The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the top judicial organ of the United Nations, yesterday ordered the United Arab Emirates to ensure that “families that include a Qatari, separated by the measures adopted it has taken on 5 June 2017, are reunited and Qatari students affected by the measures are given the opportunity to complete their education in the United Arab Emirates or to obtain their educational records if they wish to continue their studies elsewhere”.
The court verdict also ordered that “Qataris affected by the UAE’s measures are allowed access to tribunals and other judicial organs of the country”.
When the State of Qatar saw that its citizens and Qatari companies in the UAE were being deprived from of properties and bank deposits and also being denied the right to basic education by the UAE authorities forcing hundreds of students to interrupt their education; prohibiting them from entering or passing through the UAE, depriving them of the right to medical treatment and litigation in its courts, it filed a lawsuit against the UAE.
By violating human rights, the UAE had also denied the right to movement, the right to reside and work or run their own business and properties of Qatari citizens.
The UAE actions split families, limited the rights of Qataris to any speech deemed to be in support of or opposed to the actions against Qatar; shut down the local offices of Qatari media outlets, practised enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, thus creating a “climate of fear” among Qataris living in the UAE.
Throughout the first year of the siege, concerned bodies such as the QNHRC, Compensation Claims Committee and Qatar Chamber have received around 10,000 complaints, which included 12 kinds of violations.
Doha tirelessly pushed towards finding diplomatic solutions for the crisis, seeking means to lift restrictions and measures severely violating the rights of the citizens, however, its calls and efforts were not responded by the UAE authorities, therefore Qatar decided to resort to legal means to protect the rights of its citizens through the provisions of the international laws maintaining the diplomatic route open.
The intransigence of the siege countries forced Qatar to file an urgent lawsuit on June 11 against the UAE for violating its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and put an end to all discriminatory measures against Qatari citizens, resulting in human rights violations that still exist.
The verdict is binding as Qatar and the UAE have agreed to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice under Article 22 of CERD, while other siege countries have made reservations on that article.
This legal victory for the mixed family members and students gives much hopes for all affected citizens to get compensations for the damages the siege countries have inflicted on them as well.
