CAT/C/YEM/CO/2 trafficking, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice and punished with penalties appropriate to the nature of their crimes. The State party is requested to provide information on measures taken to provide assistance to the victims of trafficking as well as statistical data on the number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions relating to trafficking. 26. Early marriages 31. The Committee is seriously concerned at the amendment to Personal Status Law No. 20 of 1992 by Law No. 24 of 1999, which legalized the marriage of girls under 15 years of age with the consent of their guardian. The Committee expresses its concern at the “legality” of such early marriages of girls, some as young as 8 years of age, and underlines the fact that this amounts to violence against them as well as inhuman or degrading treatment, and is thus in breach of the Convention (arts. 1, 2 and 16). The State party should take urgent legislative measures to raise the minimum age of marriage for girls, in line with article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines a child as being below the age of 18, and the provision on child marriage in article 16, paragraph 2, of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; it should also stipulate that child marriages have no legal effect. The Committee also urges the State party to enforce the requirement to register all marriages in order to monitor their legality and the strict prohibition of early marriages and to prosecute the perpetrators violating such provisions, in line with the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/YEM/CO/6, para. 31) and the universal periodic review (A/HRC/12/13). 27. Data collection 32. The Committee regrets the absence of comprehensive and disaggregated data on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and illtreatment by law enforcement, security, military and prison personnel, as well as on extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, trafficking and domestic and sexual violence (arts. 12 and 13). The State party should compile statistical data relevant to the monitoring of the implementation of the Convention at the national level, including data on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and ill-treatment, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, trafficking and domestic and sexual violence as well as on means of redress, including compensation and rehabilitation, provided to the victims. 28. Cooperation with United Nations human rights mechanisms 33. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its cooperation with United Nations human rights mechanisms, including by permitting visits of, inter alia, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. 34. Noting the commitment made by the State party in the context of the universal periodic review (A/HRC/12/13, para. 93 (4)), the Committee recommends that the State party consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as soon as possible. GE.09-46826 13