A/HRC/13/3 relaunched and in August 2007, Congress passed Act No. 218-07, which established a three-year amnesty for late birth registrations for nationals under the age of 16. 9. The delegation explained that in April 2007, a birth registration system known as the Immigration Registry was established for children born in the Dominican Republic to nonresident women. In cases where the nationality of a newborn child or minor is unknown, the State confers Dominican nationality upon that person in accordance with the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 10. The delegation stressed that discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, gender, creed or age is not accepted in the Dominican Republic. The 1997 amended Criminal Code makes discrimination or attacks against another person a criminal offence. In addition, any person who feels that he or she has been discriminated against or that his or her rights have been violated has preferential access to the courts. 11. The Dominican Republic mentioned that women enjoy equal rights and privileges with men and that with a view to guaranteeing and strengthening these rights the principle of positive discrimination has been introduced in the political arena. To this end, it was established by law that at least one third of candidates for elective posts should be women. 12. With regard to the rights to public security, personal security and due process before the law, the State indicated that there have been no reports of political crimes or disappearances between 2003 and 2008. However, it regretted that during that same period, there were reports of private individuals' involvement in summary executions. There have also been reports of members of the police and armed forces physically abusing detainees. The Government has taken penal action to counter these abuses and to ensure that they are not repeated. 13. In 1997 a reform process was initiated with a view to guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary. Special emphasis has been placed on the training and human rights instruction of members of the armed forces and police corps. In addition, the new penitentiary model protects prisoners' dignity and prison facilities are being upgraded to reduce overcrowding. 14. The delegation indicated that the persistence of trafficking in persons and peoplesmuggling is of great concern. A series of measures was undertaken by the Government to combat this problem, including, among others, the establishment of the National Commission to Combat Human Trafficking and People-Smuggling, which has the task of developing a national strategy in this area. The delegation added that the Inter-Agency Commission to Combat Abuse and Sexual Exploitation for Commercial Purposes joins forces with the Public Prosecutor's office and the Special Prosecutor for Children and Youth in combating the sexual exploitation of adolescents in tourist areas. It also emphasized that trafficking in girls and women, particularly for purposes of sexual exploitation, is taken very seriously and that networks of traffickers operating in the country are pursued by a wide array of government and civil society organizations. 15. According to the delegation, there are an estimated 900,000 to 1.2 million illegal migrants in the Dominican Republic, mostly of Haitian nationality. The Government does not encourage, benefit from or remain indifferent to this illegal migratory flow, which has many consequences. A number of steps have been taken to regulate this flow, including the passage of Act No. 137-03 on human trafficking and migrant-smuggling and of Migration Act No. 285-04. 16. The delegation recognized that despite the fact that gender equality prevails in the Dominican Republic, problems such as domestic violence and violence targeting women persist. The Government has therefore adopted the National Gender Equity and Equality 4