4,275 rights violations by siege states: NHRC

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has recorded a total of 4,275 violations of human rights by the three blockading Gulf states since the start of the unjust blockade in 2017.

This is highlighted in a book published by the NHRC, titled ‘3 years since the blockade of Qatar’, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported yesterday.

In the book, the NHRC refers to the unilateral coercive measures taken by the blockading countries against Qatar and its citizens and residents when they severed diplomatic relations on June 5, 2017, and “gravely violated numerous basic human rights”, QNA said.

The book contains statistics on violations of human rights and freedoms committed by the three Gulf blockading states - Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain against Qatar.

It also features international reports on these violations, international provisions and decisions against the blockade of Qatar, conclusions, legal description, recommendations and a profile of the NHRC in terms of its establishment, functions and its role in promoting and protecting human rights at all levels, as well as it obtaining an ‘A’ rating from the Accreditation Subcommittee of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions.

The book notes that the 4,275 “violations of human rights and freedoms monitored and documented by the NHRC, as a result of the blockade by the three Gulf states”, pertain to the “right to movement, residence, ownership, education, health, work, litigation, the right to family reunification, freedom of opinion and expression, arbitrary detention and concealment, forced incitement to violence, hatred and the right to practise religious rites”. It cites several examples of each of these violations.

Of the total violations, which were recorded through complaints registered by the NHRC, 2,448 were committed by Saudi Arabia, 1,225 by the UAE and 602 by Bahrain, QNA added.

The book also touches upon a series of periodic reports prepared by the NHRC to monitor the negative effects of the blockade on human rights in Qatar. These include reports of special violations such as the deprivation of religious rites and violations of the rights to property, food and medicine, and education.

Further, the book contains reports on general violations, including the report of the Fourth Committee for Human Rights Violations of the State of Qatar as a result of the blockade, titled ‘Six months of violations, what next’, another report titled ‘A year after the continuation of human rights violations by the blockading countries’, and others.

The book also highlights the international rulings and decisions against the blockade of Qatar.

The book, in the section, ‘Conclusions and Legal Characterisation’, notes that the “governments of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain have violated, through their unilateral arbitrary measures, several principles and agreements of the international human rights law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on Women and Children, Persons with Disabilities, and Forced Disappearance, in addition to the Arab Charter for Human Rights and the GCC Declaration of Human Rights”.

The blockading countries have also “flagrantly violated the ‘Chicago agreement’ by prohibiting the movement of Qatari civil aviation over their territories without any military necessity or reasons related to public security”.

The book concludes with recommendations by the NHRC for all parties concerned to take necessary and possible measures to lift the blockade and the resulting violations, and demanding compensation for all the damage caused to all individuals.

The NHRC has submitted these recommendations to the United Nations, Human Rights Council, High Commissioner for Human Rights, the General Secretariat of the Co-operation Council for the Arab Gulf States (GCC) and the Qatari government.

The book has been published in three languages - Arabic, English and Frence - and posted on the NHRC website.