A/RES/60/172 (b) The release in April 2005 of four Jehovah’s Witnesses who had made conscientious objections to undertaking military service; (c) The lifting of criminal penalties for the activities of non-registered nongovernmental organizations in November 2004, while nevertheless noting that difficulties in the registration process for non-governmental organizations and private organizations continue and that other significant restrictions continue to hinder their activities; (d) The submission, within the past year, of the national report under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 4 to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, as well as the reports due under the Convention on the Rights of the Child 5 and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 6 while encouraging the Government of Turkmenistan to comply with its outstanding reporting obligations to the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee against Torture; (e) The demonstrated readiness of the Government of Turkmenistan to discuss human rights matters with interested third parties on an ad hoc basis and to agree on the desirability of continuing dialogue and practical cooperation; (f) The statements made by the President of Turkmenistan in April 2005 on democratic reforms, and urges that those reforms be truly democratic, in line with established international norms; (g) The accession by Turkmenistan to the following United Nations protocols and conventions, and urges the Government of Turkmenistan to implement its obligations under these instruments: (i) The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict; 7 (ii) The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; 8 (iii) The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and its Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air; 9 (h) The public statements of the President of Turkmenistan recommending the abolition of the practice of removing children from school for the cotton harvest and reprimanding a local governor for the use of child labour in the fields, as well as a law passed on 1 February 2005 prohibiting the employment of minors under the age of 15 and stipulating that no form of child labour should interfere with a child’s education, and calls upon the Government of Turkmenistan to ensure that the law is fully implemented; _______________ 4 Resolution 2106 A (XX), annex. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531. 6 Ibid., vol. 1249, No. 20378. 7 Ibid., vol. 2173, No. 27531. 8 Ibid., vol. 2171, No. 27531. 9 Resolution 55/25, annexes I–III. 5 2