Arab Network Magazine 2021-E-Version

News
monitoring.
In his opening speech, Mr. Issam
Yunus, Head of the ANNHRI, Commissioner-General
of the Independent
Commission for Human
Rights in Palestine, said that the
exceptional circumstances the
world is witnessing due to the
spread of the Corona pandemic
dictate that national human rights
institutions need to work diligently
to ensure and protect human
rights. He further noted that an
effective role for national institutions
is now needed more than
ever. Mr. Yunus indicated that the
Corona crisis has demonstrated
the ability of national institutions
to work with innovative mechanisms
to complete their work,
especially monitoring places of
detention, including quarantine
places. He also pointed out in this
context that the Palestinian
Authority has followed up the
conditions of places of detention
and worked to improve them
without having to visit them in
person except in cases described
as exceptional. "These cases
required taking all precautionary
and preventive measures against
the disease for fear of its transmission
to the inmates and to
preserve the health of the workers
in the Commission," said Mr.
Yunus. At the same time, he
stressed the importance of
getting acquainted with and
exchanging international experiences
in this context, and getting
acquainted as well with the practical
experience of the Association
for the Prevention of Torture and
making use of it in the work of
national human rights institutions.
For his part, Mr. Sultan bin Hassan
Al Jammali, Executive Director of
the Arab Network, Assistant Secretary-General
of the NHRC-Qatar,
welcomed the participants and
thanked the organizers of the
webinar, stressing, in a press statement
after the webinar, the importance
of exchanging experiences
and expertise among national
human rights institutions in the
event of health crises because of
their prominent role in the
process of protecting and promoting
the right to health and following
up precautionary procedures
and the exceptions resulting
therefrom in restricting some
freedoms. Mr. Al-Jammali
expressed his hope that the
participants in the webinar would
bring out the best practices and
transfer them to their institutions
to achieve maximum benefit as
per their mandates during the
monitoring and follow-up of cases
epidemics.
Besides, Ms. Audrey Olivier
Muralt, representative of the Association
for the Prevention of
Torture, furnished an overview
about the objectives of the webinar,
and the most prominent activities
and events carried out by the
Association during the Corona
pandemic. Ms. Olivier stressed
that the pandemic has forced
regulatory bodies to think differently
in order to continue fulfilling
their obligations in alternative and
innovative ways and in a manner
that respects the principle of "Do
no harm". In his turn, Mr. Alexis
Comninos of the Association for
the Prevention of Torture
reviewed the Guidance Note on
the Association's monitoring
methodology. He also moderated
the dialogue and organized the
interventions.
Meanwhile, the agenda of the
webinar provided an overview of
the results of webinars, where the
participants discussed observance
of places of detention in
light of the Covid-19 virus, covering:
evaluation, accountability and
promising practices. During
discussing this theme, participants
experiences were exchanged.
Furthermore, the workshop
agenda included guiding questions
about specific challenges
facing the implementation of the
observance mission in the context
of the national institutions carrying
out their duties in the process
of promoting human rights in
correctional and penal institutions,
and in places where there is
deprivation of other freedoms
under the spread of the Corona
pandemic. In addition, participants
exchanged best practices
through alternative methods of
conducting remote observance
activities without the need to visit
places of detention. This is in
addition to methods to apply the
“Do no harm” principle in practice
(including the use of personal
protective equipment) in case it is
necessary for a field visit. They
also discussed questions of the
most important issues identified
by the national institutions as
being of particular concern.
In the meantime, participants
from Morocco, Algeria, Egypt,
Iraq, Palestine, Jordan and Oman
reviewed the experiences of their
national institutions in the field of
observance of places of detention
and quarantine and reviewed
mechanisms used to achieve that.
They also reviewed the best
practices that should be taken
during their cooperation with the
competent authorities on solving
the problem of overcrowding in
detention centers, and the risks
that would threaten detainees.
They pinpointed their success
stories in persuading the authorities
to temporarily and exceptionally
release some detainees who
were not dangerous to society,
and to prioritize health and safety
considerations according to legal
standards and procedures aimed
Arab Network Magazine 5