A/HRC/45/16/Add.2 Approach to psychosocial care 22. The approach of the Hamad psychiatric hospital has been, as far as possible, to conduct community-based outreach and to encourage the provision of care in the community. This means that the psychiatric hospital is reserved for those whose care cannot be provided in the community. The Working Group highly commends this approach, as it prioritizes personal liberty, rather than institutional care, and seeks to reduce the stigma surrounding psychosocial disability. 23. The Government should increase its efforts in the provision of appropriate and adequate professional medical care in the community to detained persons affected by psychosocial disabilities. In addition, the Government should ensure that the personnel and resources available at the psychosocial care facility in Doha remain sufficient to meet the needs of the community, consistent with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 24. The Working Group was also informed about the initiative undertaken by the Hamad Medical Corporation to provide the requisite psychosocial care to those who are detained and serving sentences in places of detention in Qatar, through a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Interior. While it is not clear that this agreement has been fully implemented in practice, this is an exemplary initiative which the Working Group welcomes. The Working Group urges the Government of Qatar to lend its full support to further strengthening the cooperation between the Hamad Medical Corporation and places of deprivation of liberty. IV. Deprivation of liberty in the context of the criminal justice system Criminalization of certain non-violent acts 25. The Working Group is seriously concerned at the criminalization of a wide range of non-violent acts in Qatar. These include adultery, intimate relations outside marriage, debt, absconding from an employer, sorcery, disobedience to parents, begging, consumption of alcohol and substance abuse. The Working Group observed numerous detainees who were being held under provisions of the Penal Code criminalizing these acts. 26. Under article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the right to personal liberty must be the norm, and deprivation of liberty shall constitute an exception to it. It is an obligation of Qatar, as a party to the Covenant, to resort to detention on an exceptional basis. The Government should review its Penal Code to significantly reduce the number of offences punishable by deprivation of liberty, bearing in mind the principles of necessity and proportionality. The sentences of those serving periods of imprisonment should be reviewed to determine whether they remain proportionate. Prompt presentation before a judicial authority 27. According to article 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code, a person who has been arrested must be transferred to the Public Prosecution within 24 hours. Under article 117, if the Public Prosecution decides to detain the accused, it can do so for four days, a period which is renewable for a further four days, after which the person is to be brought before a judge. 28. This process, which may result in the accused being detained for up to nine days before being brought before a judicial authority, is contrary to article 9 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which requires that accused persons be brought promptly before a judge. The accused must be brought before a judicial authority within 48 hours of arrest;2 any delay must remain absolutely exceptional and be justified by specific circumstances. 2 6 CAT/C/QAT/CO/3, paras. 13–14.