Qatar has turned a review at the UN Human Rights Council of its human rights record into an opportunity to promote itself as a excellent tourist destination.
The so-called Universal Periodic Review or UPR process is touted as the number one reform of the Council over its discredited predecessor, the UN Human Rights Commission.
In theory, the UPR is a "review based on objective and reliable information, of the fulfillment by each State of its human rights obligations and commitments..."
In practice, the UPR has become a favorite place for the worst violators of human rights to present themselves as human rights champions - or in Qatar's case - as a tourist paradise.
On May 6, 2014 the UN staff set up an unusual display for the UPR at the Palais des Nations in front of the Room XX where the UPR of Qatar will be formally conducted on May 7, 2013. The display includes a big screen with the words "State of Qatar - Universal Periodic Review"; a Qatari flag; a TV; and 3 tables filled with numerous publications purporting to show Qatari human rights "achievements" and - several brochures by the "Qatari Tourism Authority".
The "human rights" display of Qatar gracing the UN building in advance of the "human rights" review includes: "Map of Doha – Welcome to Qatar"; "Qatar your destination – discover a spirited world of enjoyment and relaxation in 48 hours" and "Qatar Mini Visitors' Guide" which includes tips on where to shop, places to stay and a few words in basic Arabic which "may earn you a smile when out and about".
The publications include, for example, "Qatar Labor and Worker's Guide" with "employees' guidelines" such as "don't eat or drink in public during Ramadan" and "don't escape, run away under any circumstances". However, there is no mention of migrant domestic workers which, according to an Amnesty International report, face "forced labor, physical and sexual violence" in Qatar.
The Qataris also decided to display its "Guide to Human Rights Standards in Detention Facilities and Penal and Reformatory Institutions" which aims to "improve" human rights in Qatar in "a fair and balanced manner". Apparently, "fair manner" in Qatar means imprisoning women convicted for pregnancy out of wedlock, and interpreting sharia as allowing corporal punishment "including court-ordered flogging in cases of alcohol consumption and extramarital sex by Muslims."
Also displayed was the antisemitic 2004 Arab Charter on Human Rights, obligingly translated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Charter "reject(s) all forms of racism and Zionism, which constitute a violation of human rights and a threat to international peace and security" and states that "All forms of racism, Zionism and foreign occupation and domination constitute an impediment to human dignity and a major barrier to the exercise of the fundamental rights of peoples; all such practices must be condemned and efforts must be deployed for their elimination."