A/HRC/21/16 Constitution. The Government had been very open and had engaged with the media and with civil society. The draft bill was currently before Parliament. 117. The Government was committed to combating any discrimination or violence against persons on the basis of sexual orientation and had pronounced itself accordingly. The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development has established a task team to develop a national intervention strategy on those crimes through, among others, research and policy development. The Government had adopted measures that focused, inter alia, on the prevention, combating and punishment of sexual violence against women and children. Those included support for the victims through the establishment of victim-friendly facilities. Additionally, the Government was considering re-establishing sexual-offences courts. 118. With regard to questions raised on fighting crime in rural areas, it was reiterated that crime had decreased in the fiscal year 2010/11. Contact crimes, which included serious offences such as murder, rape and assault, had decreased by 6.9 per cent. Furthermore, in 2010 the Rural Safety Strategy had been launched; it involved the various actors concerned in addressing contact crimes, such as farm killings and others. Regarding allegations that some police officials had accepted bribes from rape suspects, South Africa responded that the Government took such allegations very seriously and, when they were reported, criminal and administrative proceedings were immediately instituted. The community was also continuously encouraged to report such action. 119. South Africa indicated that the Government was developing a comprehensive immigration policy by reviewing its existing legislation, systems and processes. Research had been undertaken to identify best international practices and adapt them to the South African situation, and a draft policy document had been developed. In June 2012 the department would undertake a programme of consultation and advocacy with key stakeholders, which would culminate in an amendment of the Immigration and Refugee Acts by the end of March 2013. The policy would be in line with the South African Constitution, which was founded on the principles of self-determination, nondiscrimination and human rights. The policy would also take into consideration all the recommendations made by various United Nations human rights treaty monitoring bodies and international humanitarian law agencies. The Government remained committed to the ratification of all outstanding international human rights and humanitarian law instruments. In terms of concerns raised about the application of the principle of non-refoulement, the current Refugees Act incorporated that principle and it was complied with by the Government. 120. On issues relating to health, South Africa informed the Human Rights Council that a number of interventions had been introduced to decrease maternal and child mortality, which it acknowledged was unacceptably high. Both maternal and child mortality were related to the generalized HIV epidemic that the country had faced since the early 1990s. It was indicated, however, that some gains had been made in reducing these rates. South Africa referred to a recent World Health Organization-Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and World Bank report that indicated that maternal mortality had been reduced by about 6 per cent in the previous five years. With respect to reducing HIV/AIDS, a fiveyear national strategy was being implemented and an accelerated plan to prevent mother-tochild transmission was also under way. The plan had already resulted in a significant decrease in the transmission of HIV from mothers to children between 2008 and 2010. Information on treatment thresholds for HIV-positive women and children and initiatives to reduce maternal and child mortality was also provided. 121. With regard to questions on corporal punishment, South Africa clarified that the courts had outlawed corporal punishment as an infringement of the right to be free from inhuman treatment or punishment. Additionally, legislation was subsequently adopted in 14