The Universal Periodic Review of Qatar under previous Cycles 6. In its State report under the previous UPR of June 2014, 27th session, Qatar did not address any of the issues raised in this submission; namely, gender discriminatory nationality laws, the statelessness challenges in the country, or arbitrary deprivation of nationality.5 However, Qatar received four recommendations – from Argentina, France, Greece, Mexico and Norway to amend its nationality law to remove gender-based discrimination. Argentina, for instance, recommended that Qatar “Strengthen measures to ensure gender equality, particularly in the transmission of nationality to the children of women married to non-citizens,”6 The government of Qatar supported Argentina’s recommendation, and, on 15 August 2015, rejected the other four.7 7. No recommendations were made with regard to addressing the statelessness and human rights protection of various communities in the country, or the arbitrary deprivation of nationality. Qatar’s International Obligations 8. The co-submitters welcome Qatar’s accession to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in May 2018. Under Article 68 of Qatar’s Constitution, pursuant to Amiri decrees numbers 40 and 41 of 2018, dated 4 September 2018, the Covenants come into force following publication of the decree in the Official Gazette.8 9. Despite this positive development, the sweeping reservations made to both Covenants in respect to gender equality and declarations that appear to undermine the object and purpose of the Covenants, are regrettable.9 It remains to be seen how the two treaties will impact on Qatari domestic law in respect to nationality and citizenship At the time of writing however, the gaps in domestic law and policy and the challenges that many individuals and groups face in relation to their right to a nationality, detailed below, are all in clear violation of the international obligations of Qatar. 10. The state is not party to either the 1954 or the 1961 UN Statelessness Conventions. However, Qatar, as a member of the United Nations is obligated by the Charter of the United Nations to promote “universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for 5 Qatar’s 2014 UPR report, A/HRC/WG.6/19/QAT/1, dated 14 February 2014, can be found vai the UPR country page: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/QAindex.aspx 6 Paragraph 122.36, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review - Qatar, A/HRC/27/15, 27 June 2014 7 See: Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review - State of Qatar: Addendum - Views on conclusions and/or recommendations, voluntary commitments and replies presented by the State under Review,A/HRC/27/15/Add.1, 15 August 2015. The recommendations were, specifically: 124.35 Continue to strengthen protective measures and legal rights for women, and give full citizenship rights to the children of Qatari mothers and non-Qatari fathers (Norway);124.36 Consider granting Qatari nationality to the children of Qatari women married to foreign nationals (Greece); 124.37 Achieve real progress with regard to women’s rights by reforming the Nationality Act, to ensure gender equality and to give Qatari women the right to transmit their nationality to their children, and by withdrawing reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Optional Protocol thereto (France) and 124.38 Amend the legislation to eliminate discrimination against women with respect to the transmission of nationality to their children and the registration of civil acts (Mexico). 8 See the 4 September 2018 statement, HH The Amir Issues Three Decrees, accessible at: https://www.diwan.gov.qa/briefingroom/news/general/lg/2018/040918/lg08?sc_lang=en 9 For a summary assessment of Qatar’s accession to the two covenants, see: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/25/qatar-joinscore-human-rights-treaties where there are links to the accession documents. 2