Committee on the Rights of the Child

Seventy- fifth session

15 May-2 June 2017

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Qatar

Addendum

Replies of Qatar to the list of issues *

[Date received: 23 February 2017]

Replies to the list of issues submitted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child regarding the third and fourth periodic reports of Qatar on the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Part I

1.Please provide information on measures and programmes introduced by the State party to ensure equal enjoyment of the rights set forth in the Convention by all children in the State party, particularly children born out of wedlock, children with disabilities, migrant children and children from minorities. Please also provide information on the measures taken to address the persistence of gender stereotypes and attitudes that impede the full enjoyment of all human rights by girls.

1.The Permanent Constitution of the country contains provisions that are aimed at caring for young people in general and more specifically at protecting them from delinquency, working for their best interests, and ensuring that those interests are upheld in optimum fashion, in accordance with the following:

Articles 34 and 35 of the Permanent Constitution of the State ensure equal rights and duties to members of society, and forbid discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, language or religion;

Article 21 of the Constitution of Qatar ensures that “The family is the basis of society. A Qatari family is founded on religion, ethics, and patriotism. The law shall regulate adequate means to protect the family, support its structure, strengthen its ties, and protect maternity, childhood, and old age”;

Article 22 of the Constitution provides that “The State shall provide care for the young, and protect the same from corruption, exploitation, and the evils of physical, mental and spiritual neglect. The State shall also create conducive circumstances for developing their capabilities in all fields based on sound education.”

2.Local legislation and laws contain provisions aimed at protecting and strengthening the rights of the child in accordance with the relevant international instruments, including:

Qatari Law No. 1 of 1994 on juveniles, which contains provisions aimed at protecting children, whether illegitimate, immigrants or descendants of minorities, and preserving them from delinquency and crime; for cases where they have committed crimes, it also contains preventive measures aimed at rehabilitating them, safeguarding them and rectifying their behaviour in order to help them to become sound individuals;

Law No. 38 of 1995 on social security, with subsequent amendments, contains provisions ensuring access to social security benefits for children of unknown parentage and orphans. Council of Ministers Decision No. 46 of 2014 concerns determining monthly benefits payable to social security beneficiaries of a number of categories, such as orphans and children with an unknown father or both of whose parents are unknown who are not over the age of 17 and children with an unknown father or both of whose parents are unknown who are over the age of 17;

Law No. 14 of 2004 (the Labour Law) contains provisions which forbid work by children under the legal age, and the Business Law stipulates that juveniles shall not be employed;

Law No. 2 of 2004 on individuals with special needs guarantees them educational services which meet their needs and develop their capacities to the extent their individual status allows. It also ensures rehabilitation by helping individuals with disabilities to develop their capacities by means of medical treatment, compensatory apparatus, vocational education and training geared to their condition, and the provision of services and activities which enable them to live their lives more fully;

Amiri Decree No. 6 of 2016 provides for the establishment within the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Matters of the Department of Family Matters, which shall be responsible for building awareness in the community of the concept of social protection, for designing and implementing prevention programmes against juvenile delinquency, for rehabilitating delinquents, addressing social issues with regard to them, and for supervising specialized social care with a view to providing care and rehabilitation to delinquents and care to children of unknown parentage. In cooperation with the Department of Juvenile Police and the Office of the Public Prosecutor and the Tribunal for Juveniles, the Department of Family Matters will be responsible for coordinating with government bodies and civil society organizations concerned with children’s affairs the design of a strategy aimed at protecting children, ensuring their safety from harmful information and materials such as violence and pornographic materials. This will be done by issuing posters and slogans on these matters, and publishing small booklets and cultural folders aimed at protecting children. Field studies will also be undertaken, and workshops and awareness-building lectures will be held, and the Department will help to devise awareness-building audiovisual programmes on protection of children;

Law No. 3 of 2016 on the registry of births and deaths provides, in articles 11, 12 and 13, for the registry of births and issuance of birth certificates for all children, including illegitimate children.

3.On the other hand, Qatar has acceded to numerous conventions protecting the rights of the child and has adopted measures and programmes which reinforce these conventions.

4.The Qatar Foundation for Social Action was established in 2013 to develop civil society organizations working under its auspices, to strengthen their capacities, and to boost their role in the community, building on the Qatar National Vision 2030, the principles of human rights and international instruments and conventions dealing with social action ratified by Qatar.

5.The Foundation supervises and monitors the following foundations and centres: the Social Protection and Rehabilitation Centre, the Family Counselling Centre, the Orphans Care Centre, the Elderly Empowerment and Care Centre, the Shafallah Centre for Children with Special Needs, the Social Protection and Rehabilitation Centre, and the Best Buddies Initiative – Qatar.

6.Below is the requested information on the terms of reference of the foundations and centres concerned working under the auspices of the Foundation:

Family Counselling Centre (Wifaq)

7.The Family Counselling Centre was established in 2002 in order to strengthen marriage and family ties and to curb the break-up of the target categories suffering from marital and family problems by providing prevention and treatment services. The Centre provides its services to all children free of charge and without distinction, regardless of the child’s race, colour, gender, opinions, national or ethnic or social origin, or those of its parents or legal guardian, or their material means or lack thereof, or their place of origin, or any other circumstances.

Orphans Care Centre (Dhreima)

8.The Orphans Care Centre was established in 2002 to provide the necessary care to the categories covered by the Centre in a natural family environment and also to ensure their stability in the host families and to integrate them in the community. The Centre helps to provide the necessary care to the categories concerned in Qatar. These include children whose parents have died, or one or both of whose parents are unknown, or children deprived temporarily or permanently of a natural family environment and who are not over 18 years old.

Social Protection and Rehabilitation Centre

9.The Social Protection and Rehabilitation Centre was established in 2002 to provide services to the categories concerned including victims of violence and family break-up, both children and women, in accordance with the standards sets for each category with regard to social protection and rehabilitation and also to awareness-building.

2.Please explain what measures have been taken to explicitly prohibit in law corporal punishment in the home, alternative care settings, day care and schools. Please clarify whether legal defence such as “reasonable chastisement” is admissible to justify corporal punishment in the home. Please provide information on measures taken to prevent domestic violence and sexual violence against children, including migrant girls employed in domestic work, to protect and support child victims and to prosecute and sanction perpetrators. Please clarify whether domestic violence and marital rape are criminalized.

10.With regard to measures taken to prohibit corporal punishment, Qatari legislators have been moving away from corporal punishment as a punishment for juvenile offenders. Law No. 1 of 1994 on juveniles provides in article 8 that if a juvenile not over 14 years old commits a crime or a misdemeanour, he or she may not be sentenced to punishments or measures stipulated for such crimes, except for the confiscation or closure of the shop, but shall be sentenced to one of the following punishments: reprimand, handover, obligatory vocational training, assignment of specific duties, judicial examination, placement in a specialized social training establishment, placement in a health institution. Similarly, article 19 of the law on juveniles stipulates that a juvenile of 14 years but not yet 16 years who commits a crime or a misdemeanour shall not be sentenced to execution, imprisonment with hard labour or flogging.

11.On measures to prevent family violence and sexual violence against children, the Permanent Constitution of Qatar of 2004 established the legal framework for the responsibility of the State to protect the younger generation. Article 22 provides that “The State shall extend care to the young generation and protect them from influences of corruption, from exploitation, from physical, mental and spiritual negligence, and provide adequate circumstances for developing its creativity in different fields with improved education.”

12.Article 68 of the Constitution provides that conventions or agreements concluded by the State shall have the power of law once they have been ratified and published in the Official Gazette. Accordingly, the State has ratified a number of international conventions to ensure protection for the young generation from sexual violence against children, such as the (second) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

13.Article 1, paragraph 2, of Law No. 1 of 1994 (Law on Juveniles) provides a definition of the category of juvenile delinquents: any young person who “engages in acts relating to sexual or moral crimes or crimes against public decency, crimes of drunkenness, betting and begging, or crimes relating to narcotics and dangerous psychotropic substances or working for people who engage in such crimes.” The law describes the measures to be adopted to protect this category in articles 24 and 25 of the Law on Juveniles, making anyone who induces a juvenile to delinquency by prompting him to commit one of the proscribed acts, subjecting him to delinquency, helping him or inciting him to or facilitating such behaviour by any means even if the actual act of delinquency has not been confirmed, shall be sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison and a minimum of six months, or to a maximum fine of QAR 3,000 (Qatari rials) or one of these two punishments if the guilty party used coercion or threats against the juvenile or if he is one of his ancestors or responsible for his upbringing and care or someone who has authority over him or to whom the juvenile must defer by virtue of the law. The law assumes that the offender was aware of the age of the juvenile provided it has not been demonstrated that he could not have been aware of his age. Article 6 of Law No. 23 of 2004 on Qatari Criminal Procedure provides that “The Office of the Public Prosecutor shall stand in for the victim if there is a clash between his interest and that of his representative, or if he has no representative.”

