National Human Rights Committee
Doha: The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) said that it was following and is condemning the smear campaign launched by officials from the United Arab Emirates that is aimed at the committee.
The NHRC said in a statement today that the vicious campaigns launched against it by the UAE were a failed attempt to obstruct the work of the committee, which was accredited A status by the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights (ICC), a representative body of national human rights institutions drawn from all regions of the world.
It stressed that these campaigns are part of bigger ones that the government of the UAE have strived to launch against protectors of human rights and against international organizations such as The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch among others. It noted that the UAE had previously made a complaint against the committee to The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) to no avail, as these organizations stressed their support of the NHRC.
The committee also condemned the recent remarks of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, which included accusing the committee of forging documents and international reports. The committee stressed that it has the right to see all legal measures in response to these lies, in addition to approaching the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.
The NHRC said that it was not surprised by these accusations, given that they came from an official who said that he views the diplomatic moves and the legal process as the logic of the weak. The committee maintained that these options were the civilized ones taken by countries who respect international legitimacy, and the human rights system.
The National Human Rights Committee stressed that, despite all the failed attempts of the UAE, it will continue its work in line with the Paris Principles and the international human rights standards in order to expose the UAE human rights violations of citizens and residents of Qatar as well as GCC citizens as well, who suffered as a result of the unjust blockade. The committee added that it will also continue its work of redressing and compensating the victims.
