Qatar: UN human rights expert visits to assess international solidarity agenda

Arabic

GENEVA (29 August 2019) – The UN Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, Obiora C. Okafor, will carry out an official visit to Qatar from 2 to 10 September 2019.

“I will assess Qatar’s engagement with human rights-based international solidarity, to determine how the State works with other states and civil society around the world to address global challenges such as climate change, migration and asylum,” Okafor said.

The Independent Expert noted that Qatar had recently instituted new legislation on some of these issues.

“The visit presents an opportunity to have an open exchange with the Government and other interested parties in Qatar about the implementation of these laws and other potential measures for advancing human rights-based international solidarity,” Okafor said.

During the mission, Okafor will meet Government officials, academics and the UN among others.

The Independent Expert will hold a press conference to present his preliminary observations on 10 September 2019, at 11:00 local time at the United Nations Centre for South-West Asia and the Arab Region, 66 Lusail Street, West Bay, Doha, Qatar. Access to the press conference will be strictly limited to accredited journalists.

Okafor will present a report with his conclusions and recommendations to the Human Rights Council in Geneva in June 2020.

ENDS

Mr. Obiora C. Okafor was appointed by the Human Rights Council as the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity in June 2017. He is the York Research Chair in International and Transnational Legal Studies (Senior Tier) and a tenured Full Professor of Law at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, Toronto, Canada. He is also a former Chairperson of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.

The Independent Experts are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, Country Page — Qatar

For media registration for the Press Conference, please contact: +974 44 93 2544.

For more information and press inquiries, please contact: Ms Federica Donati (+41 22 917 9496 / fdonati@ohchr.org), or write to (iesolidarity@ohchr.org).

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact: Mr. Jeremy Laurence (+41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts.

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