A/HRC/8/52 page 200 1. Views expressed by the State under review on the recommendations and/or conclusions as well as on its voluntary commitments 638. Gabon had ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on 20 September 2000 and had signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2007. The Convention was under consideration in Parliament with a view to its forthcoming ratification. In the same spirit, the Government had decided in the wake of the recommendations made by the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review to speed up the ratification of a number of instruments, including the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. A bill abolishing the death penalty had been submitted to Parliament for adoption in the near future. 639. With regard to the protection of minors, a number of criminal justice reforms were under way and a bill on the punishment of sexual violence had been adopted by the Inter-Ministerial Council and the State Council. The bill took into account the special situation of child victims of sexual violence and provided for a stiffening of existing penalties, particularly for rape. 640. A bill establishing a juvenile court system, which had been prepared with the assistance of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), had been submitted to Parliament, while a draft decree establishing educational facilities in prisons would soon be submitted to the Inter-Ministerial Council and the State Council. Once that text had been adopted the Government would launch an appeal for funding for juvenile detention and rehabilitation centres. Minors were currently detained in areas known as “juvenile quarters”. 641. Pursuant to article 177 of the Labour Code, Gabon had adopted Decree No. 0031/PR/MTEFP, on child labour, and Act No. 09/2004, on the prevention and combating of trafficking in children, with a view to ensuring the consistency of national legislation with the principles set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 642. In the area of women’s rights, the following activities had been undertaken: an Observatory for Women’s Rights and Equality had been established; day-care centres had been created to provide assistance to working child-mothers; a special prize for the promotion of women’s socio-economic activities had been established; and the State had been encouraged to develop a structure for the coordination of women’s organizations. Women had the same rights as men in Gabon. A Ministry of Women’s Affairs, which had subsequently become the Ministry for the Advancement of Women, had been created to deal with all questions relating specifically to women. 643. The highest authorities in the country had taken a number of initiatives aimed at making the Gabonese press free and diverse. One such initiative was the establishment, by means of Act No. 14/91 of 24 March 1992, of the National Communications Council, a regulatory body governing the broadcast media and the press in Gabon. A press code had also been prepared with the involvement of media professionals, including journalists’ unions.