Geneva: Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) H E Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri criticised yesterday the UAE’s continued violations of the rights of Qatar’s citizens and residents.
He noted that there were 2,105 violations documented since the beginning of the blockade, 1,212 of which occurred following the decision of the International Court of Justice.
Al Marri also announced that a report on the violations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s violations of citizens and residents of Qatar is also close to completion. He said that the report will be presented to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Al Marri said that Abu Dhabi did not establish clear mechanisms to implement the International Court of Justice ruling, stressing that this confirms the country’s continued discriminatory measures against Qatar’s citizens and residents.
The Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee will meet on his Geneva visit with officials from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and presented them with the second report documenting the violations of the UAE of the International Court of Justice’s ruling.
He added that the NHRC will contact the UN Secretary-General, the President of the International Court of Justice, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, head of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, UN Special Rapporteurs, EU Parliament Speakers, in addition to 600 international organizations to call on them to immediately pressure the UAE to follow the ruling of the court and end its violations. He also noted that the committee will send the report to all UN diplomatic missions.
Al Marri unveiled the second report on the continued violations of the UAE of the ruling of the International Court Of Justice regarding the country’s discriminatory measures. The second report’s title is on the UAE’s disregard for the ruling of the International Court of Justice.
It is part of a series of report on the negative impacts the blockade has had on human rights in the State of Qatar. Al Marri said that the report, in addition to the comprehensive data sets it provides, delves deep into some of the cases that confirms the UAE’s failure to adhere to the ruling.
The Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee said that the violations in the report were documented by the committee’s researchers, who met with the victims and verified their stories. The report also included the complaints the researchers received by phone or on e-mail since the beginning of the blockade and after the court ruling.
The report divided the violations into two main categories. The first were the violations of the right to family reunification, right to education, the right to have access to courts. A total of 1212 violations were documented. This category of violations is directly connected to the International Court of Justice’s ruling.
The second category was related to avoid the escalation of the GCC crisis by stopping hate speech against the State of Qatar and its residents.
The breakdown of the 1212 violations were as follows: 90 in the violations of the right to family reunification, 155 violations of the right to education, and 967 violations of the right to sue and have access to courts.
The report said that there was no progress on the 90 violations of the right to family reunification, with families continuing to find difficulty in being together. There were also cases in the report on how some people managed to see their families, and the obstacles placed by the UAE.
The committee’s report also discussed the arbitrary measures taken by the UAE with regards to the right to education. The report said that the State of Qatar has succeeded in resolving some of these cases, but maintained that those students continue to face severe difficulties.