Triumphant Qatar stays united

DOHA: The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has received 4,105 complaints from citizens and expatriates relating to 12 types of violations by siege countries, revealed Committee’s annual general report on a year of blockade.

“The legal moves of the NHRC have succeeded in pushing the blockade countries to admit that they have committed violations against citizens and residents of Qatar, ” said Dr Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri, Chairman of NHRC.

He said that the steps of the NHRC at all levels have had a significant impact in reducing the escalation of violations. Al Marri was speaking at a press conference held at the headquarters of NHRC.

“According to the annual general report on a year of blockade, the NHRC received 4,105 complaints relating to 12 violations reported by the NHRC including violations of the right of movement, residence, family reunification, property, education, health, work, litigation and the right to practice religious rites, right to security of the person and freedom from arbitrary detention, the right to a remedy for enforced disappearances, hate speech, incitement and violence,” said  Al Marri.

He said that the total number mentioned in the report refers to samples of the violations, where the number of victims exceeds hundreds of thousands. Among the people affected are citizens from of siege countwries  who were afraid to approach the NHRC.

The report noted that what Qatar and its people experienced during the past year amounts to a crime of aggression and attack against sovereignty, economy and society.

He said that the aim of the present collective punishment and blatant violations in all areas and the use of peoples as a leveraging tool, was to achieve political goals, which they failed to achieve. “Their plan has already failed and the violations continue,” said Al Marri.

He further said that when the blockading countries took these irresponsible and illegal measures, they thought that there was no system, mechanism or laws to stop them.  “However, what happened in fact was the opposite. Their actions were condemned by international public opinion which in turn put them into a moral and legal dilemma that would remain a black spot in the history of the GCC and its people,” he added.

Since the first day of the blockade, NHRC has been intensively engaged with more than 450 international organisations, with the aim to prove with evidence that Qatar and its people are exposed to arbitrary and unilateral measures that constitute a crime of aggression and unjustified blockade.

“We have succeeded since the early days not only in documenting the violations, which are the first fundamental step in preserving rights and redress of the victims, but also in bringing international condemnation,” said Dr Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri (below), Chairman of NHRC.

“We have also succeeded in establishing legal accountability through filing of complaints and the implementation of quasi- judicial proceedings in the framework of the international human rights mechanisms.” he added. He said that the moves of the NHRC had a significant impact in reducing the escalation of violations.

“Despite attempts by the countries of the blockade during the past year to hide the truth, deny violations, and portray the matter as a diplomatic and economic siege affecting the state and not its people, they failed miserably to promote this in international forums where they lost the battle,” he added.

“The countries of the blockade have failed to address the legal moves of the NHRC, despite their public relations offices and misleading media. They also failed to undermine the credibility of the NHRC despite the distortions and official complaints submitted against the committee to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions,” he added.

“We succeeded in bringing international condemnation, accountability. However, we have not yet achieved the recovery of rights because as it takes time before the courts and tribunals,” he said.

“We resorted to the international system when we did not find any response from the countries of the blockade, civil society organizations in those countries, and human rights mechanisms in the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Secretariat General Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States,” Al Marri added.

He said that the NHRC had sought  legal avenues  to obtain international condemnation of the blockade and its repercussions. “International human rights organizations have condemned the suffering of citizens and residents of the GCC countries, led by the OHCHR, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), along with many parliamentarians across the world.”

All the cases and complaints received by the NHRC, he said, were submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteurs each according to their mandate, where six Special Rapporteurs issued urgent appeals to the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and seven special rapporteurs issued an urgent appeal to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He said that recently, Qatari citizens have been targeted by the Saudi authorities while traveling outside the State of Qatar, including illegal arrest, arbitrary detention, and forced disappearance.

“The NHRC is working to prosecute the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia locally, regionally and internationally for the psychological damage caused to pilgrims and material losses to the campaigns, due to the politicization of religious rituals.”

He said that the NHRC will continue to document violations, lodge complaints and raise the issue of the suffering of victims on all international human rights platforms. “The Committee will also continue to submit all cases and complaints before the UN international human rights mechanisms and specialized international agencies until the matter is decided.

“The NHRC will continue to publicise violations by raising the concerns before international public opinion, international organizations, the media, parliaments and governments.”