A/HRC/36/5 73. Jordan appreciated the State’s willingness to develop a national strategy to combat violence against women and to promote the rights of persons with disabilities and the steps taken to combat trafficking in persons. 74. Kenya commended Tunisia for its efforts to implement previous review recommendations. 75. Kuwait commended Tunisia for its efforts to promote political and democratic freedom. Kuwait appealed to the international community to assist Tunisia with its economic and social challenges in order to ensure the continued success of the transition to democracy. 76. Kyrgyzstan was pleased to note that the 2014 Constitution contained human rights norms. Kyrgyzstan welcomed the strengthening of the legislative and institutional framework. 77. Lebanon welcomed the adoption of the new Constitution, which established a democratic system. It applauded the pioneering role of women. 78. Libya noted progress in the implementation of recommendations from the previous review cycle and the adoption of the new Constitution, which enshrined the State’s attachment to human rights, dignity and constitutional justice. 79. Tunisia stated that it had signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, that it had established a mechanism for the prevention of torture and was investigating gross human rights violations. There had been a fall in the number of complaints. In 2013, around 492 cases had been reported, while by 2016, the number of complaints had fallen to 200. Approximately 53 of those 200 complaints had been referred to the courts. 80. As part of the process of implementing the recommendations from the previous universal periodic review cycle, the Ministry of Human Rights had organized a national meeting on the repeal of the death penalty, which led to the adoption of article 22 of the Constitution. The number of cases in which the death sentence had been handed down currently stood at 26, with 35 cases still pending appeal. However, Tunisia had not enforced the death penalty since 1991 and, in 2012, had supported General Assembly resolution 67/176 calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. 81. Article 23 of the Constitution stipulated that the State protected human life and condemned physical and psychological torture. That same article stipulated that it was not possible to arrest a person and hold them in custody for an act that did not fall under the provisions of a law or legal code. The Constitution also enshrined a statute of limitations for crimes related to torture. At the end of 2014, in order to ensure the implementation of those provisions, the Minister of Justice had issued guidelines on combating torture, with the cooperation of a Danish anti-torture centre. The Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was also used for human rights training in prisons. Civil society actors, with the authorization of the Ministry of Justice, could visit prisons and prisoners; in July 2015, the Government had signed a memorandum of understanding in that regard with the Tunisian Human Rights League. An agreement had also been signed allowing the Ministry of Women, Family Affairs and Childhood to visit convicted minors and the Government was also reviewing the Criminal Code to bring it in line with international standards, particularly with regard to establishing a definition of torture and further strengthening guarantees during the period of custody and arrest. 82. The Ministry of the Interior had passed a law abolishing its central unit for detention, in order to put an end to all secret detentions and all types of torture and mistreatment. The regional Red Cross committee in Tunisia, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the committee on fundamental freedoms, whenever they were notified and without prior authorization, could visit detention centres and meet detainees. They benefited in that regard from the legal regulations governing detention. Between 2011 and 2017, over 70 such visits had been registered. 7