A/HRC/45/16/Add.2 address the court or to present evidence; trials in absentia; and failure to afford nonQatari detainees access to consular assistance. 94. The Working Group also expressed concern in relation to other forms of deprivation of liberty, such as administrative detention under security and terrorism legislation, in particular Law No. 17 of 2002 and Law No. 27 of 2019. These permit detention for vaguely worded offences and place the individuals concerned outside the protection of the guarantees against arbitrary deprivation of liberty stipulated in the Penal Code, thus creating a parallel system contrary to articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 95. The Working Group is also mindful of the de facto deprivation of liberty by private actors, and calls upon the Qatari authorities to adopt urgent measures to rectify this in order for Qatar to comply with its obligations under article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 96. Finally, the Working Group noted the need for significant strengthening of the independence of civil society organizations, including human rights groups, which at present are subject to significant restrictions on their establishment and operation that may limit their ability to monitor places of detention, advocate for change in laws and practices, provide advice and engage in awareness-raising. X. Recommendations 97. The Working Group recommends that the Government take the following measures in relation to its international human rights obligations: (a) Become a State party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the two Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. (b) Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and establish its own national preventive mechanism strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Optional Protocol. 98. The Working Group recommends that the Government take the following measures in relation to its national legal framework: Amend the Penal Code to include a definition or clarification of the circumstances in which deprivation of liberty may be considered to be arbitrary in accordance with article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to guarantee compensation and other reparations for such deprivation of liberty. 99. The Working Group recommends that the Government build upon its positive initiatives to address arbitrary deprivation of liberty by taking the following measures: (a) Withdraw all reservations and interpretative declarations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international instruments to which Qatar is a party. (b) Engage with the National Human Rights Committee proactively, especially on the implementation of its recommendations concerning reduced resorting to pretrial detention, regulation of the legal profession in Qatar, administrative detention under the State Security Service Law and the Protection of the Community Law, and the legal framework concerning civil society in Qatar. (c) In order to further advance the National Human Rights Committee, implement the recommendations issued by the Subcommittee on Accreditation, of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, on ways to strengthen the independence of the institution. 17