E/C.12/IRQ/CO/4 (c) Act No. 53 (2008) establishing the Independent High Commission for Human Rights of Iraq, and Act No. 4 (2010) establishing the Independent Board of Human Rights in the Kurdistan Region; (d) National development plan (2013-2017); (e) Strategy to facilitate access to high quality education in the Kurdistan region (2013-2018); C. (f) National strategy to eradicate illiteracy in Iraq (2011-2015); (g) Poverty reduction strategy (2010-2014). Introductory comments 5. The Committee is fully aware of the persistence of the armed conflict in the State party, in particular between the Iraqi armed forces and the terrorist group self-proclaimed as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Committee acknowledges that the armed conflict hinders the State party’s effective control over parts of its territory and that it is consequently unable to ensure that the Covenant rights are fully implemented in the entirety of its territory. The Committee nevertheless reminds the State party that human rights obligations are of a continuous nature and that the State party bears the primary responsibility to protect all persons within its territory without discrimination on any ground. To this end, it must strive to the extent possible to meet its obligations under the Covenant by resorting to all measures compatible with international law. 6. The Committee recalls that its previous concluding observations were issued in 1997. While noting that legislative and policy measures were launched during the period covered by the present report, it regrets the lack of information on the effective implementation of, and progress achieved and remaining obstacles in relation to, most of those measures. It also notes the fragmented and scarce statistics provided, which cover only a limited period of time (mostly 2008-2010) and do not allow for an accurate assessment of the fulfilment of economic, social and cultural rights in the State party. D. Principal subjects of concern and recommendations Domestic application of the Covenant 7. The Committee is concerned about the lack of full incorporation of the Covenant rights in the State party’s legal order and the limited instances in which the Covenant provisions were invoked before and/or applied by domestic courts. 8. The Committee recommends that the State party take the steps necessary to incorporate the Covenant rights fully into its domestic legal order. It also recommends that the State party raise awareness of the economic, social and cultural rights contained in the Covenant, and of their justiciability, in particular among the judiciary, lawyers, law enforcement and other public officials, and among rights holders. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 9 (1998) on the domestic application of the Covenant. Independence of the judiciary 9. The Committee is concerned about the absence of institutional guarantees for the independence of the judiciary, which can have a negative impact on its role in safeguarding the enjoyment of human rights. 2