Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

List of issues prior to submission of the combined second to fourth reports of Qatar *

A.Purpose and general obligations (arts. 1–4)

1.Please provide information about steps taken to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention.

2.Please provide information about:

(a)Measures taken to overcome the medical and charity approaches to disability, and bring legislation relevant to persons with disabilities into line with the Convention, (CRPD/C/QAT/CO/1, para. 8), including the current status of the draft law on the rights of persons with disabilities presented to the National Human Rights Committee in 2015 and the areas of the Convention developed therein;

(b)Measures taken to recognize discrimination on the basis of disability, in the Permanent Constitution, and to withdraw provisions that are discriminatory against persons with disabilities or on the basis of disability;

(c)The extent to which the Qatar National Vision 2030 and its related strategies, such as the National Autism Plan (2017–2021), mainstream the rights of persons with disabilities, and the budget allocations to accomplish disability-related goals (HRI/CORE/QAT/2019, paras. 19–21);

(d)Processes used to identify non-Qatari persons with disabilities, particularly migrant workers, and recognize their rights under the Convention.

3.Please describe the mechanisms in place to involve persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, in public decision-making procedures, including in initiatives of the Advisory Council and the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics.

B.Specific rights (arts. 5–30)

Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)

4.Please provide information on:

(a)Legislation and policies protecting persons with disabilities from multiple and intersectional discrimination on the basis of gender, age, disability and migrant status. Please report on the situation of older persons with disabilities, including those in residential institutions;

(b)Mechanisms in place to monitor progress on equality and inclusion of persons with disabilities in society, and complaints mechanisms and remedies available for persons with disabilities in cases of discrimination. Please describe the competency of the National Human Rights Committee to address disability-based discrimination;

(c)Legislation recognizing the denial of reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities as a form of discrimination in all spheres of life.

Women with disabilities (art. 6)

5.Please provide information on:

(a)The social, economic and political situation of women and girls with disabilities, and measures taken to promote their participation in society and combat stigmas and prejudices against them (para. 14);

(b)General legislation and public policies addressing the rights of women and girls with disabilities, and gender equality legislation and programmes that include measures to address the situation of women and girls with disabilities.

Children with disabilities (art. 7)

6.Please provide information on:

(a)Steps taken to systematically collect information about children with disabilities and assess their level of access to mainstream services in the community, and any programmes in place to promote their inclusion in society on an equal basis with other children;

(b)Measures taken to provide adequate support for adolescents with disabilities to help them start an independent life when they reach adulthood (para. 16).

Awareness-raising (art. 8)

7.Please provide information on:

(a)Measures taken to eliminate disability stereotypes and negative perceptions of persons with disabilities in families and in society;

(b)Strategies adopted in the education system and among religious leaders, government officials, judges and members of the Advisory Council to raise awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities enshrined in the Convention;

(c)Human, technical and financial resources available within the Qatar Social Work Foundation to promote attitudes of respect for the rights of persons with disabilities.

Accessibility (art. 9)

8.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The mandate and competencies of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment to monitor and reinforce the implementation of accessibility standards in all areas of the Convention;

(b)Measures taken to promote universal design for all new and existing buildings and public services, information and communications and social media, transport and services open or provided to the public.

Right to life (art. 10)

9.Please indicate measures taken to establish a formal moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to completely abolishing it, including with regard to persons with disabilities.

Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (art. 11)

10.Please provide information on measures taken to establish a targeted, sustainable humanitarian emergency framework to ensure the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others, and specifically in the context of the public health emergency resulting from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, please inform the Committee about the measures taken to provide persons with disabilities with accessible information concerning the virus’s scope and prevention of the virus; to ensure continuous access to support and mainstream community services, including in-home care and personal assistance; to provide equal access to health care, including life-saving measures; and to ensure that disability pensions and social benefits are guaranteed at all times.

Equal recognition before the law (art. 12)

11.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Legal reforms aimed at eliminating the guardianship and sponsorship regimes that particularly affect women with disabilities and persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities;

(b)Measures taken to establish supported decision-making mechanisms for persons with disabilities, in accordance with article 12 (4) of the Convention;

(c)Measures taken to promote the rights of persons with disabilities, including women with disabilities, to inherit property and to have access to loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit, and measures taken by public and private financial entities to facilitate access to banking services by persons with disabilities.

