UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) Karen Smith said that the State of Qatar is one of the most prominent supporters of various United Nations organizations. She also said that it is important for the United Nations to have strong relations with various regional actors such as Qatar. In an interview with Qatari newspaper Al-Sharq, Smith praised Qatar's distinctive role in presenting the region's issues in international conferences and forums, noting the importance of Doha's recent hosting of the International Conference on "National, Regional and International Mechanisms to Combat Impunity and Ensure Accountability under International Law". She also said that it is important at all regional, international and local levels to reach the stage of activating the mechanisms of accountability so as to prevent the impunity for criminals on one hand, and protect innocent people on the other hand. The importance of the international conference, she said, comes as some countries in the region are witnessing bloody events, such as Syria, Yemen, Libya and other areas of conflict, pointing out that the conference witnessed several meetings that discussed the bloody events in the region such as Syria and the crimes committed there against innocent, civilians and defenceless people, as well as various issues and files regarding the African continent with participation from all over the world. Any file on human rights and violations of rights in a region is considered a global concern and concerns the rest of the world, Smith said, adding that the Middle East has great challenges and the international community must work together to address these challenges. Regarding the blockade imposed on Qatar, she said that it is important to separate political differences from those of peoples, and therefore any country should look at human rights and the different challenges facing the world. As for Qatar's repeated demand in various institutions of the international community to stop impunity and ensure accountability for crimes under international law, she stressed that Qatar played a positive role in this regard in all international forums, pointing out that serious and sincere governments take practical steps to prevent impunity both through governmental and non-governmental organizations. About the best means to prevent impunity, UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect stressed that one of the most important means of preventing impunity is the role of the international community, where there have been discussions about the need to activate the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC), stressing that besides the international dimension, there is also a need to activate regional and national institutions responsible for accountability under the law. It also is important that the international community intervene with its institutions to protect citizens and innocent people in conflict areas from inhumane violations and crimes, she added.

Source: Press Release

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Leena Chung

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