14.Furthermore, and with a view to protecting children from sexual violence and exploitation, Qatari legislators have brought in a number of exceptions aimed at protecting this category from sexual exploitation and violence, such as those contained in Law No. 11 of 2004 (the Penal Code), which does not accept the element of consent in sexual crimes committed against children. Instead, it increases the punishment if the juvenile was accosted in accordance with article 280 of the said law, which foresees life imprisonment for anyone who has intercourse with a female without force or threat or subterfuge in the knowledge that she is under the age of 16, and similarly article 284, which foresees life imprisonment for anyone who has intercourse with a male without force or threat or subterfuge in the knowledge that he is under the age of 16.

15.The Qatari Penal Code of 2004 provides for increased punishment in many cases when the victim is a juvenile, with a view to protecting them from the depredations of others. For instance, article 296 provides for prison sentences of between one year and five years for anyone who induces, encourages, entices, inveigles, seduces, by any means, a female into prostitution. Article 297 stiffens the punishment for that crime, making it a maximum prison sentence of 15 years for anyone who commits any of the crimes referred to in the previous article with the use of force, threat or subterfuge and if the victim was under the age of 16.

16.Law No. 11 of 2004 (the Penal Code) contains a number of provisions which stress the need not to infringe the freedom and inviolability of human beings, not to subject them to torture, and to treat them with dignity, including the following:

The legislative amendment promulgated by Law No. 8 of 2010 amending the said Penal Code, which contains provisions in articles 159 and 159 bis which forbid and criminalize the use of force or threat against an accused, a witness or an expert with a view to inducing them to admit to a crime or to make statements or provide information relating thereto, or to conceal something in that regard, and also to torture or to incite or agree with such person or to remain silent thereon;

The above-mentioned Penal Code contains text in articles 318 and 322 which forbids the commission of crimes which infringe the freedom and inviolability of individuals, including unlawful kidnapping, arresting, detaining or depriving persons of their freedom, or employing or forcing persons to work either with or without pay.

17.Article 40 of Law No. 23 of 2004 on criminal procedure provides that “No person shall be arrested or detained except by order of the competent authorities under such circumstances as stipulated by law. Such persons shall be treated in a manner which preserves their human dignity, and they may not be harmed either physically or morally. The judicial officer shall inform them of their right to remain silent and to contact whomever they wish.”

18.Furthermore, Law No. 15 of 2011 on combating human trafficking, which contains important provisions making the State responsible for ensuring the protection and physical and psychological safety of victims, and for providing health, educational and social care to them, and for endeavouring to provide appropriate conditions in order to rehabilitate them and include them in the community in such a way as to ensure their needs and human dignity in accordance with their age and sex.

19.With regard to the measures taken to prevent corporal punishment in schools, a behaviour assessment policy was designed and developed for pupils in schools. Paragraph 14 of article 8 stresses the need to “move away from non-educational methods for addressing behavioural offences, including all forms of physical and psychological harm.” This includes a number of preventive educational measures aimed at strengthening positive behaviour among pupils, devising individual treatment plans for behavioural offences, to be implemented first of all in cooperation with the pupils’ guardians in order to ensure their success. Legal protection shall also be provided to children from all forms of violence, corporal mistreatment, neglect and exploitation, in accordance with the Qatari Penal Code and Law No. 1 of 1994 on juveniles.

20.Relevant preventive measures and activities relating to care for individual members of the community: police protection, meaning crime prevention measures and measures to uncover and investigate crimes, in addition to risks to the child in both the real and the virtual worlds, as well as awareness-building preventive measures and empowering the broad public to help to protect children and ensure security in general.

21.Police protection is at the forefront of police work, and is currently referred to community policing, which involves undertaking upstream surveys of each phenomenon, designing appropriate community-based treatments and solutions which prevent risks from being aggravated. Ever since they were introduced, the community police have endeavoured to protect children by adopting a number of measures aimed at addressing situations of family violence and sexual violence affecting children, whether in the education system or in the family setting, by means of preventive measures of an educational and social nature and others of a procedural precautionary monitoring type, as follows:

1.Community police activities within the framework of the education system, including preventive measures of a social awareness-building nature, such as:

Mainstreaming of questions relating to the correct manner of dealing with pupils, and refraining from using methods of oral or corporal violence, by means of lectures for teaching staff and ordinary workers in schools, and using parent-teacher meetings to that end;

Having the community police provide practical training to certain schools, in cooperation with partner authorities, with a view to preventing the use of corporal punishment and all forms of maltreatment through the School Protection Officer Programme;

2.Community police activities in the family setting.

22.The Department of Community Police endeavours to resolve simple problems among family members in the interests of the child, which are paramount. The Department also provides assistance through civil society partners and institutions in order to solve children’s issues; it brings in a number of social work experts to help the families.

23.Measures of a procedural, monitoring nature include the following:

Strengthening the police presence by means of community patrols near schools in order to prevent incidents of violence between or against pupils; this includes close monitoring of school grounds, which helps to enforce the law;

Providing rapid and direct communication mechanisms to prevent corporal punishment to children; these include:

Application of Mitrash 2: a rapid means of communication which enables members of the community to report safely on any instances of violence against children;

Hotline: the community police have set up several telephone numbers, by geographical sector, to receive information on mistreatment and corporal punishment of children.

24.Furthermore, the Qatar Foundation for Social Action plays an important part in protecting child victims of violence, including all forms of violence (corporal, sexual and psychological), both within and outside the family setting.

3.Please provide information on the rights of mothers and fathers both in law and in practice with regard to equality in child custody and guardianship matters, including the application of hadana. Please also provide information on both the law and the practice regarding child support provided by fathers to sons and daughters, and regarding inheritance for boys and girls.

25.Law No. 22 of 2006 regulated the custody of children by promulgating the Law of the Family, which provides for custody as a basic duty of fathers so long as the marriage remains intact. However, in the case of separation of the spouses, even without divorce, precedence for custody goes to the mother, albeit with conditions which the custodian must fulfil in order to ensure protection of the child in custody; these are: being an adult, of sound mind, honest, able to bring up the child in custody, preserve it and care for it in its best interests, and ensure its safety from infectious and dangerous diseases.

26.The right of custody for the custodian shall be determined in the following way: first the mother, then the father, then the father’s mothers, then relatives according to distance. If any individuals are equally entitled to custody, precedence shall be given to the most competent, then to the most devout, then to the oldest. A judge may transfer custody from a person with greater precedence to one with less precedence if they contest custody, provided that the judge states the reasons for such a step, and if that is in the interests of the child in custody, taking into consideration the interests of the child in custody, which are as follows..

Greater compassion for the child and honesty and ability to raise the child;

Ability to provide an appropriate setting in which to raise the child;

Ability to provide the best possible treatment, education and training for the future;

Ability to ensure that the child in custody receives useful training in morals and habits by the time he reaches an age at which he no longer needs the custody of women.

27.The law also specifies the cases in which custody becomes invalid, if any of the following conditions are not met: adulthood, the age of reason, honesty, the ability to raise, maintain and care for the child in custody in such a way as to ensure its interests, its safety from infectious and dangerous diseases, and also, if she is a woman, that she should not be married to a man who is not related to the child in custody but has consummated marriage with her, unless the court deems otherwise in the interests of the child in custody, and he is a man who is of the same religion as the child in custody and has a woman of his own family who is fit to perform the duty of custody.

28.The law stipulates that both parents shall agree to exchange visits to the child in custody. If the parents cannot agree on the times for visits of the child in custody, the judge shall set them, taking into account the length of the visits, according to the age of the child and the child’s need for both parents. The principle governing the place of the visits is that it should be where the child is living. In case of disagreement, the judge shall determine the appropriate place for the visits.

29.A rapid decision shall be taken in the initial and appellate periods on matters regarding visits to the child in custody, whether to travel with the child or to return the child to the person who has the right of custody until such time as the custody case is formally decided.

