Meeting

The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR)’s Council of Commissioners convened its 19^th teleconference meeting under the chairpersonship of Ms. Maria Khoury, Chairperson of the Council, and membership of Mr. Khaled Alshaer, Vice-Chairperson of the Council, Dr. Bader Mohamed Adel, Head of the NIHR’s Committee on General Rights and Freedoms, and Dr. Malallah Alhammadi, Head of the NIHR’s Committee on Detention & Facilities Visitation.

The Chairperson of the Council reviewed the NIHR’s actions during the Corona pandemic, including field visits to places of correction and rehabilitation, follow-up of complaints related to the impact of the precautionary measures taken by the State on human rights, the issuance of statements and news on Coronavirus and awareness messages posted on the social media.

During the meeting, the Council discussed the results of the visits conducted by the NIHR to places of isolation, treatment and precautionary quarantine in order to identify the national efforts to combat Coronavirus (Covid-19) and meetings with some medical staff and isolated and quarantined persons.  The Council report has been adopted and shall be submitted to the concerned authorities over the coming days.

The Council also discussed the request received from the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women on the impact of the Coronavirus on domestic violence against women, where Ms. Khoury stated that a number of government bodies and civil society institutions have been contacted to obtain information on that issue.  It was agreed that the heads of the NIHR’s permanent committees shall develop proposals for action in the next stage relating to expatriate workers, their responsibilities and the methods of their protection, as well as the responsibilities of the employers, and shall inform the Council of Commissioners of such proposals to be presented at the next Council meeting.  The Chairperson of the Council also presented a brief on the videoconference call with the Asia-Pacific Forum (APF) on the development of technical work and cooperation that the APF shall provide in support of the NIHR’s work under such circumstances.

At the end of the meeting, the Council adopted the NIHR Secretariat-General’s proposal for the action plan in the area of training and education during the second half of 2020 that has been prepared based upon NIHR’s strategic points and action plan for the years 2019 - 2021, which will focus on holding a number of lectures, round tables and training programs remotely by videoconference on the Coronavirus (Covid-19) and its effect on a number of basic human rights, such as the right to health and the right to work, as well as on the expatriate workers and to what extent they enjoy their human rights, and on combating trafficking in persons.  Such events shall be presented by the members of the Council of Commissioners, each in their field of specialty.  They shall also invite the public, interested parties and human rights defenders to participate.