A/HRC/37/5 Government had moved the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs from the Ministry of Social Development to the Secretariat of Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism. 9. The delegation stressed that the Government’s objective was to build a country free of xenophobia, discrimination and racism. It highlighted the adoption of the presidential decree on the International Decade for People of African Descent and the implementation of the programme for Syrian refugees as flagship initiatives that embodied the country’s ideals of integration and dialogue. 10. The State policy of achieving truth, justice and memory about the human rights violations perpetrated during the military dictatorship was being pursued with increased efficiency by the current Government. The State continued as the plaintiff in 220 cases involving crimes against humanity. Under the previous administration the State had brought to court the head of the armed forces and had opposed all requests for the application of a more lenient law (the “two for one” law) to the sentencing of persons convicted of crimes against humanity. 11. Taking into account the federalist nature of the country, the Government was working to strengthen the Federal Human Rights Council and had signed cooperation agreements with all provinces in order to promote good human rights practices at the municipal level. Soon the national committee against torture would be established and the Ombudsman appointed. The delegation emphasized that Argentina was carrying out, in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross, a procedure to identify “those Argentine heroes fallen in the Malvinas Islands, buried in graves marked as ‘Argentine soldier known only by God’”. 12. The delegation highlighted the creation of the network in support of the right to know one’s biological identity as an important tool for all those who could not gain access to the current mechanisms, which covered only the relatives of persons who had been abducted and disappeared during the military dictatorship. 13. Finally, the delegation underscored the country’s efforts to reduce poverty and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, including in the areas of housing and access to basic services, access to health care, the expansion of existing cash transfer programmes and the development of social integration policies. The delegation reiterated the commitment of Argentina to build a fairer and more equal country, based on the values of peaceful coexistence, intercultural dialogue and respect for diversity. B. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review 14. During the interactive dialogue, 79 delegations made statements. Recommendations made during the dialogue are to be found in section II of the present report. 15. The United Kingdom welcomed the progress made by Argentina in implementing previous universal periodic review recommendations, in particular the introduction of the national action plan on preventing and eradicating violence against women and providing assistance in cases of such violence. It was concerned by reports of increased criminalization of peaceful social protest, and by prison conditions. 16. The United States commended Argentina for developing its first national action plan to reduce femicide and violence against women, but observed problems in the protection of women and in data collection. It remained troubled by reports of torture in detention centres and by prison conditions. 17. Uruguay encouraged Argentina to redouble efforts to implement the recommendations formulated by several treaty bodies and aimed at expediting the establishment of the system of the national mechanism for the prevention of torture in all provinces. 18. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela expressed concern about the excessive use of force by federal and provincial security forces, the existence of structural discrimination against indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants and the high level of overcrowding in prisons. 3