A/HRC/34/4 10. In terms of accession to instruments and cooperation with regional and international mechanisms, Togo had concluded its ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, on 14 September 2016. 11. During the period under review, it had also become a party to the Convention against Discrimination in Education (2012) and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (2014). 12. In 2012 and 2013, it had submitted a number of initial and periodic reports to six treaty bodies. 13. Togo had received visits from the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2014, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in 2013 (second visit) and the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2014. 14. It had also received a visit from the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 2013 and submitted its initial report on the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance in 2016. 15. Furthermore, Togo had been elected to the Human Rights Council for 2016-2018 and would use that mandate to strengthen its human rights commitments. 16. In connection with the fight against torture, the modifications to the new 2015 Criminal Code included the removal of the statute of limitations for acts of torture and the alignment of the definition of torture with the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Following its ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, Togo had mandated the National Human Rights Commission to act as the national mechanism for the prevention of torture. The organic law had recently been reviewed to bring the Commission into line with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). 17. Capacity-strengthening workshops on combating torture had been organized for criminal investigators and prison and rehabilitation officers with support from the United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 18. Progress achieved in the area of governance and promotion of the rule of law included the reform of public finances and the fight against corruption. Togo had ratified a number of regional and international instruments in that connection and several new institutions had helped to reduce corruption. As a result, between 2011 and 2015, Togo had risen 36 places in the country rankings of the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. The establishment of the High Authority to Combat Corruption should enhance efforts in that area. 19. In the justice sector, the modernization programme for 2005-2012 had enabled the construction, renovation and fitting out of a number of courts of appeal and other courts, the introduction of a computerized system for issuing certificates of nationality, the establishment of the Judicial Careers Training Centre, the computerization of the commercial section of the court of appeal and the Lomé court of first instance, the provision of equipment for the forensic police, the dissemination of legal guides for citizens and detainees and the construction of a new civilian prison which met international standards. 20. In October 2015, Togo and the European Union had signed an agreement to fund a new programme to support the justice sector. 4 GE.16-23163