(b) The ratification by the State party, on 22 January 2002, of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; (c) The ratification by the State party, on 31 January 2005, of the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; (d) Recent efforts to strengthen the national legal framework, including: (i) The publication of the full text of the Convention in the Official Journal on 5 September 2007; (ii) The adoption on 30 January 2006 of Act No. 2006-04 on conditions for the displacement of minors and the suppression of child trafficking in Benin; (iii) The adoption on 3 March 2003 of Act No. 2003-07 on the suppression of female genital mutilation in Benin. (5) The Committee commends the implementation of the 2005-2007 Plan for the Strengthening of the Legal and Judicial Systems (2005-2007) and the State party’s efforts to improve conditions of detention with the support of the United Nations Development Programme. C. Subjects of concern and recommendations Definition of torture (6) Notwithstanding the Constitutional provisions prohibiting torture, the Committee regrets the absence of a definition of torture and of torture as a specific offence in the State party’s criminal legislation, despite the Committee’s recommendation to that effect during the consideration of the initial report of Benin in 2001. The Committee takes note, however, of the undertaking given by the delegation to include the definition of torture and characterize it as an offence in the draft Criminal Code (arts. 1 and 4). The State party should take urgent measures to review its criminal legislation so as to include a definition of torture that covers all the elements contained in article 1 of the Convention, as well as provisions criminalizing acts of torture and appropriate penalties which take into account the grave nature of such acts. Absolute prohibition of torture (7) The Committee is concerned that there is no clear provision in the State party’s criminal legislation to ensure that the absolute prohibition against torture is non-derogable (arts. 2 and 15). The State party should incorporate the principle of absolute prohibition of torture into its criminal legislation, which should provide that an order from a superior officer may not be invoked as a justification of torture, and prohibit the use of confessions obtained through torture. Obligation to investigate and right to complain (8) The Committee is concerned about the existing provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure on legal proceedings whereby such proceedings may be instituted only at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, following a complaint by the victim, which is clearly contrary to article 12 of the Convention (art. 12). The State party should consider abrogating the system of discretionary prosecution in order to comply with article 12 of the Convention and to remove all doubt regarding the obligation of the competent authorities to institute, systematically and on their own initiative, without a prior complaint from the victim, objective and impartial inquiries wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed. 7