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QNA
New York
THE Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani on Tuesday said that the world faces serious security, political and economic threats and challenges that do not respect national borders of countries and put to test the United Nations (UN) as a framework for collective security.
Addressing the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, HH the Amir said that the international community, if it wants to achieve global security and stability, should go beyond managing crises and seek comprehensive and just solutions to them in accordance with the provisions of international law and away from selectivity, double standards and policy of imposing a fait accompli by force.
"We realise the importance of the existence of a comprehensive international reference reflected in a legitimate international order in which the rule of law prevails. It has become necessary to expedite the reforms required for the United Nations organisations to shoulder their responsibilities to achieve the noble goals of the organisation and to respond to the aspirations of peoples for peace and sustainable justice, which is the theme for the discussion at this session.
"More than a year after the illegal blockade imposed on the State of Qatar, many facts were revealed about a pre-arranged campaign of incitement against it, beside the insinuation and fabrications used to create the crisis. In the meantime, the international community recognised the falseness of the allegations that had been propagated against my country to justify these premeditated measures in a flagrant violation of the international law and the basis of relations between nations, and the values and norms of our peoples.
"Despite all the measures taken to inflict harm on Qatar's security and stability and create hardships for its people, in addition to launching an economic warfare to hinder its development process, Qatar's economy continued to grow vigorously and consistently. After the unjust siege, Qatar remained an active player in the regional and international arenas. Qatar has also maintained its advanced and leading rankings vis-a-vis the countries of the region in global indicators, especially in the areas of human security and human development. This has strengthened the Qatari people's faith in their potentials, values and principles, and cemented social cohesion.
"Believing in the soundness of our legal position and in the necessity of peaceful settlement of disputes and in dialogue as the best way to resolve crises, we have been, and still are, positively responsive to all the appreciated efforts of brotherly and friendly nations to end this crisis through an unconditional dialogue based on mutual respect for the sovereignty of nations. In fact, it is not reasonable that differences in views about handling some regional issues lead to paralysing the effectiveness of an important regional organisation such as the Gulf Cooperation Council. The blockade on Qatar has harmed the reputation of the GCC countries, and the ensuing paralysis has reflected negatively on the Council's role in regional and global issues. We hope that we will all transform the Council's current plight into an opportunity for reforming it and putting forward binding mechanisms to resolve the differences among its states through intra-dialogue, to avoid any similar recurrence in the future.
"It is not sensible for our Arab region to remain a hostage to some marginal differences, which are fabricated in our case, and which consume efforts and energies and waste funds exceeding what we need to allocate to the just causes that are supposed to be agreed upon by us."
HH the Amir added:"Only a little progress has been made on the lingering issues of the Middle East, especially the Palestinian cause, which is the last vestiges of a colonial past in our world. The political process, which began 25 years ago, presented an example of a departure from the United Nations terms of reference to frameworks outside the UN - some had perceived that as the best and fastest way in settling and finding solutions to it - supported by the Arab states in line with respecting the Palestinian decision, but that has resulted in further stalemate and complexity. Now we are witnessing attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause through the liquidation of issues relating to the permanent solution such as Jerusalem, refugees, sovereignty and borders.
"Just national issues can't be solved by being subjected to the balance of power between the occupier and the occupied, but can only be solved in accordance with principles such as the right to self-determination and inadmissibility of annexation of territories of others by force, which have become part of the international legitimacy.
"The deterioration of the situations in the Palestinian territories, particularly the inhumane conditions in the Gaza Strip, the suffocating siege it reels under, and the continued construction of settlements in the occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank, portend grave consequences and lay a historic responsibility on the Security Council.
"We reaffirm the importance of negotiations and the resumption of their tracks, but that will require commitment to the resolutions of international legitimacy, foremost of which is the two-state solution, and the Arab peace initiative, on the basis of East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian State, on 1967- borders. Moreover, there can be no solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict without a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause.
"We abide by this position, which is consistent with international legitimacy and dictated on us by the human conscience. But Israel rejects this just settlement.
"Qatar will spare no effort to provide various forms of material and political support to the brotherly Palestinian people and to continue to work with all the international actors in the Middle East peace process to clear the difficulties that obstruct the resumption of the peace negotiations, in accordance with the terms of reference and resolutions of international legitimacy."
"On Syrian crisis, HH the Amir said:"After the elapse of more than seven years, the international community is still unable to find a solution to the exacerbating Syrian crisis with all its aspects and dangerous consequences. In addition to the tragedies experienced by the Syrian people, they are worried and frustrated that the crimes of genocide, mass displacement and wholesale death in prisons under torture could become a common practice that the international community can get accustomed to.
