New York / Information Office / October 12
The State of Qatar affirmed that universal jurisdiction is a rule of law mechanism to ensure fair justice, combat impunity for serious crimes, and prevent violations of international law, international humanitarian law and human rights.
This came in Qatar's statement before the UN sixth committee on "scope and application of universal jurisdiction", delivered by Sheikh Faisal bin Mohammed Al-Thani, member of Qatar's delegation taking part in the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
At the outset of his speech, Sheikh Faisal bin Mohammed Al-Thani expressed the Qatari delegation's welcome for the continued discussions by the sixth committee to the issue of universal jurisdiction and his support for the formation of the working group in implementation of the resolution of the 72nd session of the General Assembly.
Sheikh Faisal said the State of Qatar, in its interest in the issue of universal jurisdiction and its application, regards the jurisdiction as an additional legal tool to prevent the impunity of perpetrators of exceptionally serious crimes, adding: "Today we may realize that impunity is behind the increasing incidence of mass atrocities in the world that are rejected by the human conscience because they violate legal instruments and human values."
He pointed out that legal gaps must be filled in order to put an end to impunity and protect the rights of victims, in the light of the international consensus on the importance of cooperation to rid humanity of these atrocities. This can only be achieved through concerted international efforts to prevent impunity and to strengthen the rule of law at the national and international levels, and to deter any person or party intending to commit such serious crimes.
In line with this vision, which we share as Member States, the State of Qatar stresses the importance of achieving the right balance between the need to end impunity and the need to avoid misuse of the principle of universal jurisdiction that should therefore be exercised in good faith, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other applicable norms of international law, he said. "On this basis, we need to narrow the gap between divergent views on the scope of universal jurisdiction and to provide objective conditions for this principle to receive broad international support."
While affirming that the principle of jurisdiction is one of the basic tools for ensuring the prevention, suppression and criminalization of serious violations of international humanitarian law, Sheikh Faisal bin Mohammed Al-Thani stressed that the State of Qatar considers that universal jurisdiction is an application of the four Geneva Conventions, which provides that States parties shall have the responsibility for searching for persons accused of committing or issuing orders to violate the four Geneva Conventions and its Protocol I, which is considered a serious offense, and for bringing these persons, regardless of their nationality, before their courts or extradite them to another State Party for prosecution. In addition, the growth of terrorism in the world in such a way as to endanger the lives of civilians and their property is driving the international community towards establishing the principle of universal jurisdiction to counter that threat.
He continued to say that the legislative instruments in force in Qatar are applied in accordance with effective legislative controls. Among the most important examples of the provisions of Qatari laws that extend jurisdiction beyond the borders of the state in line with the spirit and nature of the principle of universal jurisdiction include Law No. 11 of 2004 on the Penal Code, Law No. 3 of 2004 on combating terrorism, Law No. 4 of 2010 on combating money laundering and terrorism financing, and Law No. 15 of 2011 on combating trafficking in human beings. In addition, the State of Qatar has acceded to a number of international conventions which affirm the principle of the spirit and nature of universal jurisdiction, including the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, he said. "We therefore see the importance of working to activate the various mechanisms in the field of legal and judicial cooperation to support universal jurisdiction and rely on them in relevant submissions."
He said that the importance of universal jurisdiction has become obvious to address crimes committed in the context of many conflicts when the national judiciary was unable to take responsibility or was unable to assume legal responsibility for the cessation and prosecution of crimes committed in its territory.
Sheikh Faisal concluded by saying that the identification of the scope of universal jurisdiction is extremely important to apply to the most serious international crimes, to bring the perpetrators to justice, to administer justice to the victims, and to send a message to everyone that no one is above the law. This is what the international community needs more than ever if we want a secure and peaceful world, he said.