Protection of human rights tops Qatar’s priorities: Al-Muraikhi

This came in a speech delivered by HE the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi before the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the “Third Periodic Report of the State of Qatar”, on Wednesday.“In the State of Qatar, we greatly value the important role played by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the Working Group to help countries to improve and enhance their commitments on the basis of the international human rights law,” he said, stressing Qatar’s support for and full co-operation with the UPR as well as other international and regional mechanisms towards the strengthening and protection of human rights.Al-Muraikhi affirmed that the issue of promoting and protecting human rights is at the top of the priorities of Qatar and constitutes the cornerstone of its comprehensive reform policy.He pointed out that this was underlined in the Qatar National Vision 2030, the first national development strategy (2011-2016) and the second strategy (2018-2022).He also pointed to the keenness of  Qatar to implement the commitments from the discussion of its first report, stressing that the Council of Ministers issued at its ordinary meeting No. (33) held on 24/11/2010 its decision on the continuity of the Committee which prepared the first report of the country to prepare the following reports and as a mechanism to follow up the recommendations.Al-Muraikhi added that the report presented is the result of a broad consultative process, co-ordination, co-operation and expanded partnership between governmental and non-governmental bodies and with all groups and segments of society, and in accordance with the guiding principles, and the report included an introduction in the first part, while the second part included the follow-up methodology and the reporting process.Al-Muraikhi pointed out that the third part of the report, which represents the main part, dealt with the efforts undertaken by Qatar to implement the recommendations it accepted, which were classified according to thematic topics including adherence to international treaties, enactment of legislation, strengthening international co-operation, measures, strategies and policies for the promotion and protection of human rights, training and capacity-building and awareness-raising, and the report concludes with a section on challenges and future visions.He said that since the adoption of the second report, Qatar’s efforts to promote and protect human rights, which have been discussed in detail in the third part of the report, have continued, stressing that the most important developments following the adoption of the second report, including Qatar’s accession to the International Covenants on Human Rights (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by Decree No 40 of 2018, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) by Decree No 41 of 2018. Qatar is, therefore, part of seven of the nine core human rights treaties.He added that in recent years, Qatar has carried out significant legislative reforms, the most important of which is the legal framework regulating the rights of migrant workers, who play a pivotal role in the development of the country, and Qatar appreciates the contributions of expatriate workers. Al-Muraikhi further stressed that the strengthening and protection of the rights of the expatriate work force is a strategic choice for Qatar, pointing to a number of legislation that have been enacted in this respect, such as law No 1 of 2015 amending some of the provisions of the Labour Law No 14 of 2004 on the wages protection system (WPS); Law No 21 of 2015 regulating the entry and the exit of expatriates, which has abolished the “Kafala” (sponsorship) system; Law No 15 of 2017 on domestic workers in a manner that is in line with the terms of International Labor organisation’s (ILO) convention 189 on decent work for domestic workers; the establishment of the National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons, according to the Qatari Cabinet decision No 15 of 2017; Law No 13 of 2017 on the labour dispute settlement committee and Law No 17 of 2018 on the establishment of a fund to support and provide welfare for expatriates.HE al-Muraikhi also pointed to Law No 13 of 2018 on the abolishing of the exit permit; Minister of Administrative development, Labour and Social Affairs’ decision No 21 of 2019 on the measure of election of the representatives of the workers in the committees that are set up in various enterprises; signing 38 bilateral agreements with countries sending workers; signing, in October 2017, a technical co-operation agreement with the ILO covering the period 2018-2020 and including advise and counselling by the ILO  on the implementation of labour laws according to international labour standards and the establishment of “Aman House” for workers who have sustained injuries, have been handicapped or have incurable diseases.Al-Muraikhi added that a number of human rights-related legislation have been enacted, such as Law No 10 of 2018 on permanent residency, Law No 11 of 2018 or regulating asylum and Law No 16 of 2018 on non-Qataris ownership of properties.Concerning the empowerment of women, al-Muraikhi stressed that Qatar has continued formulating plans and strategies to strengthen and to support the role of women in all fields, pointing out that four women have joined the Advisory Council, which reflects the Qatari leadership’s keenness on strengthening the contribution of women in the all spheres, especially the legislative, and on promoting women’s participation politically according to article 34 of the Qatari constitution, which provides for equality between all citizens in rights and in duties. He further noted the appointment of the first female spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.“The State has also continued its efforts to strengthen and protect the rights of the child and persons with disability in addition to the protection of the right to health and the right to education,” he said.HE the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi visited an exhibition, organised on the sidelines of the review of the third national report of the Qatar, by the team working on Universal Periodic Review of the human rights (UPR) at its 33rd session in Geneva. The exhibition, organised in co-ordination and co-operation with the Human Rights Department and the media office, includes images that reflect the human rights achievements of Qatar in various fields such as education and health as well as publications highlighting the recent steps taken by the State in the field of human rights such as strategies and policies for the promotion and protection of human rights, including the rights of migrant workers and technical co-operation with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), as well as the accession of Qatar to the international treaties and the national human rights action plan currently under development by the country, and gender equality and women’s participation in the Advisory Council.The exhibition also highlighted the country’s achievements in the field of international co-operation and initiatives to protect education in conflict areas,  and humanitarian and development assistance provided by the country to a number of countries around the world.The exhibition also highlighted the role of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) in promoting human rights and its reports on human rights violations committed by the blockade countries.