A/HRC/19/2 before the adoption of the outcome by the plenary to questions or issues that were not sufficiently addressed during the interactive dialogue in the Working Group. 1. Views expressed by the State under review on the recommendations and/or conclusions, its voluntary commitments and the outcome 703. Zimbabwe recalled that a total of 177 recommendations had been made. Of the 177 recommendations, it had accepted 81, 65 did not receive its support and it undertook to consider 31 and provide responses thereto prior to or during the nineteenth session of the Human Rights Council. 704. Zimbabwe had had the opportunity to examine the recommendations and was pleased to report that, of the 65 recommendations that had not received its support, a total of 20 had been accepted, leaving the number of those that did not receive its support at 45. The recommendations that had not enjoyed the support of Zimbabwe but were subsequently accepted related to the Human Rights Commission, the criminalization of torture, the submission of periodic reports to treaty bodies, cooperation with the United Nations special procedures, the prevention of politically motivated violence and intimidation, the monitoring of places of detention, the ratification of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as equality between men and women, including parents and property rights. 705. Zimbabwe had also had the opportunity to examine 31 recommendations, which it had undertaken to consider and to provide responses. It was pleased to report that all the recommendations were then accepted except two. 706. The first recommendation that did not enjoy the support of Zimbabwe was to set a higher age of criminal responsibility for children and to take all necessary measures to establish a specialized juvenile justice system, where children were treated in accordance with the principle of the best interests of the child. Zimbabwe explained that the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act provided that children under the age of 7 lacked criminal capacity and should not be tried or convicted of any crime, while children between the ages of 7 and 14 were presumed to lack the capacity to form the intention to commit a crime. This recommendation did not enjoy the support of Zimbabwe because children under the age of 12 were committing such serious offences as rape. Nevertheless, Zimbabwe had in place a pretrial diversion programme for juvenile offenders and the victim-friendly court system. These ensured that the principle of the best interests of the child was observed. A legal assistance programme to provide children with all forms of legal assistance was in the process of being formulated. Moreover, the courts, when adjudicating on cases involving juveniles, took into account the fact that the principle of the best interests of the child was paramount. 707. The second recommendation that did not enjoy the support of Zimbabwe was to amend expeditiously the Births and Deaths Registration Act to ensure that all children born in Zimbabwe, regardless of their parents’ origin, were issued with birth certificates. Zimbabwe pointed out that there was no need to amend the Act as it sufficiently provided for the registration of the birth of every child born in Zimbabwe. Each child was issued with an appropriate birth certificate in accordance with his or her status. 708. Zimbabwe was fully committed to honouring its obligations with regard to the promotion and protection of human rights. Zimbabwe then confirmed that it was in line with that commitment that the accepted recommendations would be implemented. 709. Zimbabwe pointed out that recommendation 94.3 had been omitted in the addendum to the report of the Working Group. It did not support that recommendation. GE.13-14768 239

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