A/HRC/45/16/Add.2 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 against Torture, 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. It is a signatory to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 10. The Working Group urges the Government to carefully review the State’s current international human rights obligations, with a view to becoming a State party to the abovementioned conventions and optional protocols, as they all contain provisions which, if fully implemented, assist in addressing arbitrary deprivation of liberty and associated human rights challenges. B. National legal framework 11. The Permanent Constitution of the State of Qatar was promulgated in 2004, establishing the principles of the State’s policy: rule of law, separation of powers, independence of the judiciary and the guarantee of fundamental rights and freedoms. 12. Part 3 of the Constitution, entitled “Public rights and duties”, includes provisions protecting against arbitrary detention. Article 36 of the Constitution guarantees the right to liberty of the person, and prohibits arrests, searches and detention that are not in conformity with the law; it also prohibits and criminalizes torture and any degrading treatment. Article 39 protects the presumption of innocence and the guarantees necessary for judicial defence. Article 40 prohibits the retroactive application of criminal law and enshrines the principle of individual criminal responsibility. 13. The Penal Code, of 2004, which was amended in 2011, criminalizes illegal arrests, as well as detention without a conviction by public officials, under its article 163. It imposes higher penalties for deprivation of liberty by non-State officials, such as kidnapping and abduction, in its article 318. The Penal Code does not contain provisions defining what may amount to an arbitrary deprivation of liberty, nor any guarantee of compensation for such deprivation of liberty. 14. The Criminal Procedure Code, of 2004, makes provision for important rights relating to the deprivation of liberty. For example, its article 40 prohibits arrests or detention without an order “issued by the competent authorities, and in the cases prescribed by the law”, and stipulates that “the arrested person shall be treated in such a way that maintains his human dignity”. The suspect must be informed of the right to remain silent and to communicate with any person. III. Good practices and positive developments Accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 15. The Working Group welcomes the accession by Qatar to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in May 2018. This represents a major step forward in acknowledging civil and political rights, including the right to liberty, under article 9, and the right to fair trial, guaranteed by article 14. However, reservations and statements made at the time of accession limit the scope of its protection. For example, Qatar stated that it would apply its own interpretation of the provisions concerning punishment under article 7, freedom of conscience under article 18 (2), freedom of association under article 22, and the right of religious minorities to practise their religion under article 27. Enforcing these reservations could result in the detention of individuals for peacefully exercising their rights. The Working Group urges the Government to withdraw all reservations and interpretative declarations to the Covenant and to other international instruments to which Qatar is a party and to fully embrace the international human rights commitments set out in these instruments. 4