A/HRC/45/16/Add.2 National Human Rights Committee 16. The establishment of the National Human Rights Committee in 2002 has been a significant step in the promotion and protection of human rights. The Working Group commends its work as an important interlocutor between the State and individuals or groups. The Working Group associates itself with many recommendations issued by that Committee and calls upon the Government to engage with it proactively, especially on the implementation of its recommendations. The Committee and the Government should engage on implementing the recommendations made in 2015 by the Subcommittee on Accreditation, of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, to strengthen the independence of the institution. Oversight over places of deprivation of liberty 17. Several State entities have the authority to monitor places of detention in Qatar. Under article 395 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Public Prosecution has the right to enter places of detention to ensure that there are no illegally imprisoned persons; this includes examining the registers and the arrest and imprisonment orders, and hearing complaints from those deprived of their liberty. In addition, the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Interior is authorized to conduct unannounced visits to penal and correctional institutions to ascertain the conditions of detention. 18. The National Human Rights Committee is also mandated to visit places of detention and to conduct its activities independently, under articles 3 (10) and 4 of Decree-Law No. 17 of 2010. The Committee has formed a specific visiting committee to carry out such tasks, which reported 94 visits in 2018. 19. However, it is not clear whether and how the visits by all these bodies are having an impact. The Working Group received no further information about the impact of their visiting mandate, or about the follow-up activities they undertake to ensure compliance with their recommendations. According to testimony received during the visit, most detainees have not had an opportunity to meet with the National Human Rights Committee, the Public Prosecutor or the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Interior, when these bodies carry out their respective monitoring visits, or have received no response or follow-up to requests for assistance. 20. The legal provisions for these bodies to carry out visits are positive in principle, as regular oversight over all places of deprivation of liberty has a significant role in reducing arbitrary detention. However, such visits must serve as an effective tool in protecting the rights of those deprived of their liberty and the oversight mechanisms must devise robust strategies for follow-up to their recommendations. 1 The Working Group calls upon the Government of Qatar to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and to establish its own national preventive mechanism. This would provide essential, independent and regular oversight into the circumstances surrounding the deprivation of liberty and would oblige the respective authorities to follow the recommendations issued by the national preventive mechanism. Detention before sentence 21. Under article 350 of the Criminal Procedure Code, any term of imprisonment commences on the day of arrest, and previous periods of detention for the same offence will be deducted from the sentence to be served. Stakeholders confirmed that this provision was consistently applied in practice, with the period of arrest and time spent in pretrial detention taken into account in determining the length of criminal sentences. The Working Group commends this approach. 1 CAT/C/QAT/CO/3, paras. 21–22. 5