A/HRC/4/72 page 8 arrest of traffickers and allowed a number of children to return home. In 2004, Senegal and Mali adopted a cooperation agreement to address human trafficking. 23. The letter notes that Senegal traditionally had paid special attention to the protection of children and had signed and ratified the most important international conventions on human rights and the protection of vulnerable populations. On 29 April of this year, Senegal adopted a law amending the penal code, which already addressed the abduction of vulnerable persons. The new law establishes and defines certain crimes including the offence of trafficking in persons and the offence of exploiting the begging of another. The law further provides victims with social and legal assistance and protection, such as a project to combat the worst forms of child labour, which has been implemented throughout the country with the objective of preventing and reducing the exploitation of children. 24. On the subject of children in armed conflict, the Government of Senegal had arranged for a massive return of displaced persons, following the peace accords concerning the region of Casamance. The Government also has undertaken a vast reconstruction programme to facilitate the social reintegration of children. 25. In the letter it was further observed that the favourable environment necessary to implement Senegal’s undertakings in regional and universal conventions had been made possible by the engagement of the Government as well as civil society and the press. In his message to the nation in April 2005, the President of the Republic condemned all forms of economic exploitation of the child. 26. In a letter dated 2 December 2005, the Government of the Republic of Venezuela provided an overview of its legal regime governing the protection of children. The letter describes the 2000 Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (LOPNA) as unprecedented in its recognition of children as individuals and citizens with rights. Previously the law was based in the notion of the child as menor, reflecting a symbolic and legal handicap. To the contrary, the new law is based in respect for the development of the individual. Among other things, LOPNA guarantees the right of personal integrity, which establishes the equal responsibility of the State, the family and the community for the protection of children. 27. Article 32 of LOPNA defines the right of personal integrity as including physical, psychological and moral components. It requires the State, the family and the community to protect children from any form of exploitation, maltreatment, torture, abuse or neglect that affects personal integrity. It also requires the State to provide assistance to children who have been injured by an attack on their personal integrity. 28. The Government of Venezuela observes that proper identification of the individual is essential in the fight against abduction and trafficking of children. In this regard, LOPNA confirms the right to a name and a nationality, the right to be registered at birth and the right to documents of identification. The law contains several important provisions protecting the rights to know one’s parents, the right to be raised in a family, and the right to maintain a relationship and contact with one’s parents.