A/HRC/18/3 57. Uzbekistan recalled the treaty bodies’ concerns over discrimination against women and gender inequalities, notably relating to female migrants and women belonging to minorities. It also mentioned the lack of provisions criminalizing organisations promoting racial discrimination and the spread of Islamophobia in the press and by political parties. Uzbekistan referred to the draft proposal to prohibit neo-Nazi demonstrations. Uzbekistan made recommendations. 58. Japan commended Belgium for its active commitment to human rights promotion and expected that it would continue to implement measures in accordance with its international obligations. Japan welcomed Belgium’s efforts on gender equality but expressed concerns over persistent unequal treatment. Japan welcomed the steps being taken to address racial discrimination but echoed concerns by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Japan made recommendations. 59. Brazil expressed concern over the persistence of hate speech and the resurgence of racist acts. It noted that differences between men and women persisted, particularly in the labour market. Brazil also noted that domestic violence persists and that comprehensive legislation in this regard has not yet been adopted. It encouraged Belgium to pursue action to raise awareness of its past shared with Africa. Brazil made recommendations. 60. The Democratic Republic of the Congo welcomed national human rights policies regarding civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. It noted with regret the increase of racial discrimination and intolerance towards foreigners and echoed concerns over the conditions of detention of irregular migrants. It also mentioned the absence of a Government for a long period and inquired about results achieved by the Centre for Equal Opportunity and Action to Combat Racism. It made recommendations. 61. Belgium repeated its open standing invitation to all special procedures. 62. Belgium confirmed that the procedure for giving Buddhism the status of a recognized religion should be completed in 2012. 63. While it was true that corporal punishment was not a specific offence under Belgian law, a number of criminal provisions were directly applicable to acts of that nature. There were also a number of preventive, warning and assistance mechanisms in place to protect children. 64. Belgium had ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and had submitted its initial report on the implementation of the Protocol to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in June 2010. The Protocol was being implemented both at the federal level and at the level of the Communities and Regions. 65. The National Commission on the Rights of the Child was responsible for the followup and implementation of the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. 66. Since 2003, the federal authorities, civil society and public and private enterprises had been working together to prevent the prostitution of children abroad. Awareness-raising campaigns against the sexual exploitation of children had been launched. 67. Belgian law prohibited the export of weapons to countries that recruited child soldiers. Belgium had proposed the inclusion of a specific reference to the issue of child soldiers in the international arms treaty currently being negotiated. 68. The effort to combat violence against women was a priority for both the police and the judiciary. Although conjugal violence was not a specific offence under the Criminal Code, Belgian law had a comprehensive set of criminal provisions for combating it. In 2010, Belgium had adopted the National Plan of Action against Domestic Violence, whose GE.11-14583 9