QNA
Geneva: The State of Qatar affirmed making significant legislative reforms in recent years, pointing to widespread developments at the legislative, institutional, policy and strategy levels towards strengthening and promoting human rights infrastructure.
This came in the statement of the State of Qatar delivered by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi before the 73rd session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), for the dialogue on the second periodic report of the State of Qatar, submitted under article (18) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
H E the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said that the discussion of the second periodic report of the State of Qatar before the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women coincides with the passage of 10 years of the accession of the State of Qatar to the Convention in April 2009, referring in this regard to a forum entitled “From ratification to implementation: 10 years since the State of Qatar acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women”, organized by the Human Rights Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with Doha International Family Institute.
He noted that the forum discussed and analyzed the developments made by the State of Qatar since its accession to the Convention and the priorities in the next phase. The forum resulted in several recommendations, including work to strengthen national mechanisms dealing with women’s issues and the continuation of the State’s efforts to review and amend laws and legislations in order to conform with the provisions of the Convention.
H E the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said that the report presented to the Committee was the result of a consultative dialogue and cooperation in the field of monitoring and implementation of the Convention among all women’s stakeholders in the State.
He noted that the Council of Ministers, at its ordinary meeting No. (13) held on 5 April 2017, mandated the National Committee on the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism (UPR) to prepare the report, stemming from the belief of the State of the importance of periodic reports submitted within the framework of the contractual mechanisms, and in accordance with the recommendations of the monitoring committees, indicating that the report was sent to the National Human Rights Committee to consult with its observations and views.
H E stressed the keenness of the State of Qatar to include in the present report and the response note, all the developments related to the Convention that have taken place in Qatar since 2014, noting that the report presented in its first part (paragraphs 6-35) information and data related to the composition and some social and economic indicators which confirm that the State of Qatar has already achieved most of the development goals.
He added that this part described the constitutional, political and legal structure of the State, the general framework for the protection and promotion of human rights, and the State’s position on reservations and declaration, which is the fundamental context for the implementation of the provisions and articles of the Convention.
H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi said that the second part of the report (paragraphs 36-174) explained the measures adopted by the State of Qatar to apply the provisions of the Convention, in accordance with the order of articles 1-16 of the Convention, and to comply with the Committee’s observations and recommendations on the State’s initial report. He noted that the last part of the report (paragraphs 175-185) addressed future challenges and orientations.
He said that the State of Qatar has accepted the simplified reporting mechanism to present the reports to the Committee, which aimed at strengthening the capacity of States parties to the Convention to meet their obligations in a timely and effective manner.
In this context, H E the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs commended the participation of civil society organizations in the State of Qatar, represented by the National Human Rights Committee, Qatar Foundation for Social Work and Doha International Family Institute.
He stressed that the State of Qatar sets the subject of complying with the observations and recommendations made by the esteemed Committee when considering the initial report of the State on its list of priorities.
In recent years, the State of Qatar has adopted a strategic approach towards general reservations and declarations to human rights conventions with a view to reviewing them and harmonizing national legislation accordingly, as was the case with the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, HE Al Muraikhi said.
He noted that Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani underlined in his speech before the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly that “human development and the protection and promotion of human rights come at the forefront of the priorities of the State of Qatar”.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi pointed out that in recent years, the State of Qatar has also carried out major legislative reforms. One of the most important of them has been the amendment of the legal framework regulating the rights of expatriate workers, who play a central role in the development progress of the State of Qatar, he added.
H E The Minister further added that a woman was appointed as an official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thus becoming the first Qatari woman to be assigned to this position.
H E The Minister added the State of Qatar has also continued its efforts to promote and protect the rights of the child and persons with disabilities as well as the right to health and the right to education, including a national campaign on the right to education was organized during the period October 2018 - April 2019 as part of UNESCO’s campaign to promote and protect the right to education.
H E the Minister pointed out that the State of Qatar also supported the Charlevoix Declaration on Quality Education for Girls and pledged to provide quality education to one million girls by 2021 during the participation of H H the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, at a roundtable held in September 2018, entitled “Leaders’ Dialogue: Together for Girls Education in Conflict-affected and Fragile Contexts”, at the invitation of Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, on the sidelines of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi pointed out that since the 5th of June 2017, the State of Qatar has been subjected to an unjust blockade and to unilateral coercive measures imposed by four neighbouring states on the bases of false pretexts, followed by a series of unilateral measures, including the imposition of air, land and sea blockade; the severance of all diplomatic and commercial relations; and the imposition of restrictions and measures against Qatari citizens and residents in violation of the standards contained in the international human rights treaties.
“These measures have resulted in serious and ongoing violations of human rights, including freedom of movement, freedom of residence, freedom of property ownership, the right to work, the right to education, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the right to health, the right to freedom of religious observance in addition to other social violations having to do with families being split up, which is the most abominable of such violations given its negative impact on the unity of the social fabric of affected families, especially on women and children,” he said, adding that following this unjust blockade, the Compensation Claims Committee was formed in Qatar, as a central committee to receive complaints relating to the blockade to consider them and decide how best to handle them.
H E the Minister added that the State of Qatar has, however, endeavoured to protect and promote human rights and to ensure that the rights of citizens and residents, including those of the blockading States’ citizens, are not infringed.
As part of its keenness to preserve its rights, the State has turned to international mechanisms to ensure that the blockading States are held responsible for human rights infringements, he explained. He added that Qatar has brought a case against the United Arab Emirates before the International Court of Justice regarding the obligation to implement the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
On the July 23, 2018, the Court issued its ruling regarding interim measures ordering the reunification of Qatari families separated because of the measures taken by the United Arab Emirates, the Minister pointed out.
H E the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs also referred to the report of the technical mission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, following its visit to the State of Qatar in November 2017, which provides an objective and systematic description of the human rights violations that have accompanied the imposition of the blockade on the State of Qatar.
