The State of Qatar participated in the United Nations Global Conference on Victims of Terrorism, held on September 8 and 9, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, in the presence of high-level officials from United Nations Member States, a number of victims of terrorism and representatives of victims’ associations from various countries. around the world.
The delegation of the State of Qatar participating in the conference was headed by Major General Dr. Nasser Saeed Al-Hajr Vice-Chairman of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee with member of the committee HE Dr. Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani, Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar for Counterterrorism and Mediation of Conflict Resolution, attending as a member .
In the statement of the State of Qatar during the ministerial session of the conference, HE Major General Nasser Saeed Al-Hajri reiterated the State of Qatar’s condemnation and denunciation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and its rejection of all acts of terrorism as criminal acts that cannot be justified, regardless of their motives, wherever committed and whoever perpetrated them. He also reiterated the Qatar’s commitment to strengthening international cooperation to prevent and combat terrorism through an integrated holistic approach.
HE Al Hajri pointed out that terrorism causes great and long-term pain and suffering to its victims, their families and communities, expressing Qatar’s strong solidarity with the victims of terrorism everywhere. He stressed that the international community has a duty to remember the victims and survivors of terrorism, promote their rights and preserve their dignity, and provide them with the support they need to meet their requirements, including medical, psychological, legal and material support, providing them with means of recovery, resilience and access to their legal rights.
In this regard, HE Al Hajri affirmed that these rights come in accordance with obligations under international law and applicable domestic law, in particular, the recognition of human rights guaranteed to women and children who are victims. He saw this as a moral imperative, as well as an integral part of effective counter-terrorism efforts, especially given the role that victims can play in counter-terrorism and in criminal justice.
He pointed out that Member States committed themselves in the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy to considering the development of national systems to provide assistance to meet the needs of victims of terrorism and their families and to facilitate the return to their normal course of life, noting that the General Assembly, in the recent review of the global strategy, encouraged Member States to provide support and appropriate assistance to victims.
His Excellency said: “From this standpoint, caring for the victims of terrorism is a priority that the State of Qatar attaches to combating terrorism, especially since supporting the victims is in line with its values in upholding human rights and dignity and providing humanitarian assistance to those in need, and this support is in line with the State of Qatar’s keenness to establishing justice. ensuring accountability and preventing impunity.” In this regard, the Deputy Chairman of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee referred to the support provided by the State of Qatar to the United Nations team to enhance accountability for crimes committed by ISIS, and said that the State of Qatar is one of the funders of the global program to support victims of terrorism, pointing to the annual support presented by the State of Qatar to support the strategic initiatives of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.
In the same context, HE Major General Dr. Nasser Saeed Al-Hajri, Vice-Chairman of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee, welcomed the achievements of the global program to support victims of terrorism, in the areas of awareness, policies, coordination and technical assistance, making the voices of victims of terrorism heard and enhancing their role in preventing and combating violent extremism, referring to the multiple activities of the program including both organizing of annual celebrations to mark the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, coordinating the establishment of a group of friends of victims of terrorism, facilitating the development of model brochures and legislative provisions for victims of terrorism, establishing the online portal to support victims of terrorism, as well as the global network of victims, leading to the important conference that We participate in it today.
He also pointed out that the “Programs Office on Parliamentary Participation in Preventing and Combating Terrorism” hosted by Doha with the support of the Shura Council in the State of Qatar is working on goals, including facilitating the development of legislative models to activate the role of parliaments in a number of related areas, including the rights of victims of terrorism.
His Excellency stated that issues related to victims of terrorism were among the themes of the first forum for beneficiaries of technical assistance organized by the State of Qatar and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism in Doha last March, pointing to the affirmation that counter-terrorism strategies take into account the participation of civil society organizations, including victims associations and the victims themselves, to ensure a perspective focusing on them.
He said that the State of Qatar is one of the founding countries of the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism, within the framework of multilateral action in support of victims of terrorism, and that it is one of the main sponsors of draft resolution 73/305 entitled: “enhancement of international cooperation to assist victims of terrorism”, referring to its accession to the submitting countries to the Draft General Assembly resolution 72/165 entitled “International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Terrorism”, in order to honor and support victims and survivors of terrorism and to promote and protect their full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Major General Nasser Saeed Al-Hajri praised the efforts of the victims of terrorism participating in the conference, which involve reminiscent of their tragedy, stressing that they and other survivors of criminal terrorist acts are a living witness that such acts are a threat to all, adding that their remarkable steadfastness should be an incentive to do everything possible to ensure that their tragedy does not recur and to eradicate the scourge of terrorism that it has caused.
HE the , Secretary-General of the United Nations, opened the United Nations Global Conference on Victims of Terrorism, while his Under-Secretary for Counter-Terrorism, Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, chaired it, along with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq and the Kingdom of Spain, as co-chairs of the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism.
The World Conference on Victims of Terrorism – as the first high-level conference on victims of terrorism convened by the United Nations – comes within the framework of the achievements of the United Nations global program in support of victims of terrorism, which the State of Qatar is a major funder of, in the framework of its partnership with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
