Qatar’s efforts to combat corruption were hailed at a forum in Doha yesterday.
The event was held on the sidelines of the third meeting of the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Centre’s board of trustees.
Addressing the opening of the forum, HE the Attorney-General Dr Ali bin Fetais al-Marri said corruption must be fought by all possible means as it was considered the main hurdle for any development effort.
Observing that corruption has taken an organised form in different parts of the globe and the Arab world in particular, HE Dr al-Marri said there is a popular perception that people who benefit from corrupt acts are smart. “This makes our efforts even harder. Yet, in Qatar, all the circumstances are encouraging for us to combat corruption. Two years ago, I conveyed a message from HH the Emir to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the UN should focus more on combating corruption. Accordingly, we focus our efforts on combating all forms of corruption locally and globally,” he said, noting that the complete separation of powers in Qatar has made the country a leading force in combating corruption in its different forms.  
HE the Minister of Justice Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr al-Mohannadi was among the dignitaries who attended the forum, which was held under the theme “Anti-corruption in the Arab world: challenges and prospects”.
HE Dr al-Marri pointed out that the event was organised to benefit from the presence of members of the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Centre board of trustees. They are former president of Tunisia Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, former president of Switzerland Micheline Anne-Marie Calmy-Rey, former premier of Jordan Awn al-Khasawneh and former US attorney-general Michael Mukasey.
Besides, a considerable number of university professors, lawyers, senior government officials and journalists took part in the forum.
Calmy-Rey said Qatar was playing a leading role through its anti-corruption efforts, in line with modern European standards. She said the country has responded to allegations of labour rights violations by abolishing the sponsorship system and replacing it with an employment contract to better organise the relationship between the worker and employer.
She also spoke on how social media helped expose various cases of corruption worldwide, stressing that graft was directly linked to the spread of poverty and terrorism. Also, corruption involved violations of human rights, she observed.
Marzouki stressed that corruption in some Arab countries runs deep in the society, including the media and judiciary, as some laws may lead to corrupt practices. The adoption of transparent democratic approaches can provide a solution and help empower people to claim their rights and not tolerate any form of tyranny or corruption, he said.
Al-Khasawneh stressed the need to spread a culture of morality, which enhances the popular conscience against any attempts of corruption, through education, which will be more effective than laws and legislation. However, these are necessary and have to be enforced equally on all.
“Corruption is endemic to all societies and it is possible to have corruption in democratic systems,” Mukasey said, stressing that sometimes both the provider and receiver benefit from illicit gains, but the ultimate loser is the society.
HE Dr al-Marri highlighted the importance of education in this area, not only for law students but for school and university pupils also, in view of the seriousness of the topic.
“This is an open meeting and we want to think together in a loud voice to exchange views on what should be done to combat corruption in the Arab world,” HE Dr al-Marri told the participants, who agreed that awareness has grown globally on not tolerating corruption.
This is partly due to the use of social media, which has helped expose various cases of corruption that were previously hidden from public view.  
All the participants thanked Qatar for giving them the opportunity to take part in an efforts that would help enhance anti-corruption efforts.




Rain damage probe ‘still on’
HE the Attorney General Dr Ali bin Fetais al-Marri said yesterday that the committees investigating the rain damage of November last year are still working to identify those responsible for negligence and shortcomings.
“But, some of the companies and individuals ordered to pay fines due to their role in the damage were removed from the travel ban list,” he explained on the sidelines of the meeting of the board of trustees of the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Centre yesterday.
The Attorney General’s decision to launch the investigation came in the wake of complaints referred to the Public Prosecution from the Ministry of Interior’s Capital Security Department with regard to the damages caused by the the recent rains.
HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani had directed on November 25 that all completed projects, affected by the rain, should be probed and referred to the Public Prosecution for suitable legal action.