European parliament urged to condemn siege violations

HE the Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), Dr Ali bin Smaikh al-Marri, has called on the European Parliament to shoulder its responsibilities and issue a decision condemning the violations committed by the siege countries against Qatar.
HE Dr al-Marri reiterated that the National Human Rights Committee will continue its efforts to trigger the international justice mechanisms until an end to the violations and redress for the victims.
HE Dr al-Marri was speaking during a meeting with President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, during a series of important meetings he held with a number of European officials in Brussels.
The NHRC chairman handed over a copy of “One Year on the Siege of Qatar” report to the European Parliament president.
The report documents all the violations of the siege countries against the Qatari people and the residents of the GCC countries, and the efforts exerted by the National Human Rights Committee inside Qatar and abroad to stop these violations.
HE Dr al-Marri praised the positive role of the European Union and the European Parliament towards the siege imposed on Qatar, referring to the European Parliament’s support for the report prepared by the delegation of the technical mission of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights following its field visit to Qatar, and its condemnation of the siege.
He also highlighted the discussions during the hearing session he held at the European Parliament, and the strong support of the MPs for the efforts exerted by Qatar and the NHRC to stop the violations resulting from the siege imposed on Qatar since June 5 last year.
The NHRC chairman called on the president of the European Parliament to take more effective measures and stronger positions to urge the siege countries stop their violations and to put an end to the suffering of thousands of Qatari and GCC families.
He demanded the European Parliament to uphold the principles for which it was founded and to take more effective action to protect human rights in Qatar and the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, explaining that position of neutrality loses all its justification when it comes to the humanitarian tragedy of thousands of families who have been suffering for more than a year because of the intransigence of the siege countries and their refusal to come to the dialogue table to end all cruel measures that did not harm Qatar as much as they affected the families which were separated and forced to leave Qatar, or expelled from the siege countries, the children who were deprived of their parents, the patients who were prevented from following their treatment in the Qatari hospitals, the students who were expelled from the siege countries, and the businessmen who suffered huge losses and were deprived of their properties.
Dr al-Marri also gave a detailed explanation on the issue of politicising religious rituals by the Saudi authorities and their continued intransigence in preventing Qatar’s pilgrims from performing the rituals.
The NHRC chairman also briefed the president of European Parliament on all the issues raised in international human rights forums in order to stop the violations resulting from the siege of Qatar, as well as the complaint filed by the State before the International Court of Justice against the UAE.
Dr al-Marri stressed the importance of continuing judicial and legal proceedings in the international arbitration bodies to stop the violations of the siege countries and to redress the victims of the siege, noting that all the evidence and the reports of the international human rights organisations confirm the involvement of the siege countries in serious violations of human rights, in breach of all international norms, rules and provisions.