A/HRC/24/14 47. Myanmar commended development of internal human rights structures and continued strengthening of human rights institutions. 48. Namibia commended ratification of CRPD and signature of OP-CRC-SC. It noted the extension of the moratorium on the death penalty. 49. Nepal welcomed continued combating of human trafficking and efforts to ensure rights for families, children and women, the right to education and the rights of indigenous people. 50. The Netherlands raised the question of the LGBT community and legislation restricting freedoms of expression and assembly, and the issue of harassment of NGOs, journalists and human rights defenders. 51. Nicaragua noted legislative and institutional reforms and improved administration of justice. It welcomed the appointment of the Commissioner for the Rights of the Child and the National Action Plan for Children. 52. Nigeria commended progress made in promoting and protecting human rights. 53. Norway, while commending simplified procedures for registering political parties, expressed concern over human rights defenders and at laws on restricting NGOs, and on treason and extremism. 54. The delegation stated that the amendments made in June 2012 to the Federal Act on assemblies, rallies, demonstrations, marches and picketing increased responsibility for the violations committed in this sphere. Not a single provision set forth in this Act, however, would be comparatively stricter than measures provided for in similar laws of other countries. Some provisions of this Act would be subjected to additional clarifications further to the decision taken by the Constitutional Court in February 2013. For example, the minimum fines would be reduced and punishment in the form of mandatory work would be abolished. Some restrictions related to violations of public order, health and safety norms, and obstruction to movement of transport were consistent with the restrictions applied by other countries, and the validity of these restrictions has been confirmed by the Constitutional Court. 55. The “foreign agent” status of NGOs did not trigger any restrictions or sanctions for NGOs with this status. Sanctions could only be applied by the court and only when the provisions of the Act on the voluntary declaration of the “foreign agent” status were not being complied with. The purpose of introducing this status was to obtain information as to whether the organizations had foreign funding and had been involved in domestic politics. The delegation stated that the monitoring and checks which had been carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office had been among planned activities. 56. The Criminal Code ensures liability for obstructing the lawful professional activities of journalists either by preventing them from disseminating information or by forcing them to disclose sources. The sanction for a violation of this provision was increased in December 2011 to six years’ imprisonment. Criminal prosecution of journalists for their professional activities did not take place, but crimes against journalists and human rights activists unfortunately did occur. Crimes committed in relation to these persons’ professional activities were being dealt with by the Investigative Committee as a matter of priority. 57. With respect to the murder of Anna Politkoskaya, the delegation reported that one of the accomplices in the case had already been sentenced to long-term imprisonment. The murderers of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova had also been sentenced. An international arrest warrant had been issued for the alleged perpetrator of murder of Natalya 7