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Malek Helali
Doha
SINCE the first day of the blockade, the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has continuously engaged in intensified communications with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and specialised international agencies regarding the blockade imposed on Qatar, according to the Chairman of the NHRC Dr Ali bin Smaikh al Marri.
"We have addressed more than 450 international organisations and have demonstrated evidence that the State of Qatar and its people are being subject to arbitrary and unilateral measures that constitute a crime of aggression and unjustified blockade," al Marri said.
"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 we also succeeded in bringing international condemnation and accountability against the siege countries," he added.
During a recent press conference organised by the NHRC, al Marri had also noted that all the major international organisations and the United Nations condemned the blockade countries and sent them official letters of condemnation and reports documenting the violations to be submitted to the Human Rights Council.
"We have also succeeded in bringing legal accountability through the filing of complaints and the implementation of quasi-judicial proceedings within international human rights mechanisms. Owing to the confidentiality of the proceedings, details of these cases cannot be disclosed," the NHRC chief explained.
The moves of the national committee have had a significant impact in reducing the escalation of the blockade violations. These movements have curtailed the will of these countries to go further with their violations of the rights of the people within the region and the citizens and residents of Qatar, according to al Marri."It is true that the law criminalising sympathy with Qatar was applied to some of the blockade countries' citizens, but the NHRC's moves in collaboration with the international community prevented its widespread application and prevented their prisons from filling with their own citizens as a result of this criminalisation," he added.
The NHRC chairman further noted that, during the first year of the siege, the NHRC has taken several measures aiming to limit the impact of the blockade and its violations of human rights.
He explained that first, the NHRC reached out to different international organisations to obtain global condemnation of the blockade and its repercussions."We have succeeded in this as international human rights organisations led by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have condemned the violations against citizens and residents of the GCC countries followed by other organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as the Human Rights Subcommittee of the European Parliament, along with many parliamentarians across the world," al Marri said.
Furthermore, al Marri noted that the NHRC followed the course of the special procedures, where all the cases and complaints received by the NHRC were submitted to the United Nations special rapporteurs, according to their specialisation.
He said that six special rapporteurs issued urgent calls to the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates and seven special rapporteurs issued an urgent call to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to disclose the mechanisms and measures taken to lift the injustices caused by the siege."These communications are considered as a frank condemnation by the rapporteurs putting great pressure of international accountability on the blockade countries and proving that Qatar has been subjected to unilateral arbitrary measures."
Moreover, the NHRC chief said that the committee also followed the courses of quasi-judicial and judicial proceedings against the blockading countries. He noted that these processes require a long time both in terms of preparation of files and procedures and consideration of the competent judicial bodies both at the national level of Qatar, the courts in the countries of the blockade, and the competent international judicial bodies. He added that the Compensation Commission has contracted an international law firm for this purpose.
Finally, al Marri said that the NHRC sought the path of international arbitration concerning the affected companies and individuals who have property in the blockade countries."I can say that the NHRC has been able to make many movements in different courses in a very short time and will continue its efforts in order to ensure justice for the blockade victims," al Marri said.
