Report of The National Human Rights Committee on the progress in implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination National Human Rights Committee State of Qatar December 2011 Contents Subject Page Introduction First: The foundations of the Qatari society Religion Language Social foundations Economical foundations Second: System of government in The State of Qatar The Executive authority The Legislative authority The judicial authority Institutional structure to promote and protect human rights Third: Terms of the agreement in general Article No. (1) Article No. (2) Article No. (3) Article No. (4) Article No. (5) Article No. (6) Article No. (7) Fourth: Conclusion and recommendations Introduction On May 18, 2011 Qatar submitted its 16th report (including reports numbers 13, 14 and 15) to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in the United Nations in fulfillment of its international obligations under the provisions of Article (9/1) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of 1965 that has been ratified by Qatar on 07/22/1976. It is expected to discuss this report at the next meeting of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The National Human Rights Committee received a letter, dated 23 November 2011, from the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the submission of the report of the National Human Rights Committee regarding the commitment of The State of Qatar to implementing the principles embodied in the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination. Therefore, the committee decided to submit its report as follows: 1. Making observations on the report of the Government of Qatar and presenting those observations to the United Nations concerned Committee does not only help the Committee to assess the performance of the Government of The State of Qatar in the field of human rights, which is considered to be one of the important mechanisms of United Nations adopted to control, protect and support human rights in different countries, but also helps the Government of The State of Qatar to recognize the observations made by the National Foundation for Human Rights working in the field of supporting and monitoring human rights in Qatar. 2. The belief of the National Human Rights Committee on the constructive role that can be played by the United Nations and its various committees in evaluating the performance of governments, urging them to improve the human rights situation in their countries and fulfill the commitments they made to work hard to enable its citizens to enjoy their fundamental rights. In this regard, the Committee considers that the legal opinion on the official reports is a clear message to governments that the national institutions for human rights do its job in monitoring compliance with human rights principles set forth in international legal instruments, which may lead to improvement of the state's performance in this area. Methodology This report was developed after reviewing a number of important sources, including government 16th report (including reports numbers 13, 14 and 15) submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as well as reviewing Qatari legislation, laws, regulations and practices. Executive Summary Recent years have seen remarkable progress in human rights situation in The State of Qatar on all levels from both the legislative and institutional sides, however there are still some aspects of discrimination in law and practice, particularly in the area of granting citizenship regarding Qatari women married to non-Qataris, freedom of movement, right to run in elections, the right of housing, the right to work, the right to marry and the right of establishing associations. First: The foundations of the Qatari society Religion - Islam is the religion of The State (Article 1 of the Constitution), all citizens are Muslims and are divided into two main groups, the larger group is the Sunnis and the minority is the Shias. - The entire population of non-Muslims in The State of Qatar is foreigners who are residing for reasons related to their professional activities and they practice their religious rites freely in their religious worship places. Language Arabic is the official language of The State of Qatar (Article 1 of the Constitution). Social and cultural foundations: - The Qatari society is based on social solidarity which, in turn, based on justice, charity, freedom, equality and decency. The family shall be the foundation of the society. Its pillars shall be religion, morals and love for the nation. The law shall organize means of protecting the family, supporting its principles and bolstering its ties (Articles 18-21 of the Constitution). - The State shall preserve the principle of the equal opportunities to the citizens politically, economically, socially and culturally (Article 19 of the Constitution). - The State shall promote science, arts, national cultural heritage and encourage the freedom of expression and scientific research (Articles 24 and 47 of the Constitution). - Holding public posts is a national service (Article 54 of the Constitution); the public employee shall uphold the public interests alone while doing his duty. The relationship between employees and employers shall be based on social justice and shall be organized by the law (Article 30 of the Constitution). - The State shall extend care to the young generation and protect them from influences of corruption, from exploitation, from physical, mental and spiritual negligence, and provide adequate circumstances for developing its creativity in different fields with improved education (Article 22 of the Constitution). Economical foundations: - The State shall assure the freedom of economic activity and promote investment on the basis of social justice and balanced cooperation between the public and private sectors to achieve social and economic development, increase production, achieve welfare of the people and improve their standard of living (Articles 31 and 28 of the Constitution). - Private ownership of property shall be protected. No one shall be deprived from such ownership, unless because of public interest in circumstances stipulated by the law, in a way that the law stipulates, provided it is with a fair compensation (Article 27 of the Constitution). - Natural wealth, resources and public funds are the property of the State. Their protection is the duty of all. Confiscation of an individual’s funds is strictly forbidden. There shall not be a punishment of confiscation of personal money unless backed by a judicial verdict and in circumstances stipulated by law (Articles 29, 55 and 56 of the Constitution). - The State shall work to protect the environment and ecological balance (Articles 33 of the Constitution). Second: System of government in The State of Qatar: The political system - The Constitution provides, in Article 1, that "Qatar is an independent Arab state. Islam is the State’s religion and the Islamic Shariah is the main source of its legislations. Its official language is Arabic" The political system in Qatar is based on main foundations: - Qatar is an independent Arab Islamic state. It has a democratic political system (Article 1 of the Constitution). - All citizens are equal in general rights and duties (Article 34 of the Constitution). - All people are equal before the law. There shall be no discrimination on account of sex, origin, language, or religion (Article 35 of the Constitution). - The system of governance shall be based on the separation of authority with cooperation in accordance with the way stipulated by this Constitution (Article 60 of the Constitution). The Executive authority: The executive authority is made up of two bodies: the presidency and the government. The Constitution provides, in Article 62, that "The executive authority shall be handled by the Emir to be assisted by the Cabinet as stipulated in this Constitution". Head of the state (The Emir): - The Emir is the Head of the State. His person is secure and should be respected (Article 64 of the Constitution). - The Emir shall have many powers; the most important of them is formulating the general policy of the State with the assistance of the Cabinet (Article 67 of the Constitution), inviting the Advisory Council to hold its annual ordinary session (Article 85 of the Constitution) and asking for a citizen’s referendum (Article 75 of the Constitution). The Cabinet: The Cabinet shall be assigned, in its capacity as supreme executive authority, the managing all internal and external affairs which come within its authority according to the Constitution and the provisions of the law. The formation of the Cabinet shall be in accordance with an Emiri Order. The law shall determine the remuneration of the Prime Minister and the ministers (Article 121 of the Constitution). The Legislative authority: The Advisory Council shall consist of (45) members. (30) Of them shall be elected directly by secret ballot, while the remaining (15) shall be appointed by the Emir from among ministers or others (Article 77 of the Constitution). The law shall define the concerned judicial authority for deciding the legality of the election of the members of the Advisory Council. Qatar will hold advisory council (parliamentary) elections in the second half of 2013, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani said on his speech in 1/11/2011. The judicial authority: The judicial authority is independent (Article 130 of the Constitution). The Attorney General is independent judicial body shall handle the general public cases in the name of the society. Judges are independent; there is no power over them in their judgments except the law. No agency has the right to interfere in the process of justice (Article 131 of the Constitution and Article (2) of the Judicial Authority law No. (10) For the year 2003). Law No. 10 of 2003 determined the jurisdictions of each type of court and specified the necessary requirements to become a Judge and gave opinions about issues related to the judiciary, the appointment, promotion, transference and retirement of judges in accordance with the law (Articles 27 to 33).