A/HRC/14/11 promote gender recommendations. equality, equal treatment and non-discrimination. It made 43. Iran commended Angola’s valuable efforts and commitments in the promotion and protection of human rights at the national level, which included achievements in the realization and enhancement of economic, social and cultural rights, the establishment of the Judicial Reform Commission and of a series of legal reforms regarding the judiciary and the prison system, and the significant improvements in terms of the right to life, liberty and security since the end of the conflict in 2002. Iran made recommendations. 44. Responding to the points raised by certain delegations, the Angolan delegation noted that most had made relevant recommendations. It reiterated Angola’s commitment since the end of the war to promoting human rights, and drew attention to the adoption of the new Constitution, which had marked the end of the transitional period under way since 1992. 45. Considerable economic progress had also been made, which had made it possible to guarantee a number of social rights, in particular in the fields of education and health. As for the rights of the child, women’s rights, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, housing and land-use rights, subjects raised by Brazil, the Angolan delegation referred to the information on page 10 of its report. 46. Brazil’s recommendation that Angola should accede to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and its Optional Protocol and the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, would be given due consideration. 47. The death penalty had been abolished in Angola in 1991. 48. A law ensured freedom of the press; the press was free in Angola. There were several newspapers and radio stations, and the law must be observed by all. The law on freedom of expression must not serve as a pretext for violating the law. 49. In Angola there was freedom of religion, and citizens were able to freely practise their beliefs. 50. There was no more arbitrary detention in Angola. In certain specific cases, the law made provision for pretrial detention to make it possible to carry out investigations. 51. As for the rights of the child, children were protected by the law. The issue of children involved in “witchcraft” was extremely complex, as it related to accusations made by communities against children in those same communities. The Government had responded by establishing a national commission involving various participants, including the populations concerned. 52. Regarding intimidation of journalists and human rights defenders, the Government was not involved in such practices. In the past, journalists had sometimes been prosecuted for writing articles offensive to a number of persons. 53. As for persons expelled from Angola, in September and October 2009 there had been some incidents between Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo involving Congolese citizens who had been illegally mining diamonds in a region of Angola, some of whom had been armed. Such illegal mining of diamonds could give rise to serious incidents and even conflicts, as had occurred in the past in a number of West African countries. It had thus been necessary to expel such persons, and the number expelled had reached 60,000. That had not been the first time there had been expulsions; some 300,000 had previously been expelled. Angolan citizens living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo too had been expelled. The issue was currently being addressed bilaterally by the Democratic 8 GE.10-12527