A/HRC/19/7 years for middle-rank officers of the Police Service to participate in regional training programmes on the relationship between human rights and policing. 17. Trinidad and Tobago then recalled that section 4 (a) of the Constitution recognized the right of the individual to life, liberty and the security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except by due process of law. It added that Trinidad and Tobago, which retained the death penalty as part of its domestic legal system, was of the view that the application of the death penalty was a matter of criminal justice. 18. It was noted further that implementation of the death penalty had been in abeyance since 1999. The Government was currently reviewing its laws with respect to the death penalty and recently piloted the Constitutional (Amendment) (Capital Offences) Bill, 2011, to create three categories of murder limiting the death penalty to the most heinous crimes with life imprisonment as an alternative punishment. That legislation was defeated in the Parliament. 19. Trinidad and Tobago stated that the Government was mindful that support existed for the retention of the death penalty and that, given the alarming murder statistics, the timing was not optimal for its repeal. It was further noted that the Government was also obliged to take into account the ruling of the Privy Council in the judgment of Charles Mathew v. The State 2004, which determined that the sentence of death for murder in Trinidad and Tobago was mandatory and not discretionary. It was indicated that a vibrant debate persisted within the national community on the issue to which Government must be sensitive. 20. Trinidad and Tobago explained that various policy mechanisms were in place to protect and promote the rights of prisoners. The Penal Reform and Transformation Unit was established in 2002 to review the penal system. Since then, further reforms towards a system of restorative justice had been implemented. It was also noted that the treatment of prisoners was based on the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Moreover, initiatives were under way to update these standards. Strategies had also been adopted to meet the needs of incarcerated parents in order to ensure that relationships with their children were maintained. 21. Trinidad and Tobago then indicated that, with a view to protecting the human rights of victims of human trafficking, illegal immigrants, undocumented workers, asylumseekers and refugee claimants, the State had established in November 2009 the Immigration Detention Centre. 22. Trinidad and Tobago addressed the social aspect of human rights promotion and protection. Regarding poverty reduction as it related to women, the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development had developed the “Women in Harmony” and the “Nontraditional Skills Training” programmes to improve the status of unskilled women who headed households as single parents. 23. It was added that the State recognized that more needed to be done to achieve gender equality and sensitivity throughout the society. Trinidad and Tobago highlighted that the coming to office of the Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar as the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago telescoped important messages to the society about the multivariate contribution that women can make to the development of Trinidad and Tobago. The Prime Minister recently announced the adoption of a gender-sensitive formula for the allocation of financial resources in the budget for fiscal 2011/12. 24. Moreover, the Gender Equity Institute had also been established with responsibility for the implementation of programmes and projects to advance gender equity and promote the elimination of discrimination. 5