Doha: Dr. Obaid Ahmed Al Obaid, Director of the United Nations Centre for Training and Documentation in the field of Human Rights for Southwest Asia and the Arab region in Doha praised the positive developments in the field of human rights and the clear commitment to the rule of law in Qatar.
“The steady commitment to the rule of law embodies, without doubt, the positive impact of the entrenched culture of human rights in the country,” he said, adding Qatar is committed to providing its international reports and actively participates in discussions at the international level.
Dr. Obaid, who was appointed Director of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Yemen, also praised the development of human rights institutional work in Qatar and the political will to advance in the field, which requires greater understanding of the community about these positive developments.
He highlighted the role of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) and its support for the centre and its activities and events which aim at promoting the culture of human rights, particularly in the region and cited NHRC’s role in the establishment of the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions in Doha.
Dr. Obaid said the centre, through cooperation with the network, was able to spread its message and achieve its objectives.
He said the Human Rights Department at the Ministry of Interior is an important partner to the centre and that both sides implemented joint activities and launched initiatives to raise awareness about human rights and spread its culture in the community.
He also highlighted the role of the department locally and internationally in the areas of training and rehabilitation, spreading the culture among the ministry’s employees and the community and educating inmates of penal institutions. He also praised efforts of the Human Rights Department at the Foreign Ministry as a partner of the centre that contributed to its creation and providing its requirements and developing its work.
Dr. Obaid said the UN centre, the first in the field in Qatar, has achieved the desired success in the past five years, thanks to support by the state and cooperation and assistance of the concerned authorities, which resulted in organising activities, conferences and visits of international human rights officials to Doha.