30.Law No. 22 of 2006 made support costs for small children that have no money of their own incumbent upon the father: for girls until they marry, and for boys until they reach the age at which they can provide for themselves, unless they are students pursuing their studies with normal grades. Support costs shall be provided by the father to adult males who cannot earn their living owing to a disability if they do not have their own money to spend. Support costs shall be provided by the father to females who have been divorced or whose husband has died if they do not have their own money or anyone else who is supposed to provide support. Support costs for children in custody include food, clothing, accommodation, medical care, studies, any necessary travel, and any other customary requirements. Furthermore, the father shall be responsible for the cost of a wetnurse for the child if the mother is unable to breastfeed; that shall be considered as a support cost. Solvent mothers shall be responsible for support costs if the father and the father’s father are dead or have no money, or are not solvent in cases where the father has been responsible for support costs from the date on which the case was registered.

31.With regard to the inheritance of boys and girls, the Qatari Law of the Family institutes provisions governing inheritance in accordance with Islamic shar ī ‘a as follows:

Girls inherit half of the estate if they are only daughters and do not have a son, or two-thirds of the estate if there is more than one girl and they do not have sons. Girls inherit by agnation with respect to boys and have one share for each two shares for boys if they have a son or sons;

With regard to trusteeship, Qatar established under Law No. 40 of 2004 an agency to manage the estates of minors, known as the General Authority for Minors Affairs, which keeps and endeavours to develop the funds of minors and the like, and to protect their rights, so as to ensure that they have a life of dignity and general benefit in all their affairs. The most important functions of the Authority are to:

Act as a trustee to minors and post-term pregnant women who have neither guardian nor a designated trustee;

Act as a custodian to those who are incapacitated or partially incapacitated, and as a trustee in lieu of deceased or missing persons for those who have no custodian or trustee;

Supervise the acts of guardians, wardens, custodians or trustees and monitor them in the performance of their duties and prerogatives in accordance with the law;

Supervise their affairs from the point of view of social relations, upbringing, health and education, receive, manage, invest and keep their funds, open bank accounts, maintain records of each such account, and represent them to the relevant authorities at home and abroad;

Calculate funds from inheritances, supervise their management, take whatever measures may be needed to keep them, hold records and accounts relating to them until such time as they are distributed;

Prepare and carry out the necessary studies and plans to develop the funds of minors and the like and any other funds managed by the Authority in accordance with Islamic sharī‘ a .

32.The law specifies the conditions for being a trustee, who must be just, fully competent and honest, and of the same religion as the minor. No person may be a trustee:

1.Who has been definitively convicted of a crime involving a breach of public trust or honesty;

2.Who has been definitively declared bankrupt;

3.Who has been stripped of his trusteeship or been removed from the trusteeship of another minor;

4.Who the father has decided to debar from being appointed, where there are strong reasons for such debarment which, after examining them, the judge deems justified. Such debarment shall be certified by means of an official or customary document certified with the signature of the father or written and signed in the father’s handwriting;

5.Who, one of whose immediate ancestors or immediate descendants or whose wife has been in litigation or in enmity with the minor, if it is feared that that may affect the interest of the minor;

6.Who is known to be of bad character or behaviour;

7.Who has no legitimate means of support.

If any of the above-mentioned conditions are found to be present, the judge may decide to remove the trustee.

33.The judge may also appoint a committee or other body as a special trustee, whose functions shall be determined under the following conditions:

1.If the minor’s interest is contrary to the interest of his guardian or chosen trustee or any of his immediate ancestors, descendants or wife, or the interest of some other minor included in that person’s remit;

2.Conclude, abrogate or annul financial compensation contracts between the minor and any of the persons mentioned in the previous item;

3.If the minor comes into money by way of donation and the donor specificies that the chosen trustee shall not manage such funds;

4.If the management of certain affairs requires special knowledge;

5.If the guardian or trustee is not competent to exercise any of the rights of the guardianship or trusteeship.

34.If a decision is taken to suspend the guardian or the chosen trustee, or if circumstances prevent them from performing their duties, the judge shall appoint a panel as a temporary trustee.

35.If there are serious reasons to consider removing the chosen trustee, or any circumstances arise which annul or detract from his competence, the judge shall order him to be suspended and a panel to be appointed as trustee to manage the affairs of the minor, on the basis of a request from the panel or any other relevant persons.

36.If the trustee fails to perform any of the duties entrusted to him, or fails to surrender the minor’s money without a valid excuse, he shall be deemed liable for any damage incurred by the minor.

37.With regard to keeping the minor’s money, the chosen trustee may not, without the permission of the judge, perform any of the following actions:

1.Dispose of real estate funds of the minor when such action involves a transfer of ownership or an arrangement for any other kind of right in rem;

2.Invest the minor’s money and liquidate accounts;

3.Rent out property belonging to the minor for a period exceeding one year or of up to one year following his attainment of majority;

4.Comply voluntarily with any legal obligations on the inheritance or the minor;

5.Undertake conciliation or arbitration;

6.Relinquish rights, abandon lawsuits or appeal against sentences;

7.Buy or rent property of the minor for himself, his wife or any of his immediate ancestors or descendants;

8.Dispose of movable property or personal rights or stocks and shares;

9.Divide the property of the minor by mutual consent if he has an interest in doing so, and if the judge authorizes the same principles as those on which the division and the procedures that need to be observed take place; the trustee shall submit the division contract to the judge in order to verify that it is fair; in all cases, the judge shall decide to adopt the legal procedures for the division;

10.Disburse some of the minor’s money to those on whom it is to be spent as support costs except if such support costs are required by a mandatory judicial decision.

38.The judge shall issue authorization in the above cases, following consultation of the Authority.

4.Please provide additional information on the situation of children deprived of a family environment, particularly in relation to kafala. Please also provide information on the number of residential care facilities in use, and indicate whether the State party licenses and undertakes regular inspections of the facilities.

39.The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Matters endeavours to support this category by allocating social security benefits, as described in detail in the reply to the first point.

40.Furthermore, the Wifaq [Family Counselling] Centre seeks to act in the best interests of the children in custody, providing them with care during and after the divorce of the parents. In implementation of the latest moves of the State and the provisions of the Constitution and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Centre’s efforts have begun to focus on cooperation with the Supreme Judiciary Council with regard to children in custody, and have resulted in the following:

1.Agreement to allow implementation judges, before the beginning of the forcible implementation of the custody order, to ask the Wifaq Centre to exert their good offices to ensure implementation rather than resorting to the police, with a view to preserving the state of mind of the children in custody;

2.Agreement to have the Wifaq Centre deal with “visitation” issues in accordance with the orders issued by the implementation judges and under their supervision at the Centre’s headquarters, and submit its reports to the implementation judge so as to ensure the smooth functioning of the visits and the provision of parental care to the child and to reduce tensions and conflicts and their negative impact;

3.In 2011 some of the provisions of the existing cooperation agreement were amended, especially “The implementation judges of the family court, when mandatorily implementing the custody and visitation provisions, shall contact the security apparatus in coordination with the Wifaq Centre in order to allow the Centre to resolve the matter amicably between the parties, to preserve the state of mind of the children, and to provide them with care and protection from any adverse effects on their lives.”

41.The Qatar Foundation for Social Action also provides a number of psychological, social and legal services to the parents for the sake of the child in custody, including:

1.Training for the parents, by means of intensive counselling sessions, and efforts to alleviate the tension between them, provision of advice to divorced or separated parents, making available a 24/7 hotline for apologies and any complaints or remarks or for coordination regarding the children in custody, and attempting to ensure reconciliation between the parties, in the best interests of the children;

2.Provision of a suitable psychological atmosphere for the children in custody under the supervision of specialists, and gradual implementation of the provisions of the court order regarding visitation of the children in custody, periodical observation and monitoring of the psychological and behavioural state of the children in custody after visits, monitoring of the state of the children after return visits to the house, visiting the homes to assess the situation in certain cases, where necessary, and monitoring certain cases in schools, where necessary;

3.Provision of various legal services aimed at ensuring the best interests of the child, thanks to a team of legal consultants who prepare periodic reports of their visits and of the state of mind of the children in custody regarding the transfer of custody, the extent to which the court’s decisions have been complied with, in addition to inspecting the premises allocated to custody and the children in custody and ascertaining whether all claims regarding have been transmitted to the Family Reconciliation Unit to seek to resolve them in amicable fashion, providing legal counselling and support regarding legal procedures in the court, drafting reconciliation agreements, etc. between the parties in the Centre, in addition to contacting the Supreme Judiciary Council regarding visits during Ramadan and other religious holidays and the organization of visits during those periods, which should help to ensure that the child receives his fair share of social and parental care and participates in recreational activities.

