156. These prescriptions of the fundamental Charter are scrupulously adhered to and justify the following measures taken by the highest authorities of the country:    Abolition of the death penalty with the adoption of Law 2004-38 of 28 December 2004. Until this time, the country had been a de facto abolitionist for more than four (4) decades , but with the inception of this law, it became a de jure abolitionist ; Ratification of the Convention on forced or involuntary disappearances on 28 November 2008 ; Inclusion into the penal Code of Law n° 96-15 of 28 August 1996 defining torture49 ; the adoption of Law 99-05 of 29 January 1999 amending certain provisions of the Senegalese Criminal Code (Article 58, paragraph 1 of Article 295 and Article 297 paragraph (a) in particular) to ensure better protection of physical integrity. 157. Furthermore, with the growing awareness about the extent of the phenomenon of human trafficking in the West African sub-region and in the country , the Senegalese government ratified most of the Conventions on the issue and more importantly :      The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 and its Supplementary Protocol on the sale of children, prostitution of children and child pornography of 2000 ; Convention n° 138 on the minimum age of admission to employment of 1973, The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in matters of International Adoption of 1993 ; Convention n°182 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) of 1999 on the worst forms of child labour and the immediate action for their elimination ; United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols thereto to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children of 2000 (The Palermo Protocol). 158. At the national level, Law 2005 – 06 of 10 May 2005 on combating human trafficking and related practices and the protection of victims was passed to supplement the traditional provisions contained in the criminal code, including Articles 323 et seq relating to pimping and Article 245 which regulates begging, paragraph 3 of which criminalizes persons who allow minors of twenty-one years in their custody to resort to begging. 49 New paragraph 1 of Article 295 : « They include torture, injuries, blows , physical or mental violence or other assaults voluntarily exercised by an officer of the public service or any other person acting in his official capacity or at his instigation or with his express or tacit consent , either with the aim of extracting information or confessions , taking vengeance or unleashing acts of intimidation in order to cause any form of discrimination. » 37