Qatar insists on support for terrorism victims

New York, The Gulf Observer: The State of Qatar has called on the international community to provide all forms of support to victims of terrorism and to guarantee their rights in accordance with obligations under international law, reiterating its commitment to strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism through an integrated holistic approach.
In its statement delivered by HE Major General Dr. Nasser Saeed Al-Hajr Vice-Chairman of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee, during the ministerial session of the United Nations Global Conference on Victims of Terrorism, which concluded today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Qatar reiterated its condemnation and denunciation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and its rejection of all terrorist acts as unjustifiable criminal acts, regardless of their motives, wherever and by whomever committed.
The statement affirmed the State of Qatar’s commitment to strengthening international cooperation to prevent and combat terrorism through an integrated holistic approach, noting that terrorism causes great and long-term pain and suffering to its victims, their families and communities, expressing Qatar’s deep solidarity with the victims of terrorism everywhere.
The statement pointed out that it is the duty of the international community to remember the victims and survivors of terrorism, to promote their rights and preserve their dignity, and to provide them with the support they need to meet their needs, including medical, psychological, legal and material support, and to provide them with means of recovery, resilience and access to their legal rights, in accordance with obligations under the international and domestic law, and in particular, recognize the human rights of women and child victims.
The statement stressed that supporting victims of terrorism is a moral duty, in addition to being an integral part of effective efforts to combat terrorism, especially given the role that victims can play in combating terrorism and in criminal justice, noting that the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy includes the commitment of states Members to consider establishing national systems for providing assistance to meet the needs of victims of terrorism and their families, and to facilitate the restoration of their lives to normal.
The statement also pointed out that the General Assembly, in its recent review of the global strategy, encouraged member states to provide appropriate support and assistance to the victims, considering that “from this point of view, concern for the victims of terrorism occupies a place in the priorities of the State of Qatar to combat terrorism, especially since supporting the victims is consistent with its values in upholding human rights and dignity and providing humanitarian assistance to those in need, and that this support is in line with Qatar’s keenness to establish justice, ensure accountability and prevent impunity.
In this regard, HE Major General Dr. Nasser Saeed Al-Hajr Vice-Chairman of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee highlighted the support provided by the State of Qatar to the United Nations team to enhance accountability for crimes committed by the organization ISIS (UNITAD), noting that it is within the framework of the annual support provided by Qatar to support the strategic initiatives of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office, as it is one of the funders of the global program to support victims of terrorism, and welcoming, in this context, the achievements made by the program in the areas of awareness, policies, coordination, technical assistance, amplify the voices of victims of terrorism and enhance their role in preventing and combating violent extremism.
His Excellency pointed to the various activities of the program, whether organizing annual celebrations on the International Day of Victims of Terrorism, coordinating the creation of their own group of friends, facilitating the development of model brochures and legislative provisions in favor of the victims, and establishing the online portal to support them, as well as the global network of victims, all the way to this important conference, outlining the role of the program office on parliamentary participation in preventing and combating terrorism hosted by Doha with the support of the Shura Council of the State of Qatar.
His Excellency indicated that the office is working on facilitating the development of legislative models to activate the role of parliaments in a number of related fields, including the rights of victims of terrorism.
His Excellency also stated that issues related to victims of terrorism were among the topics of the first forum for beneficiaries of technical assistance organized by the Government of the State of Qatar and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office in Doha last March, where it was emphasized that counter-terrorism strategies take into account the participation of civil society organizations, including victims’ associations and victims themselves to ensure a focused perspective.
His Excellency stated that in the framework of multilateral action in support of the victims of terrorism, the State of Qatar was one of the founding countries of the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism, and was one of the main sponsors of draft resolution 73/305 entitled “Enhancement of international cooperation to assist victims of terrorism”.
In this regard, His Excellency said, “In order to honor and support the victims and survivors of terrorism and to promote and protect their full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, the State of Qatar joined the countries that submitted draft General Assembly resolution 72/165 entitled International Day of Victims of Terrorism.” His Excellency praised the efforts of the victims of terrorism participating in the conference, especially as it involves reminiscent of their tragedy, stressing that “they and other survivors of criminal terrorist acts are a living witness that these acts are a danger that threatens everyone, and that their remarkable steadfastness should be an incentive to do what they can to ensure that their tragedy is not repeated and to eradicate the scourge of terrorism.” The delegation of the State of Qatar to the conference included HE Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Counterterrorism and Mediation in Conflict Resolution Dr. Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani, a member of the Committee.
It is worth noting that the Global Conference on Victims of Terrorism, 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, of which the State of Qatar is a major funder, in the framework of its partnership with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.
This conference, which was inaugurated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, witnessed the presence of high-level officials from Member States, as well as a number of victims of terrorism and representatives of victims’ associations from around the world. It was chaired by the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov, as well as two foreign ministers of the Republic of Iraq and the Kingdom of Spain as co-chairs of the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism.