Qatar Renews Commitment to Continue Efforts to Promote and Protect Human Rights

Qatar Renews Commitment to Continue Efforts to Promote and Protect Human Rights

New York / Information Office / November 01

The State of Qatar renewed its commitment to continue its efforts to promote and protect human rights, affirming its continued commitment to actively contribute to the efforts of the Human Rights Council to improve standards of respect for human rights, and to address and respond promptly to cases of human rights violations, especially with regard to strengthening accountability for human rights violations and putting an end to impunity. It expressed its determination to continue to honor its commitments towards the promotion and protection of human rights at the national, regional and international levels.

That came in Qatar's statement delivered by HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani before the United Nations General Assembly on the report of the Human Rights Council presented to its seventy-fourth session.

Despite the negative effects of the unjust blockade imposed on the State of Qatar since June 2017, the State of Qatar, Her Excellency said, continued to work to protect and promote human rights and ensure that the rights of citizens and residents on its territory are not compromised. She noted that the State of Qatar has maintained its advanced position in human development indicators at the regional and international levels, stressing the State of Qatar's continued active participation in the field of development and humanitarian cooperation and in efforts to achieve peace and stability globally.

Her Excellency underscored that the State of Qatar's pioneering achievements at the national level in promoting social justice and enhancing decent work were recently welcomed by the International Labor Organization (ILO). And they included a series of legislative and executive measures to promote and protect the rights of expatriate workers, including the abolition of the sponsorship system.

HE the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations stressed that this endorsement by the specialized international organization confirms the success of the government in implementing the ratified agreements. The State of Qatar has become a leader in the region in improving wage payments, strengthening labor inspection, occupational safety and health systems, improving labor recruitment procedures, enhancing prevention, protection and prosecution, supporting a voice for workers, and issuing a law establishing a fund to support and secure migrant workers.

She pointed to the success of the State of Qatar in developing the institutional framework that guarantees the protection and promotion of human rights, and the exchange of experiences and cooperation with other countries and United Nations human rights mechanisms, through the policy of open door to receive the mandate holders of special procedures and cooperate with them.

At the regional level, HE Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani referred to Doha-based UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for South-West Asia and the Arab Region which has made many achievements this year in terms of developing activities aimed at youth, expanding its activities in the region, offering capacity-building programs in the areas of freedom of opinion and expression, combating hate speech and incitement to discrimination, and preventing violent extremism.

Her Excellency reviewed some of what was mentioned in the report of the Human Rights Council, especially the unfortunate reality of the violations of the rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the international consensus to support the enjoyment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people guaranteed by international and human rights law.

With regard to Syria, she said that the report pointed to a wide range of human rights violations and breaches of international human rights law that continue systematically for the eighth consecutive year, contributing to the continuation of the crisis. Her Excellency added that accountability for these crimes is of great importance in order to end impunity and prevent their recurrence. The only way to end all violations is to reach a political solution in accordance with Security Council resolution 2204, she said.

Concluding, HE Qatar's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani reiterated Qatar's commitment to continue its efforts to promote and protect human rights in a way that contributes to justice, security and peace for all peoples.