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QNA
Doha
THE National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has urged siege countries to respect basic rights of people, calling on the international community to mount presure on them to lift the siege.
In its fourth comprehensive report issued by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday, NHRC called for submitting a detailed report on violations to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the special rapporteurs of states and the contractual mechanisms in order to address them and ensure that they are not repeated.
NHRC said in the report that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has to present reports and data on the different types of grave violations, especially with regard to the displacement of families and its impact on women and children.
In its recommendations to the Human Rights Council (HRC), NHRC called for all possible measures to get the siege lifted, violations stopped and victims compensated for the damages caused to them. It also called for establishing a fact-finding committee to meet directly with the victims.
The NHRC further urged the UNHRC to respond promptly to the committee's reports and victims' letters by issuing urgent appeals to the governments of the siege countries to lift the blockade and compensate for the damages caused to people due to it.
The NHRC has also sought field visits to Qatar and the siege countries to identify human rights violations as a result of the siege and document them in periodic reports to be submitted to the Human Rights Council.
Besides, the NHRC has sent its recommendations with regard to lifting of siege, compensation for victims and curbing fresh arbitrary measures to the general secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Meanwhile, the NHRC report calls on siege countries to abide by the human rights conventions ratified by them, respond to the charges of violations against them, compensate the siege victims and allow visits by international agencies to monitor the situation.
It also urged siege countries to not to use humanitarian and social issues as a pressure tactic to take political mileage in violation of international human rights law.
The report also featured recommendations to the Qatari government, including taking all possible steps at the international level and the Security Council, international courts and arbitration committees to get the siege lifted.
It also called upon the Compensation Committee to accelerate litigation process and facilitate integration of students in Qatari universities.
NHRC noted in its report that the siege countries have not responded to the reports submitted to them on the ongoing violations caused by the siege since June, adding that the Committee continues to monitor the impact of the violations and documenting them.
The latest NHRC report features testimonies for new victims whose basic rights were violated by the siege countries, in addition to the efforts the Committee has taken to monitor and document the violations.
In its report, NHRC has addressed some 450 human rights organisations and international and regional government and non-government organisations, calling for urgent action to address the effects of the humanitarian crisis caused by the siege.
The report pointed out that unlike siege countries, the Qatari government did not take any actions against the citizens of the siege countries.
As part of its efforts to tackle the violations, the committee said it addressed human rights organisations in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt but to no avail. Barring the National Council for Human Rights in Egypt, no organisation responded to the Committee's letter.