5.Please provide information on living conditions for children living in prison with their mothers, particularly on how their access to nutrition, including breastfeeding, and to health and education services, is ensured. Please clarify how the best interests of the child are taken as a primary consideration when sentencing pregnant women or women with young children, including in cases involving extramarital relations.

42.The Department of Penal and Correctional Institutions of the Ministry of the Interior provides care to children living in prison with their mothers in the following manner:

1.Provision of all food and medical requirements;

2.Provision of the children’s requirements;

3.Provision of full health care to the children, including preventive vaccinations;

4.Taking care to ensure that the child is not treated as a prisoner;

5.Provision of a suitable diet and the necessary health care to breastfeeding mothers in accordance with the recommenations of the female doctor of the institution;

6.Recording of the number of children and their personal data upon entry, taking care to preserve the confidentiality of the information;

7.Medical examination of the child upon entry to the prison;

8.Solitary or protective confinement is not applied to female prisoners who are accompanied by their children;

9.Building awareness among female inmates of the importance of natural breastfeeding; inmates shall not be deterred from breastfeeding their children so long as there are no special health reasons;

10.Enabling female inmates who are accompanied by their children in prison to spend all their time with their children;

11.Law No. 3 of 2009 regulating penal and correctional institutions and its executive regulation provides that a female inmate whose child is placed in a child care institution or with someone who has a right of custody shall be granted regular visits;

12.In all procedures followed in the prison, the interest of the child shall be observed.

6.Please provide updated information on the implementation of the national strategies on persons with disabilities referred to in the State party report (CRC/C/QAT/3-4, paras. 249 and 250), including a strategy on inclusive education. Please elaborate on how such strategies have facilitated the deinstitutionalization of children with disabilities, including psychosocial and intellectual disabilities, and on the provision of community-based support and inclusive education for them.

43.The Ministry of Education and Higher Education observes the basic principles of the twin concepts of “education for all” and “comprehensive inclusion” and strives to continue to perform its roles within the framework of the national and global contexts through the best practices adopted worldwide in that field. Against that backdrop, education now covers all categories of pupils, including those with disabilities, in accordance with the national strategy for the education and training sector, which stresses the need to include pupils with disabilities in all Qatari schools.

44.Among the measures implemented to strengthen the concept of inclusive education for persons with disabilities at all levels of education in Qatar are the preparation of a package of guidance documents, policies and resources and support materials for schools, which are aimed at providing a guidance framework for all schools with responsibility for “pupils with learning difficulties” and “pupils with disabilities”.

45.They also define the responsibilities of schools for removing obstacles which prevent such pupils from acquiring all the educational skills they deserve.

46.The policies strengthen the following principles and values with regard to supporting pupils with disabilities:

Each student has a right to receive a comprehensive and balanced education which is geared to his own special needs;

The level of support to students increases when the school adopts a well-organized approach based on a team composed of a group of individuals;

Support for students with additional educational needs is the joint responsibility of all members of the school community;

Class programmes should provide a solid background in support of students with [additional] educational needs;

The class teacher – including the support that is provided to him – shall be the main person responsible for the education of students with additional educational needs;

The director of the school or licence holder shall be responsible for ensuring the quality of the educational skills provided to all students, in addition to being responsible for designing devising systems and structures to ensure that there is a cooperative approach to supporting the students and the class teachers by means of a team put together for that purpose;

The school support systems shall focus on the “educational model” which involves bringing about a shift from a mere attempt to “address” the students’ failure or weakness to an improvement in the quality of teaching and learning and the procedures adopted for the assessment of students;

Each guardian shall have the right to receive advice and support concerning the additional educational needs of the children in their care;

Support shall be provided to school staff in order to build their capacities to work confidently and effectively with the students;

The process of change requires time and commitment on the part of all school staff;

The process of altering practices requires the presence of a good-quality package of vocational development programmes and training activities which take place within the school and support for planning and reflection on the practices adopted.

47.Furthermore, the Ru’a Centre for Assessment, Consultancy and Support for Students Needing Additional Educational Support was established, providing top-notch educational services and alternatives to students. It is aimed at meeting the additional educational support needs of students and their teachers and guardians with respect to assessment, consultancy and support.

7.Please inform the Committee about the legal or administrative procedures in the State party for seeking asylum and refugee status, and about protection and support provided to refugee and asylum-seeking children, including access to basic services such as health care and education. Please clarify how the State party respects the principle of non-refoulement. Please provide information on any specific measures taken to respond to the situation of refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic.

48.The Qatari Constitution, in article 58, provides that “Handing over political asylum-seekers is strictly forbidden. The law shall stipulate the conditions of granting political asylum.” Qatar believes that the provision of aid and assistance is an urgent humanitarian duty which must be performed. It provides development and food aid to over 100 countries around the world, and continues to coordinate such assistance with intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Qatar also supports the education of more than 10 million children worldwide as part of its Educate a Child initiative, and it builds the capacities of 1.2 million young Arabs to ensure that they are effective and productive members of their societies. Over the past five years, the value of the aid provided has tripled to QAR 13 billion disbursed since 2011.

49.Despite the fact that Qatar is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and in accordance with the rules of general international law, Qatar is committed to observing the basic protection standards provided for in the Convention as part of international usage. Furthermore, Qatar plays an important and effective role in supporting refugees at both the regional and international levels, in particular against the backdrop of increasing catastrophes and wars.

50.Qatar also participates in the work of the Joint Committee of Experts and Representatives of the Ministries of Justice and the Interior of the Arab States for the purpose of discussing the Arab Convention on Regulating Status of Refugees in the Arab Countries. Qatar held a high-level side event on the margins of the 28th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2015 on educating refugees in emergency situations. This side event helped to stress the importance of providing educational services, which constitute an optimum means for ensuring that refugees and their families may build a new life together.

51.Reach Out to Asia (ROTA), a non-profit organization established in 2005, plays a key role in supporting refugees and providing them with practical alternatives. It seeks to create a world in which all young people have a right to education in order to realize their full capacities and to chart the kind of development they need for their societies. In accordance with its mission statement, ROTA endeavours to ensure that the victims of catastrophes in Asia and the world receive ongoing opportunities to receive quality education. ROTA works in 10 countries all over Asia, including Qatar, to involve young people and other members of the community in efforts to meet the challenges of development at the national and international levels. We recall a number of the activities undertaken by the organization in support of refugees in recent times; this list is illustrative rather than exhaustive:

Provision of material support worth QAR 1 million for a project for the construction and equipment of sports facilities at two Palestinian refugee camps in October 2016 with a view to enhancing the lives of Palestinian refugee children in Lebanon;

Work on a project entitled “Development of non-conventional education for Palestinian refugee children in northern Lebanon”, in cooperation with American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), in pursuance of the charitable action undertaken by ROTA since 2010 for the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp. This initiative will help to ensure a feeling of security among children in the camp.

The following table shows the assistance provided to refugees by the Qatar Development Fund.