Access to justice (art. 13)

12.Please describe:

(a)Procedural and age-appropriate accommodation provided for persons with disabilities in judicial proceedings, and measures taken to remove barriers faced by women and girls with disabilities in terms of access to justice (CEDAW/C/QAT/CO/2, para. 16 (c));

(b)Steps taken to establish training for court staff, judges, police and prison staff to uphold the rights of persons with disabilities in the justice system (para. 26).

Liberty and security of the person (art. 14)

13.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures taken to repeal provisions in legislation that allow for the deprivation of liberty on the basis of disability, in particular for persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities;

(b)Provisions in Act No. 16 (2016), on mental health, on the recognition of the free and informed consent of the person concerned in relation to mental health-care services;

(c)The percentage of persons with disabilities deprived of liberty in psychiatric settings who are in that situation as a result of deviation from the guarantees of due process of law in criminal proceedings concerning them, and measures to review the decisions concerned.

Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment(art. 15)

14.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures taken to prohibit corporal punishment (CAT/C/QAT/CO/3, para. 32), including in care homes and other institutions, and to prevent the use of chemical, mechanical and physical restraints in psychiatric institutions and other institutional settings;

(b)Steps taken to abolish the use of isolation and physical or chemical restraints on children with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities;

(c)Measures taken to recognize the ill-treatment of persons with disabilities as a criminal offence, the percentage of investigations of alleged ill-treatment against persons with disabilities, and the convictions imposed on perpetrators.

Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (art. 16)

15.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Mechanisms in place to collect data on violence against persons with disabilities, disaggregated by age, sex and migrant status, and the number of complaints and of criminal investigations opened and completed in the past five years in relation to cases of violence against persons with disabilities;

(b)Strategies adopted to prevent, identify and report cases of violence, trafficking and exploitation against persons with disabilities inside or outside the home, in institutions, and in the community;

(c)Measures in the National Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons (2017–2022) and related programmes to address the rights of children with disabilities who are victims of trafficking or any form of exploitation;

(d)Redress and reparations available for persons with disabilities facing violence;

(e)Formal and independent oversight authorities that monitor all facilities and programmes designed to serve persons with disabilities, in accordance with article 16 (3) of the Convention.

Protecting the integrity of the person (art. 17)

16.Please inform the Committee as to whether the State party has fully prohibited the forced sterilization of women with disabilities and about measures taken to protect the integrity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons with disabilities.

Liberty of movement and nationality (art. 18)

17.Please provide information about:

(a)The legislative framework concerning the exercise of the right of persons with disabilities to acquire and change nationality;

(b)Measures taken to halt the detention of migrants with disabilities in immigration facilities, and to implement the principle of non-refoulement in accordance with the State party’s obligations under international human rights law;

(c)Measures taken to ensure that children with disabilities, including children born to migrant parents, are registered at birth.

Living independently and being included in the community (art. 19)

18.Please provide information about:

(a)Measures taken to promote the rights of persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community, and to address factors of exclusion of persons with disabilities;

(b)The type of support services available to persons with disabilities, including personal assistance;

(c)Measures taken to deinstitutionalize persons with disabilities, including children, older persons and women with disabilities.

Personal mobility (art. 20)

19.Please provide information on access to mobility equipment and aids for persons with disabilities, and the development of low-cost mobility equipment and products to enhance personal mobility in accordance with the principles of universal design.

Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information (art. 21)

20.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Whether the State party recognizes and promotes the use of Qatari Sign Language and measures taken to involve the Qatari deaf community in processes regarding sign language policies, projects and activities (para. 40);

(b)Existing broadcasting services that are accessible to deaf persons,the development of publications in Braille and the provision of audio description, interpretation and captioning of video content.

Respect for home and the family (art. 23)

21.Please provide information on:

(a)Steps taken to review and amend legislation restricting the rights of women with disabilities to marry, found a family, retain their fertility and exercise parental responsibilities (para. 42);

(b)Measures taken to prohibit the separation of children from their parents on the basis of the disability of the child or of one or both of the parents;

(c)Available forms of support for families with persons with disabilities to raise their children at home;

(d)Measures taken to prevent concealment, abandonment, neglect and segregation of children with disabilities.

