Qatar protests boycotting countries’ threats to target Al Jazeera

Ali bin Samikh Al Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar (NHRC), responded to threats made by the Boycotting Countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt) to target Al-Jazeera in Doha.

Al-Marri said in statements published by Qatar News Agency (QNA): “The Committee will not remain silent in the face of incitement from Boycotting Countries against Qatari media professionals and outlets, which amounted to explicitly targeting Al-Jazeera.”

Al-Marri said: ”the Gulf crisis has reached a climax, which increased the concerns and fears of the peoples of the Gulf regions”, highlighting that “the success of any regional and international alliances depends on ending this crisis and stopping violations committed by the four Boycotting Countries.

He went on

we need to take deterrent measures against the Boycotting Countries, to force them to stop the violations that have affected thousands of families, citizens, and residents in Qatar.

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He stated:

”The siege crisis has caused the social ties of families in the Gulf region to be torn down. Thus, any threat to the stability of the region would have implications for the security and stability of the world as a whole. The UAE is still carrying on its strategy based on intransigence, and violating as well as to disregarding the resolutions issued by the International Court of Justice… the US administration, like other Western governments, will bear responsibility if it does not act immediately to prevent the Boycotting countries from deliberately prolonging the crisis and protect human rights in the Gulf region, in the same way, it is intervening in other parts of the world.”

He added: “We hear from time to time about international and regional efforts to ensure security and stability in the region, and it should be noted that the success of any efforts to establish a regional or international alliance depends on resolving the Gulf crisis and putting an end to the violations perpetrated by the Boycotting Countries.”

The Qatari official invited the Tom Lants Human Rights Committee in the US Congress to visit the NHRC in Doha to investigate the ramifications of the siege and monitor the labour market reforms and advancements in the field of human rights protection.

The Gulf region is facing the worst crisis in its history since 5 June 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar and imposed “punitive measures” because the Qatari government is supporting terrorism; a charge that Doha denies.