Islamabad, January 24, 2018 (PPI-OT):The Technical Committee of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights visited Doha during the period from 17 to 24 November 2017 to discuss with the government agencies of the State, the National Human Rights Committee, civil society organizations and other concerned parties to review the human rights violations resulting from the Gulf crisis and to discuss the possibility of providing technical support to the authorities including the National Human Rights Commission, and to submit a report to the High Commissioner for Human Rights clarifying the situation of human rights situations resulting from the crisis.
The technical mission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights met with a number of stakeholders during its visit to the State of Qatar, including a number of ministries and government agencies, Qatar News Agency, local newspapers, Al Jazeera network and Qatar Airways. It also met with a number of expatriate workers and regional representatives of UNESCO and the United Nations Office on Drugs and crime.
One of the most important findings of the report is the recognition by the technical mission that the economic and human potential of the state enabled it to absorb shock and protect the population from catastrophic economic and social problems. However, the shock resulting from the decision and the direct and serious impact of the unilateral measures on many individuals had a great psychological impact on the entire population.
The report added that the crisis was characterized by lack of dialogue between its parties despite the efforts of the Kuwaiti mediation, which faltered and noted the great resentment of the lack of any movement by the regional organizations and the role of the Gulf Cooperation Council and measures aimed at individuals on the basis of their nationality being Qataris can be classified as it is a disproportionate and discriminatory measure.
The Technical Mission also noted that the majority of the measures are broad and unguided, without any distinction between the Government of Qatar and its population, and thus constitute the basic elements of the definition of unilateral measures as outlined by the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council “The use of economic, commercial or other measures by a State or group of States or international organizations acting independently to force a change in the policy of another State or to pressure individuals, groups or entities in the target States to influence the course of action without the authorization of the Security Council”.
The great economic impact of the crisis can take a stance of an economic war with the existence of financial losses for the state, companies and individuals and also with the loss of confidence of investors. The shock of immediate decisions has had a major psychological impact on the population and this has been exacerbated by hostile media campaigns that have been taking place since early June and continue to date.
The Committee noted during its visit that most cases had not been resolved and were likely to have a lasting impact on victims, particularly those related to family dispersal, loss of property and denial of access to it, which confirms the fact that violations continue to be widespread and systematic that is considered an important element for the intervention of the United Nations mechanisms concerned with the human rights violations such as the holders of the special procedures concerned.
The Committee noted that national institutions, in particular the National Human Rights Commission, had sought immediate solutions, particularly for affected students, so they engaged in a series of contacts with regional and international mechanisms and sought to work with national human rights institutions in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain (in vain) and Egypt (where the latter cooperated with the reports). The mission received a detailed report prepared by the National Claims Commission on the impact of the crisis on individuals, including their impact on human rights and was informed that the State of Qatar has hired a private company in a Swiss law firm to consider possible legal proceedings against the countries of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
For more information, contact:
Qatar Embassy in Islamabad
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-2270833, +92-51-2270768
Website: http://islamabad.embassy.qa/en