A/HRC/38/7 10. Mali was a de facto abolitionist country and observed a moratorium on the death penalty. No executions had been carried out since the 1980s. The death sentences that had been handed down had been systematically commuted to life imprisonment. 11. Significant action had been taken to combat impunity, including the trial of several members of the military junta that had mounted a coup d’état in March 2012, the conviction by the International Criminal Court of Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi for war crimes in the north of Mali and the conviction by an assize court of Aliou Mahamane Touré, a former chief of the Islamic police, for serious human rights violations. Mali had also taken steps to prosecute members of the security forces implicated in human rights abuses and to support the establishment of an international commission of inquiry to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity, sex crimes and other serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The Ministry of Justice, for example, had launched investigations in the regions where human rights violations had been reported by organizations for the defence of human rights, and the Minister had instructed the public prosecution services in Bamako and Mopti to open investigations into accusations made in a number of published reports against the armed forces and the security forces. In addition, a special police unit accompanied each company deployed in areas of conflict. Those units, made up of appropriately trained gendarmes and criminal investigation officers, were responsible for ensuring respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. 12. The delegation stated that the Government had embarked on a reform of the security sector aimed at addressing the issues and challenges related to terrorism and transnational crime. In that connection, it referred to the Military Guidance and Planning Act and the Internal Security Planning Act. The Government had also intensified its efforts to train and equip the military and had established a judicial office and units specializing in combating terrorism and organized crime. Lastly, it had strengthened cooperation by the Armed Forces of Mali, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the forces of Operation Barkhane and the Group of Five for the Sahel in the fight against terrorism and transnational organized crime. 13. The lack of security had prevented many students in northern and central Mali from attending school. As a result, children from some communities had been transferred to other schools, and special examinations had been organized in the places where the children were located. Plans had also been made to take stronger security measures, in accordance with the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict. 14. Two bills on the rights of women and children were being drafted: the first concerned gender-based violence, while the second concerned child protection. The enactment of those two bills would remove discriminatory provisions from the Personal and Family Code and criminalize female genital mutilation and other forms of gender-based violence. 15. Considerable efforts had been made to combat the worst forms of child labour, including the use of children in armed conflict. Child members of armed groups had received assistance, for example, within the framework of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration activities, which were a critical component of both the immediate stabilization of Mali and its short-, medium- and long-term development. 16. Improved cooperation with international human rights mechanisms had been facilitated by the establishment of a committee to monitor the preparation of the national report for the universal periodic review in 2017. In addition, an interministerial committee had been set up in 2009 to support the preparation of initial and periodic reports on the implementation of the international treaties ratified by Mali. In addition, the Government’s programme of work for the first half of 2018 included plans for the establishment of a single mechanism for the preparation of reports and for follow-up to treaty body recommendations. The mechanism would work closely with the Directorate General for Human Rights, also to be established. 17. All those initiatives reflected the commitment of Mali to work for peace and national reconciliation while ensuring full respect for human rights. GE.18-06102 3