COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION STARTS REVIEW OF REPORTS OF QATAR ON COMPLIANCE WITH CONVENTION

CERD
60th session
8 March 2002
Afternoon



Qatar is Committed to the EnDeavours of the Convention,
Delegation Says


The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon started its consideration of the ninth to twelfth periodic reports of Qatar by hearing a Government delegation say that Qatar was fully committed to fulfill the endeavours of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The reports of Qatar were introduced by Abdala Alsouidy, Under-Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice of Qatar and Head of the delegation, who said that the State of Qatar had translated the provisions of the Convention into practice. Qatar had also ratified a number of United Nations treaties and had taken domestic measures to implement them.

Mr. Alsouidy said that in recent years, progress had been made in the promotion of social values in the fields of health, education and other humanitarian developments; democratic values had been strengthened and had been incorporated in the social and political life of the society. A new law had been promulgated regulating the democratic elections of the central municipal councils; and men and women had become entitled to stand for election, he said.

Regis de Gouttes, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Qatar, questioned the delegation on the country's position concerning the new problems of terrorism which the Government had condemned. According to his information, Qatar had taken repressive measures against the funding of terrorism and against individuals and groups suspected of being accomplices of terrorist organizations.

Mr. de Gouttes said that the economic status of non-nationals was determined by the person's ethnic origin or the level of development of the country of origin. Persons from the Western countries held higher positions on the economic echelon. Nationals from Asia were the least paid next to Arabs from North Africa, he added.

Also participating in the debate were Committee Experts Francois Lonseny Fall, Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Mario Jorge Yutzis, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Marc Boussuyt, Patrick Thornberry, Agha Shahi, Morten Kjaerum and Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai.

The delegation of Qatar was also made up of Fahad Awaida Al-Thani, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations at Geneva; Ali H. Al-Badr, Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of the Interior; Abdallah N. Al-Khalifa, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Family; Ahmed Al-Mansoury, Judge, Shari'a Court; Hassan A. Mohammed, Legal Expert at the Ministry of Justice; Hassan M. Al-Merzougi, Office Manager, Office of the Under-Secretary for the Ministry of Justice; Kalid Bin J. Al-Thani, Assistant Manager, Legal Affairs for Human Rights Management, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ahmed Al-Sulaity, Assistant Manager, Legal Affairs Management, Ministry of Civil Service and Housing; and Said H. Al-Mery, Legal Researcher, Ministry of Justice.

Qatar is among the 161 States parties to the Convention and as such it must submit periodic summaries of its efforts to implement the provisions of the anti-discrimination treaty.

The Committee will continue its discussion on the reports of Qatar at 11.30 a.m. on Monday, 11 March after its exchange of views at 10 a.m. with representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on follow-up to the World Conference against Racism.


Reports of Qatar

The ninth to twelfth periodic reports are contained in document CERD/C/360/Add.1. They enumerate the implication of the Provisional Constitution of the State of Qatar. The reports say that the Constitution embodies the principle that all persons are equal before the law, without distinction as to race, sex or colour, in keeping with the precepts of Islam, the religion of the State, under which all persons are equal, without distinction between Arab and non-Arab or between Black and White. The reports affirm that no person, organization or institution in Qatar practices any act of racial discrimination. The State does not sponsor, defend or support such acts, of which it disapproves since they are totally incompatible not only with its Constitution but also with the provisions of the magnanimous Islamic Shari'a.

There are no integrationalist multi-racial organizations or movements in Qatar nor is there any type or form of barrier between races, other than the natural language barrier, in spite of the large number of nationalities among the foreign resident population. There are no backward racial groups that require the adoption of provisional measures to enable them to enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms in economic, social, cultural, political and other fields.

The State of Qatar has not taken any measures to implement the provisions of article 3 of the Convention condemning racial segregation and apartheid and undertaking to prevent, prohibit and eradicate all practices of that nature in its territory. Also, it had not taken any legislative or administrative measures to implement the provisions of article 4 on the prohibition of all propaganda and all organizations that are based on ideas of racial superiority. It considers the provisions of the amended Provisional Constitution and the provisions of the Islamic Shari'a to be sufficient in that regard.

