The US administration is not exerting enough pressure to urge the countries of the blockade to stop their violations

Any initiative that does not solve the humanitarian crisis first will not succeed

The UAE has not yet fully complied with the ICJ’s decision

A report on the harassment and obstacles imposed by the UAE on Qatari citizens shall be published soon

The blockade crisis should be included in the annual report of the US State Department

The report on religious freedoms did not address the issue of politicizing religious rites (Hajj and Umrah)

10 Human Rights Council rapporteurs call on the countries of the blockade to stop their violations

Addressing violations needs to define responsibilities and hold perpetrators accountable

The highest priority for diplomacy is to stop the suffering of civilians

The blockading countries had no higher status than the above international law

There are no signs of a breakthrough in the humanitarian crisis in light of the intransigence of the blockading countries

Monday: 1 October 2018

Dr. Ali Bin Samih Al Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee in Qatar, called on the US administration to take a firm stand and urge the blockading countries to stop its grave violations against thousands of families in Qatar and the Gulf States, stressing that the United States does not exert enough pressure to put an end to the suffering of the victims of the blockade, although the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights explicitly condemns these violations, in addition to the advisory decision of the International Court of Justice against the United Arab Emirates.

Al Marri also strongly criticized the failure of the US State Department to include violations of the blockade in its annual report, and ignored the violations of the religious freedoms and the politicization of the religious rituals and prevent the Qataris from Hajj and Umrah, stressing at the same time that the United Arab Emirates is still not fully complied with the decision of the International Court of Justice, and that The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) will submit a full report on the complaints of Qatari citizens regarding the continuation of the UAE obstacles.

In his meeting with Mr. Tim Lenderking is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Gulf Affairs in the Near East Bureau at the U.S. Department of State, and Mr. Michael Kozak, Senior bureau official of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor affairs, US Department of State, Al Marri addressed the latest repercussions of the blockade imposed on Qatar for about a year and a half.

Al Marri praised the efforts exerted by the United States to solve the Gulf crisis, while criticizing the US administration’s efforts to find political solutions to the crisis, as the suffering of the victims worsens and the social fabric of the Gulf society is increasingly torn. “We appreciate your efforts to find a political solution to the crisis, but we hope it will focus more and more on the violations of the rights of citizens and residents of Qatar and even the citizens of the blockading countries,” Al Marri said.

Al Marri added: “There is a clear disregard and insistence by the blockading countries to continue their violations, and with time their positions become more intransigent while rejecting all international calls to resolve the crisis, the latest of which is the position of the Saudi foreign minister who was not embarrassed to confirm his country’s readiness to prolong the crisis. We are not worried about the readiness of the countries of the blockade to reach a political solution to the crisis, as we regret the silence of the international community and the American administration in front of these statements that do not care about the suffering of the victims. Who bear the legal and moral responsibility for their arbitrary actions against those affected.”

Addressing violations needs to define responsibilities and hold perpetrators accountable

Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri called for setting a priority to end the human suffering of the victims of the blockade in any political or diplomatic path, stressing that any initiative that does not solve the humanitarian crisis first will not succeed. In light of the continuing violations and suffering, there are no signs of a breakthrough in the humanitarian crisis. The US administration must be clear in its position towards the violations of the blockade, and we, the National Human Rights Committee, emphasize that the highest priority for diplomatic moves should be to stop the suffering of civilians, Blockade should be above international law. Al Marri added: “The demands go beyond the lifting of the blockade on Qatar; to not involve civilians in any future political conflicts, no matter how severe it is, we cannot allow people to be besieged regardless of disputes and conflicts.”

We call on the US State Department to correct its disregard of the violations of the embargo in its future reports

During his meeting with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Gulf Affairs, Dr. Ali Bin Smaikh, chairman of the National Human Rights Committee expressed his concern about the annual report of the American Foreign Ministry, which ignored the reference to the violations of the blockading countries. “We appreciate the keenness of the United States to monitor the human rights situation And issuing a report in this regard, at the same time we regret and express our concern that the annual report of the US State Department on the human rights situation in Qatar has not addressed the repercussions of the unjust blockade since June 2017, or politicization of the religious rites by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

10 special rapporteurs called on the countries of the blockade to stop their violations

On the other hand, Dr. Ali Bin Smaikh stressed that 10 special rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council, together with the Panel on Arbitrary Detention, sent appeals to the countries of the blockade urging them to stop their violations and discriminatory measures against citizens and residents in Qatar.

The UAE has not fully complied with the ICJ’s decision

The chairman of the National Human Rights Committee called for the imposition of greater pressure on the UAE to comply with the decision of the International Court of Justice on the cessation of the discriminatory measures against Qatari citizens. The UAE has not yet fully complied with the ICJ’s decision, and we have received many complaints about the prevention, harassment and obstacles faced by Qatari citizens, and the National Committee will issue a detailed report on these cases soon. The National Human Rights Committee is determined to take all legal and quasi-judicial measures to follow up the UAE’s implementation of the ICJ’s precautionary resolution and call upon the Security Council to address the UAE’s violations and its failure to comply with the ICJ’s decision.

Al-Marri in a meeting with a delegation from Human Rights Watch

We call on coordination between human rights organizations to address human rights violations

Dr. Ali Bin Smaikh Al Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee in Qatar, called on international human rights organizations to coordinate with each other to address violations of human rights, including violations of the blockade. During his meeting with a delegation of Human Rights Watch officials, Dr. Ali Bin Smaikh Al-Marri gave a briefing on the latest developments in the blockade crisi imposed on Qatar, the moves taken by the National Committee in international forums and the latest developments following the decision of the International Court of Justice Qatari citizens.
Al Marri stressed that the National Human Rights Committee shall continue its efforts to protect human rights regionally and locally, in light of the continuing violations of human rights worldwide, calling on human rights organizations to coordinate to face the increasing challenges and violations of human rights across the world.