A/67/44 The State party should hold discussions at the community level, in particular with the heads of the fokontany, and take other steps to reduce the incidence of and ultimately eliminate forced marriages and moletry (probationary one-year marriages involving underage girls). It should enforce the obligation to register all marriages in order to monitor their compliance with domestic law and the conventions it has duly ratified. The State party should also prohibit early marriages, and prosecute offenders. The Committee encourages the State party to pass a law to prevent and punish marital rape and prohibit corporal punishment of children. It invites the State party to ensure that methods for detecting violence against women and children are included in the training of law enforcement officers. National human rights institution (14) The Committee regrets that the political crisis of 2009 prevented the appointment of members of the National Human Rights Council, and that the Council has been unable to function since its establishment in 2008 (arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16). The State party should ensure the effective and independent operation of this institution by allocating the human resources and funding it needs to fulfil its mandate, which in particular involves the investigation of allegations of torture and ill-treatment. The Committee encourages the State party to request technical assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure that the institution complies with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights set forth in the annex to General Assembly resolution 48/134 (the Paris Principles). Hostage-taking of relatives (15) The Committee deplores the fact that women have allegedly been arrested and detained in order to force their husbands to turn themselves over to the police (arts. 12 and 16). The State party should put an end to the practice of taking relatives of suspected criminals hostage and should expedite investigations with a view to punishing those responsible. This practice is a grievous violation of domestic law and the fundamental principles of human rights. Prisoners on death row and capital punishment (16) While noting that the State party has applied a de facto moratorium on the death penalty by systematically commuting death sentences to prison terms, the Committee regrets that the moratorium has not been given formal expression under the law (arts. 2, 11 and 16). The State party should maintain the de facto moratorium on the use of capital punishment and consider passing a law systematically commuting death sentences to prison terms. The Committee would like more information addressing reports that death sentences continue to be handed down and concerning prison conditions on death row, the amount of time it generally takes to commute death sentences to prison terms, the treatment of convicts sentenced to death and the right of such convicts to receive visits from family members and their lawyers. The Committee also encourages the State party to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Training (17) While noting that human rights training sessions have been organized, the Committee regrets the failure to assess the impact of that training in terms of the GE.12-44492 59