A/HRC/10/19 page 19 (i) First core human rights element: review of national legislation in accordance with the new Constitution and international obligations 89. The Special Rapporteur has recommended that the Government of Myanmar start reviewing and amending domestic laws that limit fundamental rights and contravene the new Constitution and international human rights standards. Myanmar, as a State Member of the United Nations that signed the Charter of the United Nations soon after the country gained independence in 1948, must honour its international human rights obligations, and cannot invoke provisions of its domestic law as justification for its failure to comply with them (article 27 of the Vienna Convention). 90. Any domestic law that limits the enjoyment of human rights should (a) be defined by law; (b) be imposed for one or more specific legitimate purposes; and (c) be necessary for one or more of these purposes in a democratic society, including proportionality. Any limitation that does not follow these requirements and jeopardizes the essence of the right with vague, broad and/or sweeping formulae would contravene the principle of legality and international human rights law. 91. In his report submitted to the General Assembly (A/63/341), the Special Rapporteur identified a number of legal provisions that do not fulfil the above-mentioned requirements, and recommended that the Government start a process of review and, at the same time, stop arrests and convictions under those legal provisions, namely, the State Protection Act (1975); the Emergency Provision Act (1950); the Printers and Publishers Act (1962); the Law Protecting the Peaceful and Systematic Transfer of State Responsibility and the Successful Performance of the Functions of the National Convention against Disturbance and Oppositions (No. 5) (1996); the Law Relating to the Forming of Organizations (1988); the Television and Video Law (1985); the Motion Pictures Law (1996); the Computer Science and Development Law (1996); the Unlawful Association Law; the Electronic Communication Law; and sections 143, 145, 152, 505, 505 (b) and 295 (A) of the Penal Code. 92. During the Special Rapporteur’s mission to Myanmar in February 2009, the Attorney General informed him that 380 domestic laws had been sent to the concerned ministries for review, to check compliance with international human rights standards and the provisions of the new Constitution. In the meantime, many people are still detained in Myanmar and many harsh sentences against prisoners of conscience have been issued under the above-mentioned domestic laws. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to give priority to the legal provisions listed above (see paragraph 91) when reviewing the 380 domestic laws to check compliance with the human rights provisions of the Constitution. (ii) Second core human rights element: progressive release of prisoners of conscience 93. At present, there are more than 2,100 prisoners of conscience detained in different prisons around Myanmar. A prisoner of conscience is a person who (a) is charged with or has been convicted for the infringement of national legislation, which impedes enjoyment of freedom of expression, opinion, peaceful assembly, association or any other human right; and (b) does not have access to a court, or is being tried by courts that lack independence