Table 1Development assistance by Qatar in 2013-2016

Date	Payments	US $	Qatari riyals
07/02/2013	Support for a housing project for Syrian refugees in Jordan	2,747,253	10,000,000
20/11/2013	Support for a housing project for Syrian refugees in Jordan	274,725	1,000,000
26/12/2013	Humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in cooperation with the United Nations	33,856,000	123,235,840
12/03/2014	Support for a housing project for Syrian refugees in Jordan	412,088	1,500,000
02/10/2014	Support for a housing project for Syrian refugees in Jordan	36,150	131,587
23/10/2014	Contribution to a development assistance fund in Turkey for Syrian refugees	20,000,000	72,800,000
02/12/2014	Support for a housing project for Syrian refugees in Jordan	412,088	1,500,000
11/12/2014	Support to the International Food Security Organization	2,000,000	7,280,000
02/02/2015	Aid to Syrian refugees through the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs	1,001,374	3,645,000
12/02/2015	Purchase of urgent foodstuffs from China for Syrian refugees	363,782	1,324,167
24/02/2015	Support for a housing project for Syrian refugees in Jordan	1,373,626	5,000,000
24/07/2016	Third tranche to UNRWA in aid of Palestinian refugees	1,000,000	3,640,000
24/07/2016	Support to UN OCHA in aid of Syrian refugees	5,000,000	18,200,000
01/05/2016	Building of shelters for Yemeni refugees in Djibouti	1,216,538	4,428,199
02/06/2016	Aid to Yemeni refugees in Djibouti through the Qatari Embassy in Djibouti	40,000	145,600
Total	69,733,624	253,830,393

52.The Arab and International Police Communication Department of the Ministry of the Interior ensures the extradition of wanted persons, in accordance with legal guidelines and conditions stipulated in the Penal Code, which guarantees the rights of persons wanted for extradition, and ensures that they have a right to appeal against the decision. It also determines cases where the extradition shall not be granted “if there are serious reasons to believe that the extradition request has been submitted with the aim of trying or punishing the person for reasons connected with their race, religion, nationality or political opinion.” Chapter 2 of Book 5 of the Penal Code sets out these guidelines and conditions.

53.Despite the fact that Qatar is not a member of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the organization’s records show that Qatar is a major contributor to achieving sustainable development by hosting immigrants, whose remittances are worth billions of dollars; in 2016, according to the records of the organization, remittances from immigrants resident in Qatar attained $ 11.2 billion, from 1.5 million residents, which figure has recently risen to 2 million.

54.Qatar is furthermore one of the countries that provides the most services and assistance to emigrants and refugees. The records of the Department of International Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs show the following total figures for assistance provided to refugees:

Total amount provided in support of the Syrian people in 2010-2016:

Government assistance: QAR 3,141,937,795;

Non-governmental assistance: QAR 568,673,521.

55.Or a total of QAR 3,710,611,316.

Total amount provided in support of the Palestinian people in 2010-2016:

Government assistance: QAR 3,665,427,364;

Non-governmental assistance: QAR 1,039,606,334;

Or a total of QAR 4,705,033,698.

8.Please inform the Committee about measures taken to prevent the detention of migrant children, including those who are with their families, and to ensure that they enjoy the rights to have their best interests taken as a primary consideration and to family unity in migration processes. Please describe the measures that have been taken to ensure access to education and health care for migrant children, including those in an irregular situation.

56.There are no refugee children in Qatar, only children of immigrant workers. Law No. 21 of 2015 regulating the entry, departure and residence of immigrants upholds the unity of the family and endeavours to ensure a healthy family environment and family care to children, especially the provisions of article 12 regarding the granting of residence permits to the spouse and children of those authorized to reside in Qatar in accordance with specific conditions. This demonstrates the desire of the State to ensure the unity and reunion of families, which strengthens the rights of the child by ensuring a suitable family environment and family care and preservation of the unity of the family and preventing its dispersal. This is in addition to the services provided by the State in the fields of education, health and care.

57.The security services provide sufficient opportunities to immigrants detained to contact their families or the embassies or consulates of their countries in accordance with their requests, and to provide them with interpreters in order to inform them of the reasons for their detention or the charges brought against them, and to inform them of their rights.

58.Article 13, paragraph 2, of the law regulating penal and correctional institutions stipulates that non-Qatari detainees shall be informed as soon as they enter such an institution of their right to contact the diplomatic mission or consulate that represents them, and the same law guarantees the detainee’s right to visits and contacts, specifying the various types of visit available to all detainees without distinction.

59.With regard to the provision of health care to the children of families working in Qatar, the State provides health services to all children without distinction.

60.Concerning the education of the children of immigrants, education is available to all and to all categories of Qatari society, both Qatari nationals and foreign residents. The State has adopted education as a basic mainstay guaranteed by article 25 of the Qatari Constitution, and on that basis the State provides all means to facilitate that aim, beginning with the pre-primary level (nursery and kindergarten), through the primary level, with the provision of literacy and adult education centres and schools at the highest levels from the point of view of infrastructure, modern buildings, educational materials and teaching staff, including professors, teachers and administrative staff.

61.Qatar has a large number of private and international schools supervised by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. Curricula used in such schools in Qatar range from the International Baccalaureat to the British, American, French and Indian curricula. There are also schools which use their national curricula, such as Indian, Lebanese, Jordanian, Palestinian, Tunisian, Philippino, German and other schools. Furthermore there are independent schools which operate under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and which accept the children of immigrants working both in the government sector and in the private sector under favourable conditions.

62.Against the backdrop of the human development under way in Qatar, each year new schools are opened both in the government sector and in the private sector in order to meet the education needs of all without distinction. Among the facilities and services provided by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education for non-Qataris are:

Acceptance and enrolment in independent government schools; such acceptance and enrolment in independent schools is based on a clear acceptance and enrolment policy, among whose provisions with regard to the enrolment of the children on non-Qataris working either in the government sector or in the private sector: the children of non-Qataris working in the ministries and government agencies in Qatar as well as in public bodies and institutions and the children of non-Qataris working in private charitable associations and foundations are accepted;

Provision of school transport to non-Qatari students at symbolic rates in comparison with the true cost, enabling each student to take the school bus during the school year;

Other services provided by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to private schools in which mostly non-Qataris are enrolled; these are:

Waiver of electricity and water charges;

Customs clearance;

Granting of building plots to schools which have secured national, local or international recognition.

63.There are 162 private schools, 87 private kindergartens and 24 national schools.

64.With regard to statistics, the following gives the numbers of non-Qatari students enrolled in government and private schools:

Table 2Number of non-Qataris enrolled in schools, and percentages by nationality 2015/16

Item	Government schools	Private schools
N umber of schools	191	249
Total number of students	927,107	171,321
Percentage of Qataris	58%	18.2%
Percentage of non-Qataris	42%	81.8%

65.Education is free of charge in Qatar for Qataris, the children of Qatari women, the children of nationals of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the children of employees of the Qatari Government pursuant to a ministerial decree issued by the Council of Ministers at a regular meeting held on 6 June 2012 regarding acceptance [of students] in governmental schools.

66.The children of residents and workers in the private sector are enrolled in government schools for a symbolic fee, which is paid to defray the cost of the main educational resources and school transport in accordance with Law No. 2 of 1962 regulating the public financial policy of Qatar, which covers a number of authorities and institutions working in Qatar, the children of diplomats, etc. in addition to providing exceptions for certain categories who are materially otherwise unable to afford enrolment in private schools.

9.Please provide more detailed information on measures taken to combat child labour and its worst forms, including penalties prescribed by law, and to provide support to victims and promote awareness-raising initiatives about the value of education and the rights of children in that regard. Please also provide information on measures taken to ensure respect for the minimum age of employment and authorized hours of work, including inspections, especially in the agriculture and family business sectors and for domestic workers.

67.Qatar exerts great efforts to combat child labour, including:

1.Signature of the Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labourof 1999, which was ratified in 2001 and thus came into force and has the force of law in accordance with the Qatari Constitution;

2.According to Qatari Law No. 1 of 1994 on juveniles, work by juveniles is not a legitimate source of livelihood, and is one of the reasons which pushes juveniles towards delinquency, as described in article 1, paragraph 2 (a) of the law;

3.According to article 322 of the Penal Code – Law No. 11 of 2004 ‑ persons who exploit or force a person to work, whether paid or unpaid, shall be sentenced to a maximum of six months’ detention, and the law increases the punishment to a maximum of three months detention if the victim is under the age of 16;

4.Article 87 of Law No. 14 of 2004 stipulates that juveniles may not be employed without the authorization of their father or legal guardian and the issuance of special permission to that effect from the Ministry of Labour. According to the same law, juveniles who are to be employed must submit to a medical examination, and according to articles 88 and 89, there are numerous interdictions imposed by the law in order to protect juveniles who work;

5.Provisions governing the weekly hours of work and work during the month of Ramadan are in article 90.The Minister of Civic Service and Housing issued Ministerial Decision No. 15 of 2005 on the types of work for which it is not permissible to employ juveniles, listing the types of work that constitute a risk to juveniles and in which they are not allowed to work. The purpose of these measures is to ensure that the worst forms of child labour are combated. Furthermore, Law No. 22 of 2005 forbids the recruitment, employment, training or other involvement of children in camel racing.

