UN rights expert to assess impact of unilateral sanctions on Qatar

The Peninsula

Doha: The UN Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures and human rights, Alena Douhan, plans to visit Qatar to assess the impact of unilateral sanctions on the enjoyment of human rights.

She will be in Qatar from November 1 to 12 at the invitation of the government, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) yesterday announced on its website.

“I want to examine, in the spirit of co-operation and dialogue, whether and to what extent the adoption, maintenance or implementation of sanctions hinders the full realisation of the human rights of individuals,” said Douhan.

“I will focus in particular on any negative impact that sanctions may have on the enjoyment of all human rights in Qatar,” she said, “and I will also make recommendations on how any negative effects can be mitigated or eliminated.”

Douhan plans to meet senior government officials, members of parliament and of the judiciary, representatives of international organizations, diplomatic community, civil society and national human rights mechanisms, lawyers, academics, activists, and victims and their families.

The UN Human Rights Council established the Special Rapporteur’s mandate in September 2014, following concern by the UN human rights system and the international community about the negative impact of unilateral sanctions on the human rights of the civilian population. This has become even more relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Special Rapporteur will present her final report to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2021.

Alena Douhan was appointed as Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights by the Human Rights Council in March 2020. Douhan has extensive experience in the fields of international law and human rights as, a Professor of international law at the Belarusian State University (Minsk), a visiting Professor at the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed conflict, (Bochum, Germany) and the Director of the Peace Research Centre (Minsk).

Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world.

Source: thepeninsulaqatar