Doha, Qatar: Chairperson of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) H E Maryam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah held a series of meetings with a number of international officials to discuss institutional cooperation and joint work to support the human rights system and national human rights institutions around the world.
During her meeting with Minister of Justice of Iraq H E Dr. Khalid Shwani, the Chairperson discussed the prospects for institutional cooperation between them in the areas of exchanging expertise and experiences and preparing studies in the field of human rights.
She stressed the NHRC’s interest in Arab cooperation in the field of human rights so that all the challenges facing the peoples of the region can be tackled, including the current plight of the Palestinian people.
She expressed NHRC’s keenness to support the efforts of brotherly countries in establishing, re-establishing and supporting national human rights institutions, expressing the Committee’s aspiration to the completion of the procedures for appointing the council of the Iraq Human Rights Commission.
The two sides discussed the possibility of the NHRC in Qatar cooperating with the Iraqi commission, supporting its capabilities, exchanging experiences and best practices with it, and helping it comply with the Paris Principles once its appointment is completed.
During her meeting with Director of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions H E Kieren Fitzpatrick, Al Attiyah stressed the importance of the Asia-Pacific Forum for the NHRC in the State of Qatar and its keenness to support the Forum and cooperate with it and with national institutions in Asia and the Pacific.
During her meeting with UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and racial discrimination E Tendayi Achiume, the NHRC Chairperson called for cooperation in efforts to eliminate contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, intolerance and xenophobia, by holding awareness-raising activities and building and strengthening capacities.
She pointed to the interaction of Qatar with international human rights protection mechanisms in general and the procedures mechanism in particular, and the positive developments taken by the State with regard to measures related to strengthening legislation, public policies.
Al Attiyah noted the interaction of the NHRC with special rapporteurs, independent experts and working groups in the context of their visits to the State of Qatar, including the meeting with the former Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and racial discrimination.
She stressed that the forms of racial discrimination that the Palestinian people have been exposed to for decades have worsened during the recent attacks, including the exacerbation of forms of racism, intolerance and xenophobia against those who sympathise with the cause of the Palestinian people and defenders of their rights in some countries of the world.
During her meeting with Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, H E Alena Douhan, the Chairperson discussed the risks resulting from unilateral coercive measures and their impact on violating the enjoyment of the right to adequate food and exacerbating food crises and crises related to the enjoyment of the right to health and the right to adequate housing, among others.
