CAT/C/QAT/CO/2
Training
23.
While noting with appreciation that the State party organized several training session
for law enforcement officials on human rights, the Committee is concerned at the lack of
specific training of law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors and medical personnel
dealing with detained persons on the provisions of the Convention and how to detect and
document physical and psychological sequelae of torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment. Furthermore, the Committee regrets relatively low
number of training participants and insufficient assessment of the impact of the trainings
conducted and their effectiveness in reducing incidents of torture and ill-treatment (art. 10).
The State party should further develop and strengthen educational programmes and
training to ensure that all officials dealing with persons deprived of liberty are fully
aware of the provisions of the Convention. Furthermore, all relevant personnel,
including medical personnel, should receive specific training on how to identify signs
of torture and ill-treatment. To this effect, the Manual on Effective Investigation and
Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (Istanbul Protocol), should be included in the training material. In
addition, the State party should develop and implement a methodology to assess the
effectiveness and impact of such training programmes on the reduction of cases of
torture and ill-treatment.
Redress, including compensation and rehabilitation
24.
The Committee is concerned at the lack of comprehensive information and statistical
data on reparation and compensation, including rehabilitation, for victims of torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the State party. The
Committee notes with concern the extremely low number of cases of compensation and
rehabilitation for victims, in particular, domestic workers. For the period from 2007 to
2012, the State provided compensation to eight domestic workers and the Qatar Foundation
for Combating Human Trafficking provided rehabilitation for 12 victims (art. 14).
The State party should strengthen its efforts to provide victims of torture and other
ill-treatment with fair and adequate reparation and compensation, including
rehabilitation. The State party should include migrant workers and persons subjected
to trafficking in redress programmes and ensure that they have access to effective
remedies for torture and ill-treatment, including compensation and rehabilitation.
The Committee draws the attention of the State party to the recently adopted general
comment No. 3 (2012) on implementation of article 14 of the Convention, which
explains the content and scope of the obligations of States parties to provide full
redress to victims of torture.
Universal jurisdiction
25.
While noting that the Qatari Penal Code provides for universal jurisdiction in cases
of torture, the Committee is concerned at the lack of information provided on how the State
party has exercised its jurisdiction over cases of torture referred to in articles 4 and 5 of the
Convention (art. 5).
The State party should ensure that acts of torture are subject to universal jurisdiction
in its domestic law in accordance with article 5 of the Convention.
26.
The Committee invites the State party to ratify the core United Nations human rights
treaties to which it is not yet a party, in particular, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and its Optional Protocols, the Convention on the Protection of the Rights
of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the International Convention for
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