A/HRC/16/18 their right of return,5 and the recurring aggression and horrific massacres by Israel, have led to a large number of deaths and injuries, in addition to the grave destruction in the infrastructure, and the spread of 2 million Israeli cluster bombs in Lebanese lands. All this led to depriving the Lebanese citizens of their rights to life, housing and food. The United Nations described these aggressions as a flagrant violation of human rights.678 53. Slovakia acknowledged Lebanon’s efforts to improve the human rights situation. It welcomed a de facto moratorium on executions since 2004 and acknowledged the recent efforts towards the abolishment of the death penalty. Slovakia referred to concerns expressed by the UN bodies about the reported ill-treatment and practices of torture as well as about a low minimum age of criminal responsibility. It made recommendations. 54. Belgium remarked that the situation of human rights had progressively improved in the last five years. It regretted that the death penalty was still in force despite a moratorium and asked about the situation of the bill introduced to abolish the death penalty. Belgium remained concerned by the persistence of acts of torture as well as for the situation of refugees. It made recommendations. 55. The United States recognised measures taken by Lebanon to improve its human rights situation. It welcomed Lebanon’s efforts, including the intention to establish an independent national human rights institution. It remained concerned that Lebanese women were inequitably represented in the government and that refugees lacked basic rights to move freely within the country. It noted that some forms of torture were not criminalised. It expressed disappointment that the Lebanese report unfairly criticized Israel and referred to it in inappropriate language. It made recommendations. 56. Kuwait welcomed Lebanon’s achievements in protecting human rights in spite of the crises and repeated Israeli aggressions. Kuwait noted that Lebanon had made efforts to protect human rights by respecting the rights enshrined in its Constitution, in national legislation and in international instruments. Kuwait made recommendations. 57. Australia, while recognising the current moratorium on the use of the death penalty, was concerned that the death penalty remained in law. It remained also concerned by reports of a high number of working children. Australia called for the prompt passing of a new Family Violence Bill which would strengthen reporting on, and investigations of, incidents of family violence and increase protections for victims. It made recommendations. 58. The United Arab Emirates appreciated the Constitution’s provisions, which ensure respect for human rights and freedoms in line with international human rights instruments. It commended measures taken in the area of social, economic and cultural rights, in particular through the 2007 reform programme, which contained ambitious goals for 5 6 7 8 10 Israel noted that the issue under discussion at this meeting was the human rights situation in Lebanon and not the state of Israel. Therefore Israel requested that the comments of the Syrian representative just made be struck from the working group report. Israel reiterated its objection and stated that if the representative of Syria insisted on talking about occupation, they would be interested to learn about the Syrian occupation in Lebanon. The United States noted that the UPR was a mechanism to evaluate the human rights situations in given countries and that unfortunately the discussion had moved into a different direction. It took great issue with delegations using this forum to question the status of Israel or to bring any outside issues that were not relevant to the UPR of Lebanon, and requested that discussion follow along those lines. Lebanon also took the floor and noted that what was being discussed in terms of the impact of the Israeli aggression against Lebanon was closely related to the exercise of human rights in Lebanon in terms of the victims and killings resulting from this aggression. Therefore, those who would like to speak about the Israeli aggression should not be prevented from taking the floor.