68.Among the measures defined by the law to combat the employment of juveniles are the following:

Law No. 1 of 1994 on juveniles considers that work by juveniles is not suitable as a source of livelihood, one of the reasons being that it predisposes them to delinquency. Article 22 of the law concerning juveniles who are subject to delinquency states that it is the responsibility of the Police Department for Juveniles to keep them in a guidance centre, a specialized government institution established to shelter and care for juveniles subject to delinquency, where they are supervised by the Department of Family Matters of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Matters. The law grants authority to the Juvenile Police to hand over the juvenile to his parents or legal guardian for safekeeping;

Law No. 14 of 2004 on labour stipulates procedures for the inspection of workplaces in order to ensure that employers comply with the provisions of the law, which also specifies punishments for offenders, which may go as far as closure of the establishment.

69.Qatar has ratified a set of six International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, including five of the eight fundamental conventions: the two conventions on forced labour (Nos. 29 and 105), two conventions on child labour (Nos. 138 and 182), and two other conventions, one on non-discrimination in employment (No. 111) and the other on labour inspection (No. 81).

70.The Qatari Labour Law (Law No. 14 of 2004) and amendments contains provisions setting the minimum age and hours of work permissible. Article 86 provides that “Persons under 16 years old may not be employed in any kind of work and may not enter any workplace.”

10.Please inform the Committee about measures taken to raise the minimum age for criminal responsibility, which currently remains at the age of 7, and to bring children aged between 16 and 17 into the juvenile justice system. Please clarify whether life imprisonment is a lawful penalty for offences committed by children above 16 years of age, and whether the death sentence and corporal punishment are permissible under sharia law for offences committed while under the age of 18, and if so, under what conditions.

With regard to life imprisonment for offence s committed by children over 16  years of age, and the question of whether the death sentence and corporal punishment are permissible under sharī‘a law for offences c ommitted while under the age of  18:

71.Having examined the Law on Juveniles (Law No. 1 of 1994), it appears that the category of children under the age of 16 are not included in the exception contained in article 19 of the Law on Juveniles (Law No. 1 of 1994), which makes an exception for juveniles over 14 but under 16 who have committed an offence punishable by death or by imprisonment with hard labour or by flogging. Therefore, children over 16 years of age are punished by this penalty if they commit certain offences specified in the Penal Code (Law No. 11 of 2004).

As to whether the death sentence and corporal punishment are permissible under sharī‘a l aw for offences c ommitted while under the age of  18:

72.It appears that the exception contained in article 19 of the Law on Juveniles (Law No. 1 of 1994), which makes an exception for juveniles over the age of 14 but under the age of 16 who have committed an offence punishable by death or by imprisonment with hard labour or flogging, is not an absolute exception, but rather an offender may be excluded from such exception if he has committed one of the ḥudūd crimes (the most serious crimes in Islamic jurisprudence, against the ḥudūd “limits” of God), as set forth in article 1 of the Penal Code (Law No. 11 of 2004), whereby the provisions of Islamic sharī‘a shall apply in case of the following crimes: ḥudūd crimes involving sirqa ‑ theft, ḥarāba ‑piracy or unlawful warfare, zinā – unlawful intercourse: adultery or fornication, qadhf ‑ adultery, but unsupported by four witnesses, the drinking of alcohol, and ridda ‑ apostasy from Islam, qiṣāṣ crimes (for which qiṣāṣ “retaliation” is allowed as punishment) and diyya crimes (for which diyya “blood money, ransom” is allowed as punishment). The text is qaṭ‘ī d- dalāla “unquestionable in its purport” and its provisions take precedence over the provisions of any other law, including the exceptions contained in Law No. 1 of 1994 on juveniles.

73.With regard to raising the minimum age for criminal responsibility, which currently remains at seven years and covers children from 16 to 17 years under the umbrella of the juvenile legal regime, we note that Qatar has:

1.Ratified the 1995 Convention on the Rights of the Child;

2.Ratified the (first) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict of 2002;

3.Ratified the (second) Optional Protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Child on the on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography of 2010; all are deemed to be in force and to have the force of law pursuant to article 68 of the Qatari Constitution of 2004.

74.In the light of the foregoing, the legislative authorities in Qatar have drafted a bill on the rights of the child which was drawn up on the basis on the principle of the child’s best interest. This bill is expected to constitute an integrated vision of the rights of the child which takes in the various international conventions that Qatar has ratified and which is consistent with the various laws in force in Qatar with regard to the definition of the age of juveniles; the bill is currently before the Standing Committee on Legislative Matters.

11.Please provide information on measures taken to implement the Committee’s recommendations to review the Criminal Code in relation to the coverage of all purposes and forms of the sale of children, equal treatment of women and men in the criminalization of prostitution and the abolition of the requirement of “double criminality” for the prosecution of offences covered by the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (see CRC/C/OPSC/QAT/CO/1, paras. 22 and 24).

Law No. 15 was adopted in 2011 on prosecuting human trafficking, article 2 of which criminalizes all forms of human trafficking, whether within the territory of the State or beyond its national borders, including exploitation for the purposes of prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation or the exploitation of children for that purpose or in pornographic materials, or begging, forced labour, unwilling service, slave labour or similar practices of slavery or indenture, or the ablation of human limbs or tissues or parts thereof. Article 3 of the law stipulates that in order to ascertain the crime of trafficking children or incompetent persons it is not required to use any of the means referred to in article 2 of the said law; similarly, the provisions of the articles referred to do not distinguish between the way in which women and men are treated with regard to criminal responsibility for prostitution.

Law No. 14 of 2014 on combating electronic crime was adopted; article 7 provides for punishment of any person who produces pornographic materials involving children using information technology, or imports, sells, puts up for sale, uses, circulates, transfers, distributes, sends, publishes, makes available or broadcasts pornographic materials involving children, who according to this article are deemed to be those who have not yet attained 18 years of age.

Articles 318, 321 and 322 of Law No. 11 of 2004 (the Penal Code) penalize acts of kidnapping, arrest or compulsion with respect to any person, whether the purpose thereof is material or aimed at inducing the person to engage in prostitution or other such acts. The penalty is increased if the victim is female or a juvenile (or a child), and may include the death penalty if the act results in the death of the victim. The said articles also penalize the sale or purchase or any other form of disposal of a person as a slave or a victim of forced labour. Article 296 of the Penal Code makes liable to punishment any person who induces, incites, lures or seduces a female into prostitution, or who induces, incites or seduces by any means a male into committing an act of homosexuality or lewdness.

Article 11 of the said law on combating human trafficking provides that the competent judicial authorities shall cooperate with their foreign counterparts in fighting human trafficking and pursuing those who engage in it, within the framework of the rules laid down by Law No. 23 of 2004 (the Code of Criminal Procedure) and the bilateral treaties and multilateral conventions in force in the country or in accordance with the principle of treating like alike in such a way that is not counter to the fundamental principles of the legal system of the country. Article 23 of the law referred to on combating electronic crimes provides for the principle of double criminalization, which is deemed to be fulfilled irrespective of whether the laws of the requesting State include the crime in the same category of crimes or use in designating the crime the same term as in the [other] country, provided that the act which is the subject of the request is criminal by virtue of the laws of the requesting State, and recalling that double criminalization is a procedural rule contained in the said Code of Criminal Procedure and is part of the general regime.

12.Please provide information on measures taken to follow up on the recommendations made by the Committee in its concluding observations on the State party’s initial report submitted under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/QAT/CO/1, para. 19).

