debate and vote in the National Assembly specifically on maintaining the death penalty in the Penal Code. The decision to keep the death penalty as a result of majority vote in the National Assembly shall be respected and upheld. The remaining provisions of the Penal Code prescribe the death penalty in line with the article 6 of ICCPR. Recommendation No. 11 16. The Lao PDR is considering to ratify the ICPPED, however, the Lao PDR cannot support the rest of the recommendation due to the reasons as mentioned in para. 20 below. Recommendations No. 91, 94, 95, 96, 97, 104, 105, 106, 107 and 111 17. The freedom of expression is guaranteed by the national legal framework. The Government of the Lao PDR has made efforts to facilitate freedom of expression by creating conditions to promote and protect the freedom of speech, writing, peaceful assembly and association, which are in conformity with the article 19 of the ICCPR. 3