Since the Islamic Shari'a, which condemns discrimination between persons with regard to their rights and obligations, is the principal source of legislation in Qatar, it would be inconceivable that legislation be promulgated permitting such discrimination. "The Islamic Shari'a was one of the first religious laws to establish and apply the principle of equality between persons in regard to their rights and obligations, without discrimination on grounds of origin, colour or sex, in accordance with the words of Almighty God", the reports say.


Introduction of Report

ABDALA ALSOUIDY, Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice of Qatar and Head of delegation, said the State of Qatar was fully committed to fulfill the endeavours of the Convention and it had translated its provisions into practice. Qatar had also ratified a number of conventions of the United Nations and had taken domestic measures to implement them.

In the amended Provisional Constitution, the basic principles of human rights had been laid down, Mr. Alsouidy said. The Constitution also affirmed the equality of persons without any discrimination as regards to race, colour or sex. Organizations that promoted hate through propaganda were prohibited and penalties were provided for such offences.

Since Qatar had submitted its report, a number of developments had taken place in the promotion of social values in the fields of health, education and other humanitarian aspects, Mr. Alsouidy said. Democratic values had been strengthened and they had been incorporated in the social and political life of the society. A new law had been promulgated regulating the democratic elections of the central municipal councils; and men and women had become entitled to stand for election. Another law had also entered into force concerning the rights of disabled persons.

Mr. Alsouidy said that the Supreme Council for the Family had been established by a decree. That measure was in connection with the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols on the sale of children, child pornography and child prostitution and children in armed conflicts.

He also said that the different legislation enacted by the State of Qatar guaranteed the protection of human rights and the dignity of persons by preventing any form of discrimination.

In addition, Qatar had recently organized the Doha Conference for Non-Governmental Organizations, organized by the Institute of Family Development. The aim of the meeting was to conduct a dialogue between all non-governmental organizations in the promotion of small-scale projects for the poorer sectors of the society.


Consideration of Report

REGIS DE GOUTTES, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Qatar, said that the ninth to twelfth periodic reports of Qatar did not fully follow the guidelines of the Committee concerning the presentation of reports. According to the guidelines, the first part of the report should contain demographic, institutional, economic, social and cultural information of the country. The second part should provide information on how each article of the Convention was implemented.

Mr. de Gouttes said that according to his information, the population of Qatar was 769,152 with a heavy presence of migrant workers which made up 75 per cent of the whole population. The population was 95 per cent Muslim. Qatar was one of the richest countries in the world with a per capita income of $ 25,000, which was the highest in the region. Natural gaz was the main source of its wealth.

Mr. de Gouttes wanted to know the position of Qatar concerning the new problems of terrorism, noting that the Government had condemned the 11 September 2001 attacks. According to his information, Qatar had taken repressive measures against the funding of terrorism and against individuals and groups suspected of being accomplices of terrorist organizations. The authorities had even announced their intention to accede to certain international legal instruments, particularly the International Convention on the Repression of Financing Terrorism, and to elaborate a draft law against money laundering.

He recalled that the Committee had already asked in 1993 if non-Arabs had the right to acquire Qatari nationality, asking the delegation to inform the Committee on the conditions to acquire nationality.

Mr. de Gouttes said that the practice of religions and beliefs, other than Islam, was guaranteed by the Constitution as long that they were not incompatible with Islam. The delegation was requested to affirm whether Christian religions enjoyed protection.

Concerning economic and social rights, Mr. de Gouttes said that the economic status of non-nationals was determined by the person's ethnic origin or the level of development of the country of origin. Persons from the Western countries held higher positions on the economic echelon. Nationals from Asia were the least paid next to Arabs from North Africa.

Other members of the Committee also raised numerous questions in connection with the report. They asked about, among other things, why women under 30 years were escorted by men whenever they travelled; the nationality issue of the indigenous Qataris; the conditions for naturalization of foreigners; the consequence of mixed marriages between Qataris and foreigners; the supply of textbooks to schools; if the media was a State-monopoly; and the rights and conditions of migrant workers.

An Expert asked the delegation to approach the Qatar-stationed television station Al Jezira to transmit throughout the Arab world information about the work of the Committee, the principles of the Convention and other human rights activities of the United Nations, so that people could easily understand human rights principles. Other Experts said the freedom of expression exercised by the media was impressive.



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