UN praises Qatar's human rights success

Date

1/14/2016 9:50:38 PM

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(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani met United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Al Hussein and his delegation at the Emiri Diwan yesterday. Talks dealt with topics of mutual interest.

Jordan’s Prince and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid bin Ra'ad Al Hussein (left) and Ali bin Simaikh Al Marri Chairman National Human Rights Committee Qatar addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the regional conference on ‘The Role of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in the Arab Region’ at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Doha yesterday.Pic: Salim / The Peninsula

By Mohammed Osman

DOHA: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Al Hussein yesterday praised Qatar’s achievements in protecting the human rights of the burgeoning expatriate workforce in the country.

His comments came at a joint news conference with Ali bin Simaikh Al Merri Chairman National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) at the end of the ‘Regional conference on the role of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in promoting and protecting human rights in the Arab region’ at the Ritz-Carlton Doha.

Referring to his visit to the Labour City in Mesaimeer on Wednesday Bin Ra’ad said “During my visit to the Labour City I realised that there are big achievements and tangible changes in the situation of expatriate workers by developing the legislation and cancelling the Kafala (sponsorship) system.”

He said he held talks with Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani and Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah.

“ During these meetings we felt that advances have been made in the area of human rights” Bin Ra’ad said.

“This does not mean that there are no violations which happen in all countries in the world. We are convinced that there is a real and strong will on the government side to end violations of human rights and exploitation of expatriate workers. We welcome these steps and we are going to work with Qatari authorities to further enhance the process.”

Bin Ra’ad noted that Qatar has implemented many of the recommendations put forward by the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in a report on the country. “There is a strong desire from the authorities to meet all these recommendations and proposals.” On the Qataris kidnapped in Iraq the UN official said “We have contacted the Iraqi government and will continue our communications until we secure their release.”

“We strongly condemn such practices which is a violation of human rights.”

He called upon all Arab countries to open their doors to more refugees.

He said the Doha conference has come out with positive outcome. “We are going to study the results and recommendations directed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“Some are directed to the governments that participated in the conference and regional organisations such as Arab League.”

Bin Ra’ad said the communiqué issued by the conference will represents the starting point for developing Arab strategies for human rights “for which we are working with the Arab League.”

“From our side we give our comments about regional crises and we condemn violations of human rights. We use to transfer some cases of violations to the International Criminal Court at least to ensure that criminals are held accountable” said the official.

The conference called on the UN High Commissioner to increase support for rights activists and civil society organisations in the Arab region. It also urged countries in the region to increase support for human rights advocates.

The communiqué also called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Arab countries and civil society groups to empower women and give them a chance to participate in awareness and educational programmes.

It urged Arab governments to grant independence to national human rights institutions provide them with manpower and immunity and protect from threats.

It urged regional governments to establish independent national entities to monitor hate speech and extremism and urged the UN High Commissioner to promote the use of Arabic language in UN publications documents and reports.

The Peninsula