The GCC countries confirmed that they had taken note of the report of the Independent Expert on the human rights of older persons and the delicate issues it addressed regarding the legal capacity of older persons and how to guarantee their rights.
This came in the statement delivered by Her Excellency Dr. Hind Abdulrahman Al Muftah, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva, on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in her capacity as Chair of the Gulf Group, during the interactive dialogue on the report of the Independent Expert on the human rights of older persons, within the framework of the fifty-seventh session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
In this context, she pointed out the importance of this issue being subject to more precise oversight and clearer and more comprehensive standards, ensuring the informed consent of the elderly before wrongly concluding that they are incompetent, which leads to dire consequences for their financial and legal rights, and increases their vulnerability within healthcare frameworks.
The GCC countries expressed their regret for the examples included in the report documenting the many aspects of violations against the elderly, and affirmed their complete rejection of all forms of exploitation and discrimination against them. They also called for imposing severe penalties on the perpetrators of these violations and for joint action at the international level to enhance the protection and fortification of this group.
The Gulf States indicated that all the laws and legislations they have adopted, at the national or collective level, including the Declaration of Human Rights of the Gulf Cooperation Council States, focus on protecting and caring for the rights of the elderly, as they are a priority group with established rights under the law, as well as in accordance with the customs and characteristics of the Gulf society, which attaches great importance to this group.