Workshop on combating torture in law and practice begins

A training workshop on combating torture in law and practice opened in Doha yesterday. The four-day workshop is being organised by the human rights department at the Ministry of Interior, in co-operation with UN Center for Training and Documentation in the Field of Human Rights. The workshop will be attended by a number of experts from the United Nations and local and international bodies. A number of officers and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Public Prosecution, the National Human Rights Committee, Qatar Foundation for Social Work and Hamad Medical Corporation will participate in the workshop. The workshop aims at raising the awareness of the right to physical integrity and the prohibition of torture in Islamic law. It also seeks to inform the participants of the Convention against Torture in 1948 in particular, as well as the international and national monitoring mechanisms for the protection of human right to be free from torture and the skills and expertise in detecting and reporting cases of torture. Brig Abdullah Saqr al-Muhannadi, director of the human rights department at the Ministry of Interior, said that the establishment of this workshop involves several vital signs, foremost of which are developmental, cultural, social and legislative changes at the national level. He noted the importance of the workshop as the promotion and protection of human rights has become a stable strategic option for the State and the society in light of these legislative transformations. He highlighted the reforms to the legal framework governing the rights of expatriate workers, the promulgation of the law on asylum, domestic employment, permanent residence, the regulation of entry and exit of expatriates and their residence, the fund for the support and protection of migrant workers and others. He added that the presence of the National Human Rights Committee, the Department of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Human Rights at the Ministry of the Interior and the UN Center in the opening session of the workshop and their participation in some of its work is an embodiment of the relationship between national institutional mechanisms on human rights and their common interest in promoting human rights and its value in Qatar. He noted that the workshop also comes in the context of the effective partnership between the Ministry and the UN Center which has been implementing a joint programme since 2011, referring to many joint events between the two sides. (QNA)