Qatar: Living conditions for migrant workers, women’s rights and torture discussed at the Human Rights Committee
Published on 25 Mar 2022, 05:30 PM
The Human Rights Committee's 134 session convened the first periodic evaluation of Qatar
On the last day of February and the first day of March 2022, the 134th session of the Human Rights Committee hosted the first periodic review of Qatar. The delegation highlighted Qatar’s efforts to improve living conditions for migrant workers. This issue is high on the agenda because of the international attention to the safety and security of the workers building the stadia and football fields for the World Cup that will take place in Qatar later this year. The delegation pointed out some new developments in their legislation, such as the protection for workers against high temperatures, newly implemented inspections, health insurance for workers with injuries and the automatic filing of a complaint against the employer in case of the death of a worker. Qatar made clear that workers who had already left the country before they were paid their full wages will be able to collect the remainder of their salary at the Qatari embassies. On the question what the obstacles are to join the Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers, Qatar did not provide an answer during the dialogue.
The place of the Covenant in Qatar’s domestic legal system
Another hot topic was the hierarchy between the Covenant and the Qatari constitution. This issue was raised because the constitution points to Sharia as one of the main sources of legislation. The delegation made clear that the ICCPR is equal to law, on a second stage after the constitution, and thus international law should not be in conflict with Sharia. According to the delegation, there are no contradictions between Sharia and the articles of the ICCPR currently accepted by Qatar. They referred to their reservations to the ICCPR when asked about issues such as equality between men and women, family law, polygamy, freedom of conscience and believe and abortion outside wedlock. The Qatari delegation denied that women in Qatar face a pay gap and that obstacles for women exist to access certain professions. Even more, they declared that women have more rights in Qatar than men, and referred to breastfeeding breaks to illustrate this.
Pretrial detention and torture
The Committee questioned the State of Qatar on the newly implemented counter-terrorism laws allowing for pretrial detention of 15 days which can be prolonged to a year. The delegation elaborated that this prolonged pretrial detention will only take place in exceptional situations, such as terrorism or national security, but according to civil society, these terms are defined very vaguely in the national legislation.
Civil society also reports practices of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by the state in order to get confessions, and the practice of torture through physical and mental suffering. The Qatari delegation blatantly denied these allegations, and said that there are no complaints of torture or ill-treatment whatsoever, and that nobody who gets arrested or detained is subjected to inhumane treatment. Additionally, the delegation claimed that torture is prohibited in Qatar and that there are sanctions in place for those conducting it.
Capital punishment
Voices from civil society informed the Committee that the application of capital punishment in Qatar is still applied to rape, incest, treason, drug crimes, false witnesses, theft, drinking alcohol and homosexuality. This information was denied by the delegation who insisted that the death penalty is only handed down in extreme cases and is not applied to homosexuality. The Committee asked the delegation if it would consider holding a moratorium on the death penalty until Qatar is ready to ratify the second Optional Protocol, to which no answer was given during the dialogue.
Urgent recommendations to be implemented by March 2025
Concluding Observations on Qatar's report were released on 30 March 2022.
The State party is requested to provide, by 25 March 2025, information on the implementation of the following recommendations:
Death penalty
- The State party should establish a moratorium and consider abolishing the death penalty and acceding to the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant. If the death penalty is maintained, the State party should, as a matter or priority, take all measures necessary to ensure that it is imposed only for the most serious crimes, involving intentional killing, bearing in mind the Committee’s general comment No. 36 (2018). It should also carry out appropriate awareness-raising measures to mobilize public opinion in support of abolition of the death penalty.
Deaths among migrant workers
- The State party should continue and intensify its efforts to prevent the death of migrant workers, including on constructions sites, in particular by effectively enforcing the measures adopted to protect the safety and health of workers as well as the legal framework concerning investigations of workplace incidents and reparations for the families.
Participation in public affairs
- The State party should bring its electoral legal framework into full compliance with the Covenant, in particular by eliminating the restrictions on the right to vote of naturalized Qatari citizens and guarantee the equal enjoyment of all citizens of the rights recognized in article 25 of the Covenant.
The follow-up report is due to be submitted to the Human Rights Committee by March 2025
The next periodic report (second) will be reviewed in Geneva in 2030.