Education (art. 24)

22.Please provide information about:

(a)Measures taken to adopt and implement quality inclusive education for persons with disabilities, regardless of national origin, migrant status or type of impairment, and to reorient resources from special education to inclusive education;

(b)Measures taken to address the refusal to register students with disabilities, and to ensure the enrolment of non-Qatari hard-of-hearing or deaf children in nursery schools;

(c)Mechanisms available to provide reasonable accommodation and individualized support to students with disabilities in mainstream schools.

Health (art. 25)

23.Please inform the Committee about measures taken:

(a)To ensure the provision of information in accessible formats concerning public health-care services and the availability of sexual and reproductive health services for persons with disabilities, especially women and girls with disabilities;

(b)To train health professionals on the rights of persons with disabilities;

(c)To ensure the continuity of health services and treatment for persons with disabilities returning from other States parties.

Habilitation and rehabilitation (art. 26)

24.Please provide information about measures taken to establish comprehensive habilitation and rehabilitation services in the community, covering physical, mental, social and vocational aspects in addition to health-related issues.

Work and employment (art. 27)

25.Please provide information about the percentage of women and men with disabilities in the formal employment market, and indicate:

(a)Whether the measures on equality and non-discrimination in Act No. 15 (2016) – the Civil Human Resources Act – are applicable to employees with disabilities, including non-Qatari persons with disabilities;

(b)Programmes in place to increase the employment rate of persons with disabilities, particularly women with disabilities, in both the private and the public sectors, and mechanisms in place to eliminate barriers to access by persons with disabilities to employment;

(c)The outcomes of transition programmes for persons with disabilities from unemployment or employment in sheltered workshops into formal employment in the open labour market;

(d)Measures taken to provide financial and technical support for entrepreneurs with disabilities in all sectors of the economy;

(e)Measures taken to ensure that persons with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodation in employment.

Adequate standard of living and social protection (art. 28)

26.Please provide information about:

(a)Measures taken to mainstream disability into the national strategy to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals;

(b)General or specific social protection schemes recognizing allowances and benefits for persons with disabilities. Please indicate the coverage of social protection for persons with disabilities in urban and rural areas and in insular territories;

(c)Mechanisms for persons with disabilities to have access to land and housing loans.

Participation in political and public life (art. 29)

27.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures taken to recognize the right of persons with disabilities, including women with disabilities, to vote and to be elected to public positions in political and administrative bodies at the national and municipal levels, and to allow persons with disabilities assistance in voting by a person of their own choice (para. 52);

(b)Measures taken to enable persons with disabilities, including women with disabilities, to establish organizations of persons with disabilities, and join political associations concerned with public and political life. Please indicate the financial and technical support provided for independent associations;

(c)Measures taken to promote the advocacy role of organizations of persons with disabilities and other associations concerning the rights of persons with disabilities in society, besides their humanitarian and philanthropic work.

Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport (art. 30)

28.In the light of the State party’s accession in 2018 to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, please explain how far it has gone in taking appropriate measures to ensure the accessibility of libraries, audiovisual materials and broadcast services to persons with disabilities.

29.Please provide information about the extent to which tourism policies and practices are inclusive of persons with disabilities, and measures taken to increase awareness about the World Tourism Organization Recommendations on Accessible Tourism among travel agents and tourism agencies.

C.Specific obligations (arts. 31–33)

Statistics and data collection (art. 31)

30.Please provide information about:

(a)Systems used to collect data on persons with disabilities, including migrant workers who have acquired an impairment;

(b)Measures taken to include the Washington Group short set of questions on disability in the national census of 2020;

(c)Mechanisms implemented by the national statistics authority and other public agencies to include the situation of persons with disabilities in the national reporting procedures related to the 2030 Agenda.

International cooperation (art. 32)

31.Please provide information about international cooperation programmes focusing on persons with disabilities in all areas of the Convention, and about how the State party fosters regional mechanisms to promote the recognition and participation of persons with disabilities in Arab culture.

National implementation and monitoring (art. 33)

32.Please provide information about:

(a)The focal points designated, including in the Council of Ministers, for the implementation of the Convention, and mechanisms in place to coordinate cross-sectoral policies for disability inclusion;

(b)The way in which the process to adopt a national human rights action plan takes into account the rights of persons with disabilities;

(c)Human, technical and financial resources available to the National Human Rights Committee to monitor the implementation of the Convention;

(d)Mechanisms in place to engage with persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in monitoring their rights.