CAT/C/QAT/CO/3
is also concerned at reports that corporal punishment of children is still permitted in the
home, in alternative care and day-care settings and schools (arts. 2, 4 and 16).
32.
The State party should:
(a)
Legally abolish corporal punishment as a sentence for crime;
(b)
Enact legislation to explicitly and clearly prohibit corporal punishment
of children in all settings.
Death penalty
33.
The Committee notes with concern that death sentences continue to be imposed by
Qatari courts and that capital punishment was applied in five cases between 2012 and 2018.
It is further concerned about the wide range of offences, including the crime of torture, for
which capital punishment is a possible penalty (arts. 2 and 16).
34.
The State party should consider establishing an immediate moratorium on
executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty, and commute death sentences
to prison sentences. It should also ensure that if the death penalty is imposed it is only
for the most serious crimes and in compliance with international norms.
Redress
35.
While taking note of the State party’s information that 152 minors and 250 adults
benefited from rehabilitation measures in 2017, the Committee regrets not having received
complete information on the redress and compensation measures ordered by the courts and
other State bodies and actually provided to the victims of torture and ill-treatment or their
families since the consideration of the previous periodic report (art. 14).
36.
The State party should ensure that all victims of torture and ill-treatment
obtain redress, including an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation and
the means for as full a rehabilitation as possible. The Committee draws the State
party’s attention to its general comment No. 3 (2012) on the implementation of article
14, in which it elaborates on the nature and scope of the obligations of States parties
under article 14 of the Convention to provide full redress to victims of torture. The
State party should also provide the Committee with information on redress and on
compensation measures, including the means of rehabilitation, ordered by the courts
or other State bodies and actually provided to victims of torture or ill-treatment.
Asylum and non-refoulement
37.
While noting the information provided by the delegation, the Committee remains
concerned at reports that the State party may have acted in breach of the principle of nonrefoulement during the period under review. Of particular concern is the forcible return to
Saudi Arabia, on 25 May 2017, of Mohammad al-Otaibi, a Saudi Arabian human rights
activist, who was detained at Doha airport while travelling to Norway where he had been
granted asylum. The Committee is also concerned about the exclusion from the competence
of the courts of decisions issued under the laws on residence and deportation of foreigners,
in accordance with the Law on the Settlement of Administrative Disputes (Law No. 7 of
2007, as amended). Lastly, the Committee regrets the limited information provided by the
State party on the number of cases in which refoulement, extradition or expulsion were
carried out during the reporting period and on the number of instances in which it has not
expelled persons in danger of being tortured in the country of return (art. 3).
38.
The State party should:
(a)
Ensure that no one may be expelled, returned or extradited to another
State in which there are substantial grounds to believe that he or she would run a
personal and foreseeable risk of being subjected to torture;
(b)
Guarantee that all persons on the territory or under the jurisdiction of
the State party have effective access to the procedure for determining refugee status;
7