New York: Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), Dr Ali bin Samikh Al Marri, met yesterday with Assistant UN Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour.
Al Marri renewed during the meeting the need to move swiftly to stop the increasing human rights violations that citizens of Qatar and its residents from GCC countries and other nationalities are being subjected to.
He stressed the importance of differentiating between humanitarian issues and politics. He noted that while the latter can eventually be resolved through diplomacy and mediation, the violations of human rights cannot wait for political negotiations.
The NHRC Chairman thanked the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for its efforts towards ending injustice to victims of humanitarian violations. He noted that the NHRC enjoys a strong partnership with the office, as is evident in its co-organising five international conferences recently. The most recent was the International Conference on Human Rights Approach to Conflict Situations in the Arab Region, which took place in February.
NHRC Chairman stressed that the committee will continue with its partnership with the office of the high commissioner in the future.
He also praised the efforts of the office of the high commissioner’s Middle East Regional Office, and said that the NHRC will remain committed to the UN Centre for South-West Asia and the Arab Region, which is headquartered in Doha.
He added that there were many joint activities between the committee and the office, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) they signed. Al Marri held at the headquarters of the United Nations separate meetings with head of diplomatic missions of Switzerland, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ghana, Sweden, and Liechtenstein and reviewed the developments of Qatar’s siege and its implications on humanitarian conditions.
The Chairman of NHRC also briefed the officials on the committees course of action during the crisis and its interaction with the UN agencies and international human rights groups to help condemn the violations of the siege and its implications on many of those affected.
