A/HRC/11/L.10 page 155 taken an abolitionist stand in international forums. Mauritius had co-sponsored and voted in favour of the resolutions 62/149 and 63/168 on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, adopted by the General Assembly in 2007 and 2008. 635. Mauritius had acceded to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, but was not a party to the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees of 1967. Given its limited resources as a small island developing State, it would be very challenging for Mauritius to adopt an open policy of granting refugee status to foreigners. However, every application for refugee status was treated on a humanitarian basis; Mauritius indeed cooperated with international organizations and other States with a view to facilitating settlement of refugees in States willing to receive them. In practice, the principle of non-refoulement was observed with regard to persons claiming to be persecuted in their country of origin. 636. Given that the issue of “enforced disappearances” was of no direct relevance to the domestic situation in Mauritius, the ratification of the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance would be given consideration in due course in the light of all relevant factors. 637. With regard to the recommendation to amend constitutional provisions that affected the status of women, Mauritius stated that the Constitution provided for the application, in some cases, of personal laws with respect to adoption, marriage, divorce, burial, devolution of property on death or other like matters. Such laws were not to be deemed discriminatory even if they resulted in different treatment being afforded to different persons on the ground of creed or sex. The inclusion of this provision in the Constitution had been considered necessary in view of the fact that Mauritius was a multireligious, multiethnic and multicultural society and that Mauritians of different religions had to be given the freedom to practise their respective religion. The amendment of that provision of the Constitution was not envisaged in the short term. 638. The amendment of section 16 of the Constitution to include new forms of discrimination would be considered in the context of a general review of the Constitution. The Equal Opportunities Act, which was voted on in 2008, prohibited discrimination on grounds not covered in the Constitution, such as sexual orientation and HIV status.