A/HRC/19/16 18. The delegation stated that articles 24 and 25 of the Constitution guaranteed protection from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Uganda was in the process of domesticating the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) through the enactment of the AntiTorture Bill. The Bill sought, inter alia, to hold those who torture individually liable for their acts. In the event of excessive use of force, the aggrieved persons would be entitled to remedies by the Uganda Human Rights Commission and courts of law. 19. Article 59 of the Constitution guaranteed Ugandan citizens 18 years and older the right to vote. Article 61 provided for the holding of regular, free and fair elections. In line with that provision, Uganda had held Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Council elections in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011. Over time, the management of the electoral process had improved, with the 2011 general elections widely acknowledged as more peaceful in relation to the past. 20. Article 30 of the Constitution guaranteed all persons the right to education. Furthermore, article XVIII of the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy mandated the State to promote free and compulsory basic education, and to take appropriate measures to afford every citizen equal opportunity to attain the highest educational standard possible. Parliament had enacted several laws to operationalize those Constitutional provisions. The Government had introduced free universal primary education in 1997 and universal secondary education in 2007. 21. The share of the national budget allocated to education had been increasing; i.e., from 13.7 per cent (1990) to 24.7 per cent (2008). In the 2010/2011 budget, funds for the education sector had increased to 1.13 trillion Ugandan shillings, up from 1 trillion in 2009. 22. The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development handled, inter alia, genderrelated issues. Article 33 of the Constitution guaranteed the rights of women. The Domestic Violence Act 2010 was aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence and punishing perpetrators. To curb the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), Parliament passed the Prevention of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2009. It criminalized the practice of FGM, provided for the prosecution of offenders and sought to protect victims. Consultations were ongoing on the Marriage and Divorce Bill. The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2010 comprehensively addressed human trafficking. 23. The National Women‟s Council promoted the role of women in national development. The National Development Plan outlined measures to mainstream gender issues in all aspects of development. The National Action Plan on Women had been adopted to promote gender mainstreaming in all development plans and programmes. 24. The delegation emphasized the Government‟s commitment to strengthening the legal and institutional framework to fight corruption. The legal framework comprised the Anti-Corruption Act and the Leadership Code. The institutional framework included the Anti-Corruption Court, the Inspectorate of Government, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions and the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament. Those were aimed at strengthening the investigative and prosecutorial functions. 25. Article 31, paragraph 2 (a), of the Constitution prohibited marriage between persons of the same sex. Sections 145 and 146 of the Penal Code prohibited same-sex relations. While the Constitution, under chapter four, guaranteed the rights of all persons, the promotion and protection of human rights must be carried out within the social and cultural context. Such practices remained a matter of private choice. 26. Challenges existed regarding capacity-building, mainstreaming of human rights issues in all aspects of governance, poverty, public awareness of human rights issues, corruption, infrastructural development and climate change. 5