A/HRC/43/6 23. Madagascar congratulated the Gambia for its commitment to guaranteeing human rights by carrying out important constitutional reforms and encouraged it to continue with such efforts. 24. Maldives expressed appreciation for the constructive engagement with the review process and welcomed the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission. 25. Mali congratulated the Gambia for ratifying the Convention against Torture, as recommended by Mali during the previous review. 26. Mauritania welcomed the presentation of the national report and the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission. 27. Mauritius commended the Gambia for enacting the National Human Rights Commission Act of 2017 and for the major efforts undertaken to reform the judiciary. 28. Mexico acknowledged the progress achieved, including the enactment of the Children’s (Amendment) Act of 2016 that prohibited child marriage and established the minimum age for marriage as 18 years. 29. Montenegro encouraged the Gambia to further engage in the process of transitional justice, and expressed concern about restrictive legislation relating to freedom of expression. 30. Morocco expressed appreciation for the enactment of several legislative measures to implement recommendations from the previous review and measures to address delays in submitting reports to treaty bodies. 31. Mozambique noted the significant strides the Gambia had made in implementing the recommendations from the previous review, including by establishing the National Human Rights Commission. 32. Myanmar expressed regret that most of the international human rights conventions ratified or acceded to by the Gambia were yet to be enacted in domestic legislation. It was concerned that gender inequality remained a problem. 33. Namibia noted that the Gambia was party to nine core international human rights instruments and the Government’s pledge to progressively realize the rights and freedoms contained therein. 34. Nepal noted efforts made to empower women and to abolish the death penalty. 35. The Netherlands expressed concern about attacks on and arrests of journalists and about the high prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence. 36. The Niger noted legal and institutional reforms for the protection of human rights and the adoption of the national development plan for 2018–2021. 37. The delegation of the Gambia stated that since the installation of the current administration three years previously, progress in areas of civil and political rights had been remarkable, most visibly in the area of freedom of expression. In its 2019 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters without Borders had ranked the Gambia ninety-second in the world, an increase of 30 places from the previous year. Those rankings were a reflection of the reality on the ground. Within the past three years, there had been a proliferation of private radio stations, private newspapers, private television stations and political programmes. The education tax levied on media houses and media practitioners had been lifted and a self-regulatory independent media council had been established. No media practitioner or journalist had been arrested or prosecuted over the past three years. The Government had honoured the judgments of the Economic Community of West African States regional court and paid the damages to practitioners for abuses suffered under the previous Administration. 38. A draft media services bill and a draft freedom of information bill would be presented to the National Assembly for enactment by the end of 2019. 39. The Gambia had ratified the Convention against Torture in September 2018. A new criminal code criminalizing torture was expected to come into force by the end of 2019. The Government was also committed to ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. 4