A/HRC/13/3 to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Spain asked whether the Government planned to broaden the campaign of gender equality and whether it would take measures in cases of abuses perpetrated by security forces. Spain made recommendations. 42. France inquired about the measures that the authorities intended to take to cope with the increasing incidents of arbitrary detention, summary executions and the use of excessive force by law enforcement officials as well as the impunity they seemed to benefit from. While acknowledging the significant progress made in the area of the rights of women, France added that domestic violence was still at a very alarming level and the units of fighting violence against women seemed not to be very effective due to the lack of receptivity of the police officers on this subject. Under those circumstances, what additional measures did the authorities intend to take to guarantee full respect of the rights of women? Referring to more than a million Haitian citizens living in the Dominican Republic without documentation, which made them particularly vulnerable and exposed them to many forms of exploitation, France was very pleased that the Dominican Government had announced in June 2009 the launching of a broad plan to regularize them by providing them with resident permits and work permits. What stage had been reached in the implementation of this plan? France made recommendations. 43. The Netherlands welcomed the introduction of a zero tolerance policy, the investigations of human rights abuses and violations and the human rights training provided to the police force. , The Netherlands underlined the rate of women’s death caused by gender-based violence, despite the efforts of the Government to promote women’s rights It also raised concerns about maternal death and enquired about existing measures to treat post-abortion complications, and guarantees for the non-prosecution of women. The Netherlands finally noted the positive response of the State to requests for invitations to mandate-holders. The Netherlands made recommendations. 44. Mexico recognized the efforts undertaken by the Government in the area of human rights. It noted the important legal efforts in the areas of gender equality, improvement of the penitentiary system and combating corruption, trafficking and smuggling of persons. Mexico welcomed the Government’s willingness to work with the special procedures of the Human Rights Council by responding positively to their requests for visits. Mexico made recommendations. 45. The Dominican Republic thanked all delegations for their statements and the questions raised, as well as for the recognition of the efforts made by the Dominican Republic not only in the preparation of the national report, but also in specific areas. Without denying the difficulties and obstacles, the universal periodic review is intended to help States address them. 46. The delegation reiterated that the Dominican Republic is working towards the aim of ratifying CAT and ICRMW. 47. On the issue of visits by international human rights mechanisms to the country, the Dominican Republic remains open to receiving visits by all international human rights mechanisms. The delegation indicated that these visits are extremely beneficial; since these can help them focus attention on issues they might have difficulty addressing. 48. On the issue of migrant workers, the delegation noted that the Dominican Republic is both a sending and a receiving country. Regarding migrant Haitian workers specifically, the delegation wished to put the question in perspective, noting that the Dominican Republic and Haiti are the only case of two sovereign States sharing one island. The economic trends in the last few decades have led to a situation where the two States have the same population, but the Dominican Republic has a larger territory. In addition, whereas both are developing countries, the Dominican Republic is already a mediumincome country, while Haiti is a least developed country. The Dominican Republic 8