A/HRC/11/23
Page 10
safety and integrity of persons deprived of their liberty; (e) eliminate capital punishment and
corporal punishment; (f) guarantee non-discrimination on grounds of religion, belief and
ethnicity, including for foreign workers, and (g) achieve effective implementation of these
provisions.
48. Mexico made the following recommendations: (a) continue to strengthen cooperation with
international mechanisms by responding favourably to the requests from the special procedures
that have requested to visit the country; (b) give positive consideration to ratifying the
conventions on enforced disappearance, migrant workers, refugees, statelessness and the
reduction of cases of statelessness, the Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the
Optional Protocol to CAT; (c) follow up on the recommendations from the treaty bodies
regarding the rights of women, non-discrimination, torture and children, (d) consider positively
declaring a moratorium on the application of the death penalty, with a view its abolition; (e)
reinforce efforts in the area of the implementation of obligations under international instruments,
in particular to bring legislation into line with the freedom of expression and opinion as
stipulated in articles 19 and 20 of ICCPR.
49. Germany asked about the realization of everyone’s right to promote the protection and the
realization of human rights individually or in association with others as stipulated in the General
Assembly Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. It wondered about steps taken to follow-up
on CEDAW’s recommendations concerning the marriage of minors. It also asked the envisioned
date of publication of the Human Rights Commission report. Germany recommended that Saudi
Arabia (a) implement the 2008 recommendations by the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, in particular by abolishing the system of male guardianship over
women and enacting comprehensive and effective regulations on gender discrimination; (b) lift
its general and its specific reservations to CEDAW; and (c) review its practice of imposing
capital and corporal punishment and prohibit all forms of corporal punishment for persons under
18 years of age.
50. Côte d’Ivoire highlighted the remarkable economic and social progress and efforts towards
the independence of justice. Like many other countries, Saudi Arabia is struggling for the
improvement of its human rights protection system, which could only be achieved taking into
account cultural and social specificities.
51. Palestine noted that the Arab Peace Initiative expresses principles to, inter alia, guarantee
the right to self-determination and the ending of occupation. It recommended that Saudi Arabia
disseminate information and raise awareness about this initiative. It encouraged Saudi Arabia to
take all measures to promote and protect the universal characteristic of human rights while
protecting its historical, religious and civilizational specificity. Palestine recommended the
realization of the law on associations and establishment of civil society to enable them to work in
independence without being supervised by official authorities.
52. Indonesia asked Saudi Arabia to elaborate further on the allegation that Saudi domestic law
does not explicitly prohibit torture and that the same applies to Shari’a law.
53. Japan understood that Saudi Arabia has taken measures based on the recommendations of
CEDAW and asked about the current status of women’s rights and activities being undertaken by
the Higher National Committee for Women’s Affairs. It hoped the work to codify penal
provisions and take legislative measures for the protection of children pursuant to the
recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child will proceed quickly.
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