"The failure to deter the Syrian regime from committing crimes through the war waged against its people on the one hand, and not to be held accountable after committing them on the other, would render the international law and the human rights law meaningless. This will have serious consequences for the prevailing values in our world by raising the existing ceiling for using violence to suppress the aspirations of peoples and trampling on the rights of citizens and people in our region.
"We are facing a humanitarian, moral and legal catastrophe that obligates the international community to speed up reaching a political solution that stems the Syrians bloodshed, fulfils their aspirations for justice and freedom, maintains Syria's unity and sovereignty and achieves security and stability in Syria and the region in accordance with the Geneva-1 Communique and relevant Security Council resolutions."
"Regarding the Yemeni issue, we confirm the firm position of Qatar, which is keen on the unity, independence and territorial integrity of Yemen. We call upon all the Yemeni parties to the national reconciliation to end the conflict on the basis of the Security Council Resolution 2216, the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and the outcomes of the National Dialogue.
"From this platform, I appeal to active states in the international community to help the brotherly Yemeni people by taking measures to address the grave humanitarian situation there and to facilitate free access of humanitarian assistance to all areas in Yemen. On this occasion, I announce Qatar's agreement with the United Nations to fight cholera in Yemen by supporting projects related to combating the causes of the disease and to halt its spread."
"As for the Libyan crisis, which has recently witnessed developments posing threats to its security and territorial integrity, we look forward to restoring security and stability to the country despite the enormous challenges. We note that foreign intervention in Libyan affairs further complicates the crisis, preventing a national consensus sought by the Libyan brothers, and contradicting the Security Council's resolutions. We reiterate our support for the Skhirat agreement signed in December 2015 and all its outcomes.
"In brotherly Iraq, we once again express our appreciation of the efforts of the Iraqi Government to restore stability and achieve national reconciliation through collaboration with all political parties and components of Iraqi community. We value the successes and sacrifices of the Iraqi people in the fight against terrorism and extremism in all its forms and reaffirm our keenness to support them in the process of reconstruction and development."
"There is consensus that terrorism has become one of the most outstanding challenges facing the world because of the real threat it poses to international peace and security. We affirm the firm position of Qatar in rejecting all forms of terrorism anywhere in the world, regardless of the reasons and pretexts.
"The fight against terrorism is among our priorities at national, regional and international levels. We have developed legislative and institutional systems, fulfilled international obligations related to the fight against terrorism and its financing and participated in all relevant international and regional efforts.
In our view, there are necessary prerequisites to make the war on terrorism achieve its goal and not to turn into a self-contained goal:
1. International cooperation in combating violence resulting from extremism and violence directed against civilians to terrorise them and to damage civilian facilities for political ends.
2. Unifying the standards of fighting terrorism so that its definition does not selectively depend on the religious or ethnic identity of the perpetrator.
3. Addressing its roots and causes; studying the political, social and cultural backgrounds that contribute to its breeding, and working earnestly to achieve just settlements to lingering issues that feed anger and frustration.
4. Avoid giving partisan connotation to the term 'terrorism' that allows nations with narrow interests to justify tyranny and repression of political opponents and affects the credibility of the fight against terrorism.
"Qatar believes that educating youth and their comprehensive participation represents the first line of defence for the collective security system and is an important factor in fighting terrorism and building peace and stability. Thus, we have committed ourselves to educating 10 million children and providing economic empowerment to half a million young people in our region and in collaboration with the United Nations we carried out projects to promote employment opportunities for young people.
"Human development and the protection and promotion of human rights are at the forefront of the priorities of Qatar which pursues its efforts at the legislative and institutional levels to implement its National Vision 2030 that emphasises human development. This month, Qatar has acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
"Qatar has recently promulgated a law regulating the issue of political asylum in the country to follow suit the developed countries, and another law granting the right to permanent residence in the State under conditions prescribed by law. It has also decided to invite several international human rights organisations to establish regional offices for them.
"No one doubts the utmost importance of the development of information and digital technology and digital means of communication. However, a series of events recently experienced by several countries reminded us that new needs have emerged that were previously unknown, such as the freedom of access, and the need to protect the private sphere of citizens from the risk of hacking. It also alerted us to the cyber security of nations. These are cross-border issues because of the nature of the technology itself. Qatar and other countries have suffered from digital piracy and digital espionage, and that has prompted us to strongly emphasise this issue and to be willing to work with United Nations organisations to regulate it legally. We propose convening an international conference to examine ways to have this matter regulated by international law. We express our readiness to host this conference," HH the Amir concluded.
