A/HRC/12/23 page 8 26. In addition, States parties may undertake any action or adopt any measure necessary to ensure full protection of children. The Committee on the Rights of the Child likewise encourages them to prohibit mere possession of child pornography. 27. Under article 3 (b) of International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182 (1999) concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances is included among the worst forms of child labour. 28. The Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (CETS No. 185), which entered into force in 2004 and is open for signature by member States and by non-member States which participated in its elaboration, and for accession by other non-member States, deals with crimes committed and information transmitted via computer networks. Article 9, paragraph 2 (a), of the Convention states that child pornography shall include pornographic material that visually depicts a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The same article defines the term “minor” as including all persons under 18 years of age (para. 3). 29. The term “sexually explicit conduct” covers not only images depicting children engaged in sexual activities with other children or with adults, or hard-core pornography, but also lewdly depicting naked children with an emphasis on sexualizing the child (soft-core pornography). 30. Pursuant to the Convention on Cybercrime, material that visually depicts “a person appearing to be a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct” (art. 9, para. 2 (b)) is likewise considered to be child pornography and, therefore, to be illegal. 31. Finally, the Convention on Cybercrime considers “realistic images” representing a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct (art. 9, para. 2 (c)) as also falling within the category of child pornography. The term realistic images means photographs prepared and manipulated using computer-based techniques with a view to replacing images of adults with images of children, a process known as “morphing”. Even if such images are artificially created they appear real and therefore have the same effect on the person viewing them. 32. The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201), adopted in 2007 at the 28th Conference of European Ministers of Justice, held in Lanzarote, Spain, but not yet in force, defines “child pornography” as any material that visually depicts a child engaged in real or simulated sexually explicit conduct or any depiction of a child’s sexual organs for primarily sexual purposes. The Convention also contains a provision prohibiting the solicitation of children for sexual purposes (also known as “grooming” using information technologies). C. Scope and forms 33. The significant resources allocated by certain States (often the most industrialized) in collaboration with NGOs and ISPs and, above all, international partners have provided data on child pornography on the Internet which, while not reflecting the full scale of the phenomenon,