75.Law No. 31 of 2006 on military service does not allow the conscription of anyone under the age of 18. Consequently, there are no conscripts under the age of 18 in the armed forces. Nor are there children participating in armed conflicts, whether directly or indirectly. The Qatari armed forces enjoy the highest humanitarian standards and observance of human rights with respect to the performance of military service, and training programmes continue to be held in the Qatari armed forces and its educational and training institutions on international protection instituted by international humanitarian law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

Part II

13.The Committee invites the State party to provide a brief update (no more than three pages) on the information presented in its report with regard to:

(a)New bills and laws, and their respective regulations;

(b)New institutions (and their mandates) or institutional reforms;

(c)Recently introduced policies, programmes and action plans and their scope and financing;

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

76.Here are the most important updates on the information contained in the report:

Promulgation of Amiri Decree No. 6 of 2016 on the organizational structure of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Matters, by which the management of family matters was updated with a number of tasks which guarantee the best interests of the child, such as the implementation of national strategies, plans and policies for the family, building the awareness of the community of family and social challenges and issues, implementation of capacity-building projects and programmes for women, preparation and implementation of programmes for the prevention of delinquency among juveniles, rehabilitation of delinquents and dealing with social problems among juveniles, supervision of the role of special social services for the care and rehabilitation of juveniles. The department also takes the necessary measures to care for and protect children of unknown parents, to help recently released prisoners and recovered addicts and their families to adapt and be reinserted in the community, in addition to proposing and implementing national strategies, plans, policies and programmes for the elderly and the disabled, and to supervise and issue permits for nursery schools, to organize conferences, symposia and workshops to discuss all kinds of family matters, in cooperation with other relevant authorities in Qatar;

Adoption of Law No. 1 of 2014 on nursery schools;

Adoption of Law No. 21 of 2015 regulating the entry, residence and departure of immigrants, pursuant to which the kaf ā la(sponsorship) system was replaced by employment contracts, and the [more old-fashioned] term rabb al-‘ amal was replaced with ṣāḥib al-‘ amal for “employer”; the new law allows immigrant workers to move to another employer after the expiry of the fixed-term contract, with the maximum length of fixed-term contracts being five years according to article 40 of the Labour Law. In the case of permanent contracts, the new law allows workers to move to a new job five years after the initial appointment;

Establishment of the Qatar Foundation for Social Action. Qatar has been keen to update the statutes of the civil society institutions established and working under the aegis of the Qatar Foundation for Social Action in order to empower them, develop them, build their capacities, and boost their role in the community so as to enable them to achieve the objectives for which they were established. In June 2015, Qatar amended the statutes of the Social Protection and Rehabilitation Centre (formerly the Qatari Institution for Social Protection and Rehabilitation), thereby strengthening the system of social protection and rehabilitation for vulnerable categories in Qatar such as victims of violence and family break-up, especially women and children. It should be noted that the Centre is a private establishment of public utility and is subject to the rules promulgated in Law No. 21 of 2006 on private establishments of public utility and its amendments;

The Social Protection and Rehabilitation Centre takes all measures conducive to achieving its objectives and boosting its role in the community, such as providing temporary shelter to vulnerable categories, setting up a hotline to receive communications relating to vulnerable categories and to provide the necessary social, psychological and legal advice, as well as providing legal assistance to those who cannot otherwise afford it. The Centre also implements special programmes aimed at empowering and rehabilitating the victims of violence and family break-up, especially women and children, and reinserting them in the community, at raising women’s awareness of their rights and duties and strengthening their self-confidence and capacities, holding symposia and training courses, publishing guidance brochures and booklets and periodicals which are relevant to the objectives and mandate of the Centre;

The Centre also receives all cases that have been subjected to violence, including women and children and other individuals. The Social Protection and Rehabilitation Centre provides all forms of support to the victims of violence, including women and children. The support takes the form of protection, rehabilitation and comprehensive care, irrespective of the victim’s nationality, whether Qatari or non-Qatari, as stipulated by article 4 of the amended statutes of the Social Protection and Rehabilitation Centre;

A draft law of the child was submitted to the Council of Ministers for adoption.

Part III

14.Please provide consolidated information for the past three years on budget lines regarding children and social sectors by indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and the gross national product. Please also provide information on the geographic allocation of those resources.

Table 3Monthly report on beneficiaries of social security for November 2016

	Females	Males	Total beneficiaries	Total amount
Beneficiaries	Amount	Beneficiaries	Amount
Identification of the output	125	715,411.00	56	528,331.00	181	1,243,742.00
Unknown fathers	52	204,000.00	46	180,000.00	98	384,00.00
Needy family widow	456	2,189,013.00			456	2,189,013.00
Needy family	58	409,500.00	803	6,551,343.00	861	6,960,843.00
Maid’s allowance	3,013	11,891,554.00	1,734	5,485,546.00	4,747	17,377,100.00
Abandoned wife	4	24,000.00			4	24,000.00
Divorced woman	1,213	7,403,944.00			1,213	7,403,944.00
Family of a prisoner	22	134,000.00	11	29,000.00	33	163,000.00
Family of a missing person	3	15,000.00			3	15,000.00
Unable to work	2,879	17,883,134.00	460	3,071,430.00	3,339	20,954,564.00
Disabled	471	2,172,750.00	625	2,917,625.00	1,096	5,090,375.00
Elderly citizen	1,521	9,660,922.00	292	1,957,778.00	1,813	11,618,700.68
Orphan	839	3,555,765.00	687	2,824,581.00	1,526	6,380,346.00
Total	10,656	56,258,993.68	4,714	23,545,634.00	15,370	79,804,627.68

15.Please provide, if available, updated statistical data disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin, national origin, geographic location, socioeconomic status and migratory status, for the past three years, on the number of:

(a)Complaints received by the National Human Rights Committee from children or on behalf of children, and those investigated or followed up by the Committee;

77.The Department of Legal Affairs of the National Committee for Human Rights has received over the past three years (2014-2016) a total of 46 complaints, broken down as follows:

36 complaints concerning high school fees for the School for the Enablement of Pupils with Special Needs;

2 complaints concerning obstacles or difficulties relating to registration or acceptance procedures at special schools or centres for children with disabilities;

2 complaints of a refusal to register or accept children without a residence permit in various schools;

1 complaint relating to a request for assistance in obtaining study vouchers for a private school;

2 complaints regarding problems in paying school fees for private schools;

1 complaint concerning a refusal to register or accept a pupil at an independent school;

1 complaint regarding the right to health;

1 complaint relating to family violence.

78.The nationality of persons lodging complaints was 3 Qatari nationals and 43 immigrants (of various nationalities). The National Committee for Human Rights took the normal steps in that regard to investigate the complaint and refer those concerned to the competent authorities, such as the Social Protection and Rehabilitation Centre and also to address written documents on the complaints either to the competent government authorities in order to remove any violations or obstacles preventing those children from enjoying their rights already referred to, or to non-governmental entities such as charities asking them to provide financial assistance to the children, which was in fact provided.

(e)Children living in prison with their mothers;

Table 4Sex and nationality of children living in prison with their mothers in 2016

Sex	Nationality	Age
Female	Philippino	1 year, 3 months
Male	Egyptian	1 year
Female	Indonesian	7 months
Male	Philippino	Newborn
Male	Indonesian	2 months
Male	Indonesian	2 months
Male	Indonesian	3 months
Male	Indonesian	4 months
Male	Ethiopian	Newborn

Table 5Sex and nationality of children living in prison with their mothers in 2015

Sex	Nationality	Age
Female	Philippino	8 months
Male	Indonesian	4 months
Female	Philippino	10 months
Male	Indonesian	Newborn
Female	Indonesian	Newborn

Table 6Sex and nationality of children living in prison with their mothers in 2014

Sex	Nationality	Age
Female	Philippino	2 years
Male	Philippino	2 years
Female	Philippino	2 years, 10 months
Male	Indonesian	6 months
Male	Indonesian	10 months
Female	Indonesian	10 days
Female	Philippino	7 days
Female	Kenyan	Newborn

(f)Children with non-communicable diseases and ill-health, including those who are overweight or obese, have mental health needs and drug and substance abuse issues;

Table 7Narcotics crimes among juveniles in 2013, 2014, 2015

Year	Type of crime	Offenders	Age	Sex
2013	‒	‒	‒	‒
2014	Smuggling narcotics (marijuana)	1	15	Male
2015	Possession of narcotics (marijuana)	1	15	Male

Table 8No. of children consulting clinics for healthy children in the primary health care institution in 2014, 2015

Age group	September-December 2014	January-December 2015
Total visits	No. of patients	Total visits	No. of patients
Birth – 10 years	145,986	80,183	422,619	142,243

Table 9Statistics on clinics for healthy children

Clinical service	No. of visits
2014	2015
Healthy children	139,563	138,688

Table 10Statistics on clinical services for the pre-school period (4-6 years)

Clinical service	No. of visits
2014	2015
Pre-school/School health service	14,383	17,729

Table 11Total number of visits and numbers of patients at primary health care centres, by age groups: Birth – 18 in 2014, 2015

Age group	January-December 2015	September-December 2014
No. of patients	No. of visits	No. of patients	No. of visits
Under 10	142,243	422,619	80,183	145,986
10- 18	66,141	226,360	44,656	103,341
Total	208,384	648,979	124,839	249,327

(i)Working children, disaggregated by the type of work;

79.Article 87 of the Labour Law (Law No. 14 of 2004) provides that “Juveniles shall not be employed without the authorization of their father or guardian and without the issuance of a special permit by the administration. If the juvenile is a Qatari pupil, authorization shall be obtained from the Minister of Education and Higher Education. Juveniles shall not be employed in jobs which, by their nature or pursuant to the conditions of their performance, may harm the health or safety or morals of the juvenile; a decision shall be issued by the minister identifying such jobs.”

(l)Child victims of trafficking who have been identified, and perpetrators prosecuted and sanctioned, as well as information on the types and severity of sanction imposed;

80.It should be noted that there are no children in Qatari prisons; instead, they are placed (for shelter and care) in [facilities of] the Department of Family Matters of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Matters, as prescribed by article 1, paragraph 6, of Law No. 1 of 1994 on juveniles; these are institutions for the social monitoring and care of juvenile deliquents, until such time as they are brought before a juvenile court, the Social Guidance Institution for the shelter and care of juveniles subject to delinquency, the Social Training Institution for the shelter, care, correction and rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents whom the court has ordered to be detained and placed in such institutions.

16.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, geographic location and nationality regarding the situation of children deprived of a family environment, for the past three years, on the number of children:

(b)Placed in institutions, disaggregated by the length of placement;

Table 12Numbers of cases placed in social care institutions

Year	Nationality	Number	Total
2014	Qatari	22	37
non-Qatari	15
2015	Qatari	13	23
non-Qatari	10
2016	Qatari	33	49
non-Qatari	16

17.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability and geographic location, for the past three years, on the number of children with disabilities:

(c)Attending regular primary schools;

(d)Attending regular secondary schools;

(e)Attending special schools;

Table 13Numbers registered in centres for the disabled according to nationality, sex and centre, 2015

Centre	Nationality
Qatari	non-Qatari	Total
Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Qatar Society for the Rehabilitation of Persons with Special Needs	1,816	1,246	3,062	1,515	873	2,388	3,331	2,119	5,450
Shafallah Centre	292	155	447	113	66	179	405	221	626
Audio Education Complex	8	8	16	24	25	49	32	33	65
Al-Noor Institute for the Blind	122	140	262	128	101	229	250	241	491
Doha International Center for Special Needs	25	13	38	46	16	62	71	29	100
Al- Tamakon School	50	17	67	75	31	106	125	48	173
Qatar Cultural and Social Center for the Deaf	73	59	132	132	32	164	205	91	296
Qatar Sports Federation for Special Needs	186	64	250	66	33	99	252	97	349
Qatar Social and Cultural Center for the Blind	68	60	128	70	36	106	138	96	234
Step by Step Centre for Special Needs	0	0	0	60	14	74	60	14	74
Qatar Autism Center and Special Needs	9	3	12	50	15	65	59	18	77
Omega Center for Special Needs Education	0	0	0	37	6	43	37	6	43
Mada Assistive Technology Center	138	45	183	158	70	228	296	115	411
Hope Qatar	0	0	0	17	4	21	17	4	21
Qish Rehabilitation Center	197	161	358	324	190	514	521	351	872
Child Development Center Qatar	21	3	24	57	21	78	78	24	102
Hand in Hand Center to Advance Children with Special Needs	10	14	24	12	12	24	22	26	48
Nedaa Center for People with Special Needs	7	4	11	12	4	16	19	8	27
Sina al-Shams Center for Children with Special Needs	3	2	5	20	9	29	23	11	34
Awsaj Academy	291	89	380	17	7	24	308	96	404
Total	3,316	2,083	5,399	2,933	1,565	4,498	6,249	3,648	9,897

Table 14Numbers of students with disabilities registered in government schools in 2015/16

Nationality	Sex	Number
Qatari	Male	377
Female	320
Non-Qatari	M ale	235
Female	175
Total		1 , 107

Table 15Numbers of students registered in schools according to level in the 2015/16 school year

Level	Qatari	non-Qatari	Total
Primary	407	224	631
Preparatory	144	99	243
Secondary	123	66	189
Joint	23	21	44
Total	687	410	1 , 097

18.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, geographic location and ethnic origin, for the past three years, on:

(a)The enrolment and completion rates, in percentages, of the relevant age groups in pre-primary, primary and secondary schools;

(b)The number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions;

(c)The teacher-pupil ratio.

81.The statistics for the past three years are as follows:

(a)Total enrolment rates

82.The table below gives total enrolment rates for pupils in the various school levels according to nationality:

Table 16Total enrolment rates (last four years)

	2012	2013	2014	2015
Qatari	non-Qatari	Qatari	non-Qatari	Qatari	non-Qatari	Qatari	non-Qatari
Kindergarten	52.7	53.6	57.1	52.4	61.0	54.4	63.3	60.1
Primary	96.9	105.9	98.0	101.3	100.8	102.7	102.5	100.4
Preparatory	98.7	96.1	98.3	100.0	100.1	99.0	98.3	95.5
Secondary	100.3	100.3	96.8	94.0	92.7	98.4	95.8	97.0

(b)Completion rates

83.The following tables show completion rates:

Table 17Completion rates in private schools according to grade, sex and nationalityfor the 2014/15 school year

Grade	Nationality	Completion rates - %
Male	Female	Total
6	Qatari	96.0	98.5	97.3
	non-Qatari	97.9	98.1	98.0
9	Qatari	92.8	95.3	94.1
	non-Qatari	97.1	96.7	96.9
12	Qatari	63.1	84.9	74.6
	non-Qatari	79.4	91.0	85.3

Table 18Completion rates in independent schools according to grade, sex and nationality for the 2014/15 school year

Grade	Nationality	Completion rates - %
Male	Female	Total
6	Qatari	97.0	98.6	97.8
non-Qatari	98.1	98.6	98.4
9	Qatari	93.0	95.8	94.4
non-Qatari	95.5	97.1	96.3
12	Qatari	66.8	85.3	76.1
non-Qatari	88.1	93.6	90.8

Table 19Completion rates in independent and private schools according to grade for the 2014/15 school year

Grade	Nationality	Completion rates - %
Male	Female	Total
6	Qatari	98.8	99.1	89.9
non-Qatari	98.2	98.8	89.5
9	Qatari	93.4	98.1	95.1
non-Qatari	94.4	97.3	96.0
12	Qatari	82.1	88.5	84.5
non-Qatari	93.3	95.6	94.7

(c)Repeat rates

84.The following tables show the repeat rates in schools in Qatar.

Table 20Repeat rates in independent schools according to level, sex and nationality for the 2014/15 school year

Level	Nationality	Failure rates - %
Male	Female	Total
Primary	Qatari	2.1	1.0	1.6
non-Qatari	2.0	1.6	1.8
Preparatory	Qatari	6.6	2.2	4.8
non-Qatari	4.0	2.2	3.2
Secondary	Qatari	13.3	7.7	11.3
non-Qatari	6.6	3.9	5.3

Table 21Repeat rates in independent and private schools according to level, sex and nationalityfor the 2014/15 school year

Level	Nationality	Failure rates - %
Male	Female	Total
Primary	Qatari	3.0	1.5	2.3
non-Qatari	2.1	1.7	1.9
Preparatory	Qatari	9.6	7.6	8.6
non-Qatari	4.2	3.4	3.8
Secondary	Qatari	24.9	10.2	17.4
non-Qatari	9.6	4.6	7.2

Table 22Repeat rates in private schools according to level, sex and nationality for the 2014/15 school year

Level	Nationality	Failure rates - %
Male	Female	Total
Primary	Qatari	3.7	1.7	2.6
non-Qatari	2.2	2.0	2.1
Preparatory	Qatari	11.0	8.9	9.9
non-Qatari	4.5	5.7	5.1
Secondary	Qatari	28.1	10.5	18.7
non-Qatari	14.2	5.7	10.0

(d)Pupil/teacher ratio

85.The following table shows the pupil/teacher ratio at the various educational levels in Qatar.

Table 23Pupil/teacher ratio according to educational level (government and private schools)

Level	School year
2012/ 13	2013/ 14	2014 / 15
Primary	9.9	11.1	11.5
Preparatory	10.2	10.5	11.0
Secondary	9.2	8.9	9.3

19.Please provide the Committee with an update of any data in the report that may have been outdated by more recent data collected or other new developments.

Figure 1